‘SUP —The Super Urban Podcast is a conversation about cities and how they’re designed; how we imagine them and how we could re-imagine them. Cities are the most complex things ever constructed, and they are also our everyday, barely noticed environment. We’re here for a talk about cities from as many perspectives as possible.
Each episode will focus on a specific theme, blending diverse viewpoints and engaging with broader contexts like history, economics, politics, and current social issues. Perspectives of our First Nations, responsible practice, post-carbon futures, circularity, urban infrastructure and affordability are all up for discussion. We’ll discuss what makes cities work, but we’re also interested in what makes us dream about cites, why we love them and how they exist in our imagination.
‘SUP is hosted by Ian Nazareth, Graham Crist and Christine Phillips.
This podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Alastair Swayn Foundation and the RMIT University School of Architecture & Urban Design.
Series 01 - Urban Emulation
The first series, Urban Emulation, builds on a remarkable six-part urban history series delivered at RMIT University by Conrad Hamann, a legendary historian of Australian architecture and urbanism. Conrad is the author of Cities of Hope, a monograph on the work of Edmond and Corrigan in Melbourne.
These episodes explore how cities are shaped over time through emulation —the act of copying and transplanting places elsewhere. We argue that urban processes inherently absorb emulation into their very code—whether through deliberate replication, subconscious borrowing, or systemic reproduction of spatial, economic, and cultural patterns.
Each episode focuses on a key theme illustrating how these ideas have historically influenced urban spaces and continue to shape contemporary cities: Cities as Order, Cities as Industry, Cities as Theatres, Cities as Arenas of Social Change, Cities as Fragmented and Divided, Endless Cities and Cities as Multiples
We acknowledge the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded Country we are recording this podcast and extend that acknowledgment to all First Peoples of Australia who have been caring for the many layers of Country for over 60,000 years. This podcast is focused on cities, and while it is difficult to read the layers of Country within these built-up environments, we acknowledge that Urban Country requires the most attention in foregrounding the dynamic living cultures of Australia’s First Peoples.