Podcast Review: "Bad Architecture" is the deliciously daft dialogue on cringe-worthy design

Welcome to the Clown Motel in Tonopah, Nevada | Image courtesy of Ken Howard/Almay

October is the month in which everyone seems to interrupt their regularly scheduled programming to be unflatteringly interested in the abnormal, exaggerated, and macabre — and why should this review column be any different? Grab your headphones and your safety blanket, and settle in for a creepy but comedic episode of the "Bad Architecture" podcast.

"Bad Architecture" launched in March 2023 and releases quasi-monthly episodes hosted by the humorous duo of Sarah Tietje-Mietz and Erin Kennealy. Tietje-Mietz is the digital content editor for the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Island, Maine, a freelance journalist, and an oil painter specializing in nightscapes. Kennealy is a mixed-media and textile artist, children's book author, and illustrator, based in Chicago. The art and architecture buffs met while studying historic preservation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The podcast dives into the stories behind different structures, unpacking the bizarre, unusual, or gruesome histories that led to the designs' classification as "bad." While bad may sound subjective, the episodes comprise topics like Designed for Death, Hotels from Hell, and Bad Eats and feature projects like Dr. Linda Hazzard's Starvation Heights, Nevada's Clown Motel, and 90's eatertainment destination Rainforest Café. Some of the buildings are the stuff of nightmares, while others are just lame-but-interesting enough to stop if you happen to be in the middle of a cross-country road trip and you can't possibly sit in the car for one more second.

Each hour-long episode includes two bad projects — one presented by each host — and an overview of the project's history and design, some speculative rumors and legends, and the current status of the building. With witty banter and often well-timed puns, the hosts do their best to amuse the listeners — and each other — with outrageous stories.

The episodes conclude with one "badass" piece of architecture, a project that fits the theme but somehow rises above its program or history with tasteful design, leaving the listener with a small hopeful reminder that architecture doesn't have to be a shell for hideous design or action.

Historic image of the sanitarium — aka Starvation Heights — built by Dr. Hazard. | Image courtesy of Murderous Roots

The best part of the podcast is not the architecture — which is, as stated in the name, inherently bad — but the hosts. Quippy and off-the-wall, Tietje-Mietz and Kennealy are funny as heck and leave the listener repeating odd phrases for hours. Some such phrases — which naturally make much more sense in context — are as follows.

"Build your murder castle in the sky, I say."

"Welcome to a ventriloquist dummy retirement home."

"Picture Arabian Nights-meets-Movie Palace-meets-Las Vegas-meets corn."

"It's a match made in roadside commercial art heaven."

While an audio platform is an interesting medium to share visual and spatial content, the hosts often liken the designs to other notable structures or natural motifs to give the listener reference points. It leaves enough to the imagination for listeners to visualize themselves in the space and be part of the story's weirdness.

The audio form also allows for the insertion of spontaneous sound effects, which seem to usually take at least one host by surprise, resulting in a bout of giggles. The sound mixing and editing is done by Ralph Mietz, Jr.

Interior of Disneyland’s Downtown Disney location of the Rainforest Cafe, complete with elephants, birds, and fake foliage. | Image courtesy of Matthew Soberman

Although casually conveyed, the stories are well researched and cited — as is to be expected from the two preservationists. All of the sources and images are available through the Podcast Compendium.

The podcast goes to show that design doesn’t live in a vacuum and the building, however good or bad it may be, takes on a history from its occupants. The people who use the building and their corresponding nefarious actions become part of its story. We can't separate architecture from humanity or inhumanity, and we can't always separate the good from the bad — except apparently in a podcast.

"Bad Architecture" is available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.