EP. 75 TIKTOK CONTENT CREATION AND ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE CRITIQUE with Louisa Whitmore TikTok Content Creator and Documentary Host

ABOUT LOUISA WHITMORE:

TIK TOK: 

LOUISA'S BIO:

Louisa Whitmore is an architecture content creator on TikTok with over 350K followers, as well as the host of the cable television documentary series “The Nature of Design.” 

A former commentator for the USModernist podcast, Whitmore has also worked as a live radio host and PSA producer at CHMA 106.9FM, the local radio station at Mount Allison University, where she’s currently an honors student studying international relations and French. 

She enjoys telling stories, and is passionate about sustainable design.

SHOW INTRO:

Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.

EPISODE 75… and my conversation with Louisa Whitmore. 

On the podacast our dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human’s influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    

he NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.

VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant. 

You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.

Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. 

SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org

Louisa Whitmore is a TikTok creator phenom whose content is about architecture. With almost 400 thousand followers her no holds-barred, straight from the heart and to the point commentary about the buildings she loves and loves to hate, brings a user experience point of view and accessible critique into the mainstream.

We’ll get to all of that in a moment but first though, a few thoughts…

 

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The great thing about doing this podcast is it gives me an opportunity to rethink some of the assertions that have held to be true and cross check whether in fact they are immutable or whether there is room for challenging myself and maybe digging into some subtleties and nuances… and seeing things a different way.

Like for example the idea of criticism – who does it and its value…

I have to admit I haven't been particularly fond of the idea of critics for a very long time. This would be generally true of the kind who dole out the negative kind of commentary.

Years ago when commenting on something, I think it was some art piece, and my son said to me “…dad why is it that you never really say you hate anything…”which I sort of thought was kind of funny then. 

I think I responded “…well because I don't really hate anything… I try to always view things from the other side - a different point of view. I try to get beyond the visceral reaction and look to design principles and comment from a place of applying principles to the work and see how they line up…and then make a comment that is based yes on whether I simply like it, the colors, shapes, energy, feeling , may be a message it is trying to impart AND  whether I can see the value in it based on principles determined to be generally accepted by experts in the domain…” so yeah I don’t really hate things…

If I apply the idea of casting judgement on art, music, architecture… it got me thinking… again…

What is the value of judgement? Is it to determine the appropriateness of something to a particular context or challenge?

I have my favorite architects and artists and musical performers, I like different styles and periods. 

But I don’t listen to heavy metal (though my sons love it). I don’t know that I can say that I hate it. Perhaps I just don’t understand it and maybe if I did, it still wouldn’t jibe with me.

It just doesn’t go in my body well. It’s a sensory mismatch.

I don’t hate it – It makes me agitated. So, I just don’t listen to it. 

And I guess you could say the same thing for certain genres of art.

For example… I'm not particularly crazy about a lot of contemporary art.

I have a hard time understanding a performance artist dipping her hair in paint and swinging aloft from a rope w