Frances Anderton

Radio host, producer, & author

On DnA: Design and Architecture, host Frances Anderton takes a incisive look at what’s new in architecture and design with some of the industry’s most important voices, users, and critics. And on Day 3, she’ll moderate a unique keynote panel about what’s next for the architecture profession with three acclaimed architects and designers who are blazing new paths.


Frances’ background in politics gives her a unique vantage point on architecture and design. For years she produced To The Point and Which Way, LA?, award-winning national and local radio shows centered on current affairs. She has also served as the LA correspondent for Dwell and the New York Times.

She’s received a number of awards for her work and has been a visiting speaker, jurist, or adjunct teacher at the schools of architecture at Yale, USC, and UCLA. She curated Sink or Sink: Designing for a Sea Change, a critically-received exhibition at the Annenberg Space for Photography. She also co-produces DIEM, a conference about design hosted by the West Hollywood Design District.

Her books include Grand Illusion: A Story of Ambition, and its Limits, on LA’s Bunker Hill, based on a studio she co-taught with Frank Gehry and partners at the USC School of Architecture.

Broadcasting architecture’s impact

After the civil unrest in Los Angeles in 1992, Frances heard Which Way, LA? and became determined to work on the show. She later brought her love of architecture to DnA: Design and Architecture, a weekly radio show and blog exploring what matters most in our designed world. She’s executive producer and host of the show, which is broadcast on NPR affiliate KCRW and was recently named a top design podcast by Architectural Design.

“Don’t live in an architecture community bubble, because the profession is changing fast, and architects have to evolve to keep up.”

Keynote details

Frances moderates a dynamic discussion with keynoters Nóra Demeter, Int’l. Assoc. AIA; Michael Ford, Assoc. AIA; and Cheryl MacAfee, FAIA; on Day 3, right before Amy Cuddy’s presentation on the power of change. Don’t miss this exciting event on Saturday, April 29!

See this panel:
Saturday, 12:30pm, Hall C
Anticipate Need: What’s Next in Architecture

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