Homing14 Sep 2023

Glenn Adamson: the curator on why a New York ‘love shack’ stole his heart

Glenn's a brilliant curator and writer with a particular interest in craft. If that conjures up an image of lace doilies and crocheted waistcoats, then don't panic!

Back in 2011, he put together the amazing 'Postmodernism' exhibition at the V&A in London, which was a riot of Memphis pattern and colour; and more recently, he's co-curated a show called 'Mirror Mirror' at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Glenn writes beautifully – and his book Fewer, Better Things was a really big influence on my own book, A Modern Way to Live. A phrase he uses a lot is 'material intelligence', which is the idea that we should try to understand the things we choose to live with – where they've come from and how they've been made. I don’t know if it's material intelligence or old-fashioned fate that led Glenn to find his home in Upstate New York, but it really is the physical manifestation of everything he believes in. We also chatted about his place in east London, what it's like to be an identical twin, his thoughts on the metaverse and all sorts of other things. Glenn is one of the most erudite people I know and his thoughtfulness is something we could all learn from.

This episode was recorded in person at Glenn's east London home.

For more:

Head over to The Modern House website for images of the places discussed

Watch the B-52's 'Love Shack' music video

Check out the house built by a librarian's collection of bricks

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