Inhabit

Hosted by Perkins&Will

Technology Arts Design Science

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Oct 2025

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About the show

From global architecture and design firm Perkins&Will, a show about the power of design. Hosts Dr. Erika Eitland and Eunice Wong and their many nerd friends get into the science, the history, the stories, and the decision making that help us understand the spaces we inhabit and how they need to change. We also spotlight what you can do to take the power of design into your own hands.

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23 recent

October 8, 202532 min

Hot to Healthy

In the Season 04 finale of Inhabit, Erika Eitland and Kimberly Seigel explore how public art is helping us adapt to one of today’s most urgent climate threats: extreme heat. From misting sculptures like Harbor Fog to kinetic installations like Heat Blooms, these public works of art double as education, refuge, and cooling interventions. With insights from public health and creative leaders, they unpack how art can be leveraged for collective good. We close out this season reflecting on its potential as a climate solution in Boston and beyond and a reminder: design is a future planet intervention. Check out our website for show notes at inhabit.perkinswill.com!Find us on Instagram @inhabit.podcast Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

September 24, 202529 min

Transient Art

What makes public art public? In this episode, Erika Eitland and Kimberly Seigel explore Boston's evolving public art ecosystem on the MBTA — from subway performers to citywide festivals like the Boston Public Art Triennial. Follow our hosts as they uncover how temporary and permanent works alike shape civic life, activate transit spaces, and respond to challenges like climate change. To read this episode's show notes, visit our website.Follow us on Instagram @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

September 10, 202528 min

Art in a Warming World

Inhabit is back! With a new season, a new city, and a new co-host. Join us as we explore how design is a future planet intervention. We are uncovering the role of public art in shaping our built environment and collective imagination. In this first episode, our hosts Dr. Erika Eitland and Kimberly “Kimi” Seigel dive into public spaces to highlight how people, art, and design intersect throughout the city of Boston.Click here for show notes.Follow us @inhabit.podcast Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

September 27, 202430 min

This Must Be the Place

Home is where the dumplings are—and dumplings are best shared in shared spaces. In our Toronto series finale, Eunice reflects on their emotional city, and Erika and Lauren reflect on the public-space lessons they’re taking home to Massachusetts and Atlanta. Also: momo moments.Click here for show notes. Follow us @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

June 27, 202443 min

Whose Parks? Our Parks!

We’ve been working up to this one all series. They’re the public spaces that show off in plain sight: PARKS! Eunice, Erika, Lauren, and friends of Inhabit take a snowy walk through Eunice’s neighborhood park and then dive deep with public park advocates Adri Stark and Wes Reibeling about designing for dignity and Toronto’s oldest openly queer park space. Also: pigeon fixing.Click here for show notes. Follow us @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

April 5, 202440 min

Parking Lots for the People

Eunice introduces their boss, Paul Kulig, who shares his big thesis about Toronto's suburbs and the walkable city. Then Eunice takes Erika and Lauren to Jane and Finch, where the community has reclaimed an unused corner of a mall parking lot as a proud public space called Corner Commons—a National Urban Design winner! Also: truth bombs.Click here for show notes. Follow us @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

January 19, 202448 min

NeoCon 2023 with David Cordell and Joey Shimoda

Dr. Producer Lauren hits the road to NeoCon 2023 with interior designer—and Inhabit nerd—David Cordell. She shares highlights from his panel on the Principles of Sustainable Design, then heads into the podcast booth with him and co-panelist Joey Shimoda to get their hot takes on sustainability in design. Also: the Diddy clan.Click here for show notes. Follow us @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

August 15, 202334 min

You Can’t Google This

Erika, Eunice, and Lauren continue their food tour of Toronto’s North York suburb with food writer Suresh Doss. Inside Dream Yunnan Chòng’s new uptown location, they discover Suresh’s tech roots and get his hot takes on big data’s blind spots. Then the very person who inspired Eunice to become an urban planner, Dr. Zhixi Zhuang, shares her keys to planning an emotional city. Also: the Internet of Things.Click here for show notes. Follow us @inhabit.podcast. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

June 9, 202332 min

Bao and Belonging with Suresh Doss

Erika, Eunice, and Lauren take the subway north on the longest street in the world for Part 1 of an ethnoburb food tour with acclaimed Toronto food writer Suresh Doss. They start with lattes at a cozy third-wave coffeeshop on what urban planners call a "soft site." Then they go for juicy Shanghai baos at a complex on Yonge Street where developers have made growth AND cultural preservation possible. Also: Grandmas.Now a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Click here for show notes. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.

May 16, 202328 min

What’s Public About Public Space?

Head outside with hosts Eunice Wong and Dr. Erika Eitland as they kick off a new season focused on public space. Together they unpack the tension between who designs our public space and who occupies it. They also explore the power of design, policy, and research with Zahra Ebrahim, CEO and co-founder of Monumental, an organization that specializes in deep, community-led approaches to policy, infrastructure, and service design. Is public space really for everyone? Click here for the show notes. Follow us on Insta @inhabit.podcast.Now a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Inhabit is a member of the SURROUND Podcast Network.