Join us and special guest, Chicago architect, Brad Lynch, as we explore this tragic — and tragically underreported — event that really gave birth to this podcast. We wanted to know why seemingly everyone knows Frank Lloyd Wright but strangely, very few seem to know this much darker side of his story. In this episode we’ll investigate all of that as well as the great state of Wisconsin, Wright’s never-ending battle with societal norms, and the interplay between critics and creative professionals. Happy Halloween!

In the heart of downtown Los Angeles sits Hollywood’s undisputed architectural superstar — the Bradbury Building. The imposing structure’s character is definitive. Its origin story, however, is much murkier…

How did a young draftsman design one of the most remarkable buildings in the world? Why did he never again do anything of note? Or did he? Was all his creativity spent on this one masterpiece? Was this a case of stolen intellectual property? Or could this have even been a brush with the supernatural?

On the morning of August 19th, 1993, mid-century architect, Norman Jaffe, parked his car in his client’s driveway, walked to Ocean Beach in Bridgehampton, New York, stripped down, neatly folded his clothes, and dove into the Atlantic. He never returned and his body was never recovered. Join us on this first episode of Clever Confidential, where we dig into the lesser told stories of the darker side of design. Hear the stories of the shadowy—sometimes sordid—tales hiding under a glossy top coat of respectable legacy.