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TRXL

TRXL

Evan Troxel 243 Episodes Aug 20, 2026

TRXL is a long-running podcast focused on technology in architecture and engineering professions. Hosted by licensed architect Evan Troxel, it features unscripted conversations with industry leaders, researchers, and practitioners. Topics include AI in architecture, BIM, digital practice, firm culture, and sustainability. Each episode explores how technology is shaping the future of the AEC industry.

Episodes

238: Half Your Day Isn't Design
238: Half Your Day Isn't Design Aug 20, 2026 01:38:07 The first episode of The Next AEC Tech Stack opens on the number nobody wants to say out loud. Randall Stevens of AVAIL puts the mundane overhead of an architect's day at somewhere near fifty percent, and he admits it's hard to measure because it disappears in seconds and minutes at a time. Looking for a file. Marking up the same PDF three people already marked up. Waiting on a license.Across this
237: 'The Interns Will Have Interns', with Phil Read
237: 'The Interns Will Have Interns', with Phil Read Aug 14, 2026 01:27:10 Phil Read joins the podcast to talk about where human judgment belongs in an AI-assisted design process. We explore his case for the infamous sawtooth diagram (the thing BIM was supposed to eliminate) as the place where experience gets injected. We get into AI as an intern rather than an oracle, why firms are using it to study materials and lighting instead of generating building form, and why aut
236: 'No One Can Own the Law', with Garrett Reynolds
236: 'No One Can Own the Law', with Garrett Reynolds Aug 11, 2026 01:22:19 Garrett Reynolds joins the podcast to talk about UpCodes' decade-long fight to keep building codes free and public. We explore the string of lawsuits UpCodes has faced from the International Code Council, ASTM, and other code publishers since 2017, the Supreme Court and circuit court rulings that established no one can own the law, and the Pro Codes Act, the industry-backed legislation now trying
235: 'How Olson Kundig Scaled AI Adoption Across a 300-Person Firm', with Marlene Chen and Blair Payson
235: 'How Olson Kundig Scaled AI Adoption Across a 300-Person Firm', with Marlene Chen and Blair Payson Jul 28, 2026 01:19:13 Marlene Chen and Blair Payson join the podcast to talk about how a firm known for design, not technology, actually puts new tools to work. We explore the office-wide crit they ran to surface friction points across every role and experience level, the shift that took their visualization team from three people to effectively 150, and the messy reality of adoption: rogue folders on personal desktops,
234: 'Here's to the Crazy Ones, AEC Edition', with Håvard Vasshaug
234: 'Here's to the Crazy Ones, AEC Edition', with Håvard Vasshaug Jul 14, 2026 01:38:58 Håvard Vasshaug joins the podcast to talk about what happens to building data after the architect hits save, and why so much of it dies inside the authoring tool. We explore why it makes no sense to force construction, cost, and scheduling data into Revit, how live model changes can flow straight to contractors and owners without a BIM license, and why six-week-old information is the reason projec
233: 'Spaces For People To Kiss', with Mariusz Hermansdorfer
233: 'Spaces For People To Kiss', with Mariusz Hermansdorfer Jul 1, 2026 01:32:55 Mariusz Hermansdorfer joins the podcast to talk about turning an internal tool into a product for the whole profession. We explore how he spun Jifto out of Henning Larsen as the firm's first ever tech spin-off, why letting go of corporate control was the thing that made it possible, and how a Rhino plugin can put wind, stormwater, and microclimate analysis in the hands of architects who never had
232: 'Bringing Joy Back to Architecture', with Tatjana Dzambazova
232: 'Bringing Joy Back to Architecture', with Tatjana Dzambazova Jun 16, 2026 02:00:32 Tatjana Dzambazova joins the podcast to talk about why the AEC industry deserves a brand new tool, one built for AI from the ground up instead of bolted onto software designed 25 years ago. We explore the end of what she calls the terror of technological expertise, the difference between hoarding artifacts and capturing the process behind a building, and why she believes AI could bring joy back to
231: 'Architects: Reclaim Control in CA', with Jack Sadler
231: 'Architects: Reclaim Control in CA', with Jack Sadler Jun 9, 2026 01:07:54 In this special partner episode, Jack Sadler joins the podcast to talk about the phase of a project where architects quietly lose control: construction administration. We explore why CA became a cost center instead of a profit center, what happens when architects run their work out of someone else's software, and how AI can automate the routing, logging, and paperwork without ever touching the pro
230: 'Rooms for Storytelling', with Keith Gerchak
230: 'Rooms for Storytelling', with Keith Gerchak May 19, 2026 01:23:09 Keith Gerchak joins the podcast to talk about the double life he's been living for thirty years: designing spaces for storytelling as the Design Principal at TheatreDNA, and inhabiting those spaces as an actor and filmmaker. We explore what makes performing arts buildings unlike any other building type, the surprising parallels between directing a feature film and managing an architecture project,
229: Campfire Series - 'The CGarchitect Story', with Jeff Mottle
229: Campfire Series - 'The CGarchitect Story', with Jeff Mottle May 6, 2026 01:23:47 In this special Campfire Series episode, Jeff Mottle joins the podcast to tell us the full story of CGarchitect — from a side project launched in 2001 to a 21-year platform, a sale to Chaos Group, and everything in between: the 3D Awards, CGschool, the evolution of archviz from expert-only technical gatekeeping to storytelling, and what COVID revealed when it stripped away all the travel and in-pe
228: 'What Did You Actually Do Today', with Steve Burrows CBE
228: 'What Did You Actually Do Today', with Steve Burrows CBE Apr 28, 2026 01:24:23 Steve Burrows CBE joins the podcast to talk about why the construction industry keeps rewarding dysfunction instead of fixing it. We explore the gap between selling time and creating value, why startups keep failing to change construction by trying to change all of it at once, and what the collapse of Katerra actually taught the people who were in the room when it happened.This episode is especial
227: 'Are We Horses or Are We Coal', with Rachel Riopel
227: 'Are We Horses or Are We Coal', with Rachel Riopel Apr 14, 2026 01:36:40 Rachel Riopel joins the podcast to talk about why enterprise transformation keeps failing in AEC and what it actually takes to make it stick. We explore the gap between running pilots and operationalizing technology across an organization, why the industry's obsession with productivity as the primary metric is a race to the bottom, and how cybersecurity is quietly becoming one of the biggest frict

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