Archive · October 2026
Two Bots Walk Into a Job Interview. Only the Human Gets Lowballed.
A comedian's AI agent offered $60K when he wanted $140K. Why fee proposals and tenders need a human-signed floor before any AI agent negotiates.
Eight of 93: A Crane Fleet and a Leaderless Swarm, Both Coordinated in Stuttgart
The EIC funded 8 of 93 robot-collective proposals; Stuttgart's ICD coordinates two: a crane-and-robot timber fleet and a leaderless swarm with EPFL.
Two Towers on a Tram Depot: Depot Hard in Zürich-West, Read From the Molasse Up
How Depot Hard in Zürich-West carries 65 and 68 m towers over a tram depot: 111 piles, a 430 t mass on springs, a prestressed slab and outrigger floors.
Pick, Don't Type: One Rhino 8 Python Loop Numbers Your Columns Every 6 m
Part 2 of PAZ's Rhino 8 ScriptEditor series: pick a grid axis, divide it every 6 m with rhinoscriptsyntax and place numbered column markers in any unit.
Enki Bilal at 75: The Man Who Drew Digital Amnesia Keeps His Memory on Paper
Enki Bilal's Bug imagines the digital world vanishing. At 75 his Paris Fonds shows 200+ works on paper. What that means for a building's 60-year record.
Zürichsee at 405.28 m: The Dry Summer, and the Cold Layer Buildings Run On
Eawag's Bouffard report: 12 of 26 Swiss lakes at record lows, surfaces +3 °C. Why Swiss lake-water networks must be designed for the hot year.
W42 in Review: Zürich Rewrites the Tower, Timber Learns From Rebar, and a Humanoid Plans How to Fall
PAZ Kaffi's W42 review: Zürich's new high-rise rules, Stuttgart's 36 cm timber flat slab, ETH's microbial rock, a humanoid that plans its fall and a solar hack.
21 October at PAZ Central: PAZ-BOX Meets the Entwurf Phase in Archicad
On 21 October 2026 at PAZ Central Zurich, we use PAZ-BOX to automate zones, room stamps and area checks in the Archicad design phase. Bring your own file.
Stadelhofen Grows Into the Hill: A Fourth Track Inside Zurich's 90-Second Station
SBB adds track 4 35 m into the hill at Zurich Stadelhofen. What a CHF 1.7 bn station, Verkehr '45 and a 90-second rhythm teach Swiss architects.
Thirty Degrees in Zurich: the Ig Nobel Urinal Teaches the Year's Best Detail
The 2026 Ig Nobel physics prize, awarded in Zurich, went to a seashell-curve urinal. Its 30-degree impact rule belongs in every wet-room detail.
