Archive · October 2026
Pull, Don't Draw: The Control Polygon Under Every Rhino Curve
How one idea, cutting each leg of a control polygon at the same ratio, became the Bézier curve and the NURBS geometry behind every Rhino control point.
Blade Runner's Future Was a Retrofit: Syd Mead, the 1894 Bradbury Atrium and Umbau
Blade Runner's 2019 was shot inside the 1894 Bradbury atrium. Syd Mead's retro-deco shows why a believable future is built on existing fabric, as in Umbau.
IfcOpenShell 0.9.0: Your First Python Door Schedule and Fire-Rating Check
IfcOpenShell 0.9.0 rewrote its C++ core. Install it with pip, open any IFC, write a door schedule CSV and flag every door missing a FireRating in Python.
From Architekten to Architektur: the Zurich cooperative that named itself after the work
Zurich cooperative pool became pool Architektur in 2026. How a weekly all-partner crit and shared income kept 500+ projects going without a star name.
Hotel Leo, St. Gallen: concrete carries the load, borrowed earth makes the rooms
Boltshauser's Hotel Leo won Mendelsohn Award Gold: a precast concrete frame with 50 kg unfired earth-block partitions pressed from nearby excavation spoil.
1,547 m down, about 65 °C: Basel votes 89–1 to grow Riehen's heat network
Basel's Grosser Rat lends CHF 7.6 million to grow Riehen's 1994 geothermal heat network by 5.5 km and 620 connections. What it means for your heating design.
Giving the Rhône 30 More Metres: Vaud and Valais Redraw 14 km of River
Vaud and Valais open the CHF 368m Chablais inquiry: 14 km of Rhône widened to 90 m, shared by three government levels and eight communes. Open to 2 Nov.
Hang it, then flip it: the sketch that does what Gaudí did with lead sacks
A cord can only pull, so a flipped hanging net only pushes. Follow Gaudí, Frei Otto and ETH's Block Research Group, then reseed the sketch in your browser.
One Click, One Storey, to SIA 400: Bound Dimensions That Follow the Design
Free 30-minute Zoom session in German, 7 October 2026: Archicad dimensions a full storey to SIA 400 in one click, with chains bound to design changes.
Brain-computer interfaces: when intent becomes an input, every building action needs a second path
From Berger's EEG to EPFL's digital bridge: how brain-computer interfaces work, what they cost, and what Swiss architects must specify before adoption.
