
#389 - I Want To See Tears
From Archispeak by Evan Troxel & Cormac Phalen
May 1, 2026 · 36 min · Season 13 · Episode 389
About this episode
Evan and Cormac discuss the challenges of a van conversion project that has significantly exceeded its timeline due to various design and fabrication issues.
A van conversion project that was supposed to take three days is now four months in and an eighth of the way done. Evan and Cormac dig into what actually happened and why an architect's brain might be the single biggest obstacle to finishing a personal fabrication project on time. They cover the scope creep hiding in "wouldn't you do it differently?", why one wrong cut forces every subsequent piece to compensate, and the design-build logic that makes real-time problem-solving both efficient and indefinitely slow. This episode is especially relevant for architects and designers who've ever started a hands-on project with a realistic-sounding timeline and found themselves months later still fitting cedar lining around corners that aren't quite 90 degrees, holding a saw, and refusing to call it good enough. ----- Thank you for listening to Archispeak. For more episodes please visit https://archispeakpodcast.com . Support Archispeak by making a donation .
People in this episode
Hosts: Evan Troxel, Cormac Phalen
Topics covered
- van conversion
- scope creep
- design-build logic
- personal fabrication
- architects
- hands-on projects
Keywords
- van conversion
- scope creep
- architects
- design-build
- fabrication project
- hands-on project
- problem-solving
More episodes of Archispeak
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- #390 - From Idea to Execution: Heliomorphism · May 26, 2026 · 1h 12m
- #388 - Frank Lloyd Wright Lemonade · April 24, 2026 · 39 min
- #387 - The Walmart Greeter of Architecture · April 18, 2026 · 56 min
- #386 - If not me, then who? · April 3, 2026 · 33 min
- #385 - Why Architects Can't Say No · March 27, 2026 · 38 min
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