
230: 'Rooms for Storytelling', with Keith Gerchak
From TRXL by Evan Troxel
May 19, 2026 · 1h 23m · Episode 230
About this episode
Keith Gerchak discusses the intersection of architecture and storytelling in performing arts spaces.
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, and how technology — from Revit to AI — can either serve a story or quietly strip it of meaning. This episode is especially relevant for architects and design technologists who feel the tension between the tools they use every day and the purpose those tools are meant to serve. Keith makes the case quietly and specifically — drawing from three decades of bespoke theater design and a twelve-year independent film that made it into 500 theaters nationwide — that knowing why a building exists, and for whom, is the one thing no technology gets to replace. To learn more about Keith Gerchak, see the full show notes with links at https://trxl.co/230 To get more great conversations with AEC technology leaders on the TRXL podcast please visit https://trxl.co _____ Episode Sponsors: AVAIL AVAIL's…
People in this episode
Host: Evan Troxel
Guest: Keith Gerchak
Topics covered
- storytelling
- architecture
- performing arts
- design technology
- film direction
- theater design
Keywords
- architecture
- storytelling
- theater design
- film direction
- design technology
- Revit
- AI
Sponsors
AVAIL, Confluen
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: TheatreDNA
More episodes of TRXL
- 231: 'Architects: Reclaim Control in CA', with Jack Sadler · June 9, 2026 · 1h 8m
- 229: Campfire Series - 'The CGarchitect Story', with Jeff Mottle · May 6, 2026 · 1h 24m
- 228: 'What Did You Actually Do Today', with Steve Burrows CBE · April 28, 2026 · 1h 24m
- 227: 'Are We Horses or Are We Coal', with Rachel Riopel · April 14, 2026 · 1h 37m
- 226: 'Think Slower to Move Faster', with Charles Portelli · April 7, 2026 · 1h 50m
- 225: 'A Nuclear Bomb Moment', with Antonio González Viegas · March 31, 2026 · 1h 17m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the TRXL podcast page.