06 The System Is the Problem: Asset Management, ROI, and the Case for Total Strategy
We’ve been making the same mistakes for decades. Jack Dempsey isn’t afraid to say it, and in this 3-minute clip from our Café Zai conversation, he breaks down why the system is designed to fail, not j...
4 Aug 202521min
05 A Caffeinated Journey to the Metaverse and Beyond with Paul Doherty
Paul calls himself a “recovering architect,” but that’s underselling it. He’s been quietly shaping the smart city and metaverse discourse for decades, while most of us were still arguing about CAD vs ...
31 Juli 202523min
04 Total Cost At UT Austin with Ana Thiemer
Ana Thiemer, Director of Operations Support at UT Austin, joins me for a powerful 20-minute conversation on Total Cost of Ownership, what it really means, where we’ve made progress, and what still nee...
28 Juli 202521min
03 From Rolled Drawings in the Basement… to Talking to your Building with Russ Sanders
From rolled drawings in the basement… to talking to your building.”In this new episode of Café ZAi, I meet with longtime friend and early BIM pioneer Russ Sanders, now VP of Design Integration at McCa...
21 Juli 202521min
02 BIG BIM, BIG ZAi, BIG Everything: with Finith Jernigan, FAIA Emeritus
In this Café ZAi session, Kimon Onuma meets with Finith Jernigan, author of BIG BIM little bim, for a fast-paced, insightful conversation on the state of architecture, BIM, and the rise of AI. They re...
17 Juli 202521min
01 Total Cost, Total Clarity – A Conversation with Deke Smith, FAIA Emeritus, FbSI
Episode 01 | Deke Smith: From First Cost to Total CostAt Café Zai, conversations spark change. In this premiere episode, Deke Smith brings decades of insight to the table.A longtime advocate for BIM, ...
12 Juli 202521min
00 What is Cafe ZAi and Who Will be Here?
Café ZAi is now open. The built environment is cracking under pressure. Climate, cost, AI, infrastructure, meaning. It’s all happening at once. So we’re opening a café.Not a conference. Not a webinar....
8 Juli 202512min
Café ZAi: Intelligence for Informed Environments - Introduction
Café Zai is a 20-minute podcast where urgent conversations meet real action. Hosted by architect and systems thinker Kimon Onuma, FAIA, each episode brings together doers and disruptors from architect...
5 Juli 20253min
