Canoa Returns to the TRXL Podcast Episode 130, 'Design Tools and the Circular Economy'

Lance Amato of Canoa returns to The TRXL Podcast to talk with Evan Troxel about the disconnected and circuitous nature of design tools and workflows in relation to the furniture supply chain and project delivery process, circular economy, sustainability, Canoa’s free 2d design tool for space planning, and other topics. Hear Evan’s take on Canoa, and how he was blown away with how easy and beautiful the design tool is.

Note: This podcast includes discussion of Canoa’s marketplace. As of 9/26/2023, users can no longer place orders directly through Canoa. However, users can continue to discover real product data for new and second life goods, and are connected with suppliers to place orders.

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“Since day one, Canoa’s purpose was to help companies and individuals design better.” Lance Amato

In this episode, Lance discusses the strength of good data in furniture discovery for all designers. He touches on how designers discover and buy products, and how that might differ from the major coastal cities to the middle of the country. Canoa helps to answer the question ‘How do we make it easy for anyone across the country to obtain the same information that dealers in major cities might have access to'? Canoa’s has built a product catalog filled with sustainably made, commercial grade furniture and also has access to data about second hand goods, which can be delivered quickly and can give all designers access to beautiful furniture at a fraction of the cost. Much of this furniture might never have been used, coming from showrooms, open-box returns, or office spaces that were barely used.

Lance and Evan dive into the power of Canoa as a design tool, and how Canoa could help solve a problem that designers have today - that they have to use too many tools in their design process. They talk about how to get new technology into the hands of designers, and how to get designers, and companies, actually using the technology. Any designer can use Canoa for free, and gains access to a robust product catalog of data. What Canoa built is actually pretty simple - a data card synced to a 2D floorplan. However, having access to that data has proven to be a very powerful thing.

The episode wraps up with discussion of how different companies have found ways to use Canoa’s tool for their business. Canoa’s users include designers at furniture dealers, who are creating their own product data and empowering their sales team to use the platform as a flexible sales tool, creating floorplans on the fly. Evan was impressed with how easy and beautiful the tool is, and urges listeners to sign in, drop in your floorplan, and see what the tool can do.

“Just spending 20 minutes in there is really going to open your eyes to, maybe how things should be, but also start to get your gears turning about how you could use it on a project in the near future.” Evan Troxel

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About the TRXL Podcast

Join architect Evan Troxel to explore important topics surrounding the co-evolution of architecture and technology.

Guests from the architectural community and beyond have conversations with Evan about the influence digital transformation is having on the profession with long digressions on leadership, change management, knowledge transfer, where all this may lead to in the future of the building industry, and more.

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