On Monday afternoon I received a message from my friend Sven Amiet asking whether I'd be going to Swissbau 2024. I had some sense it was happening this year (it happens every other one), but I hadn't realised it was this week already.
In any case I checked my meeting schedule - and found that I didn't have anything important - and decided to head across to Basel on Tuesday morning.
It's always impressive to arrive at Basel's Messeplatz by tram. The last time I'd been here was for Swissbau 2020 (I skipped the one held 2 years ago).
Once inside I quickly got my bearings by climbing some stairs.
It's a trade show, after all, but the odd plant pot did help soften the atmosphere.
I'm a sucker for a DeLorean, like most people my age (I suspect).
I had no idea what it was doing on the show floor, mind.
From searching the web, it seems to be an art exhibit by Beni Bischof that's a statement about humanity's impact on the planet.
I hadn't made much by way of plans, but wandering around the Swissbau Lab area I soon bumped into Nora and Andres, friends from PAZ Academy in Zurich.
From there I headed to the Mensch ünd Maschine stand: MüM are our platinum reseller in Switzerland, so I knew I'd find some familiar faces there.
Marcel Ludwig was busy demonstrating various technology solutions to visitors.
I was intrigued by the physical model on display.
Its creator, Pietro Nobel, stepped me through the project.
He'd filled it with sensors that were capturing data to be displayed in Autodesk Tandem.
It's always awesome to see data showing up in Tandem. When I was here four years ago the focus had been on Project Dasher, and it's great to see how this technology is continually evolving and now hitting the mainstream.
Marcel showed me some XR-based solutions. He's excited too see the impact of Autodesk Workshop XR as it becomes more mature and ready for widespread adoption.
And yes, we had some fun reviewing designs together in VR.
It was also very nice to catch up with Reto Largo from NEST, who was passing by the MüM stand while I was there.
Towards the end of the afternoon I headed back down to the Swissbau Focus area.
There were a number of presentations happening here throughout the day - all in German, so I didn't pay very much attention, I admit - including the awards ceremony for the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA).
I finally had some time to chat properly with Sven - who had triggered the whole visit - over a glass of wine at the CRB stand.
It was a nice way to end a very pleasant visit to this year's Swissbau event. Thanks for the prompt, Sven!
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