What is the biggest challenge architects are facing right now?

Patrick Meyer. — “The biggest challenge is to implement the new and additional conditions regarding circular economy and sustainability into the design process. And to communicate this to our customers in the best possible way. In the current situation – material shortages due to the pandemic and war – you realise how important it is not only to build in an energy-saving and sustainable way, but also in a resource-friendly manner. The best material is the material that is NOT used! Thus, architecture is changing, its appearance will alter. The times of polished, high-gloss architecture are over. It’s getting rougher. And I look forward to mastering this challenge with our team and making our positive contribution.

“Circular economy, Sustainability and Reinvention.” Which of these has the biggest impact on the way you currently work?

“For us architects, circular economy means carrying out two design processes: one for ‘building’ and one for ‘de-building’, i.e., dismantling what has been constructed in order to ensure that the building materials can be reused. This means that the building materials must be recorded in their properties, both in terms of materiality and in terms of their dimensions, form and number. This must be done in such a way that the information can still be found at the end of the ‘first use cycle’, i.e., in about 30 years. Here, the relevant keywords are ‘material library’ and ‘material bank’. This is a long way to go, an investment in the next generation. We have to think more like the foresters who plant new woods, knowing that it will only be our children who will benefit from them.

Luxembourg continues to be transformed. How can we innovate sustainably without losing our soul?

“Our national claim has always been ‘mir wölle bleiwe wat mir sin’ (‘we want to stay what we are’). I personally have never interpreted this conservatively. Luxembourg has forever been open-minded and contact-friendly with all our neighbouring countries. We have always embraced new technologies. In order to develop our steel industry, we have built up the necessary infrastructure (railways). Subsequently, we have only attained our status as an important financial centre because we constructed highways and opened up to commuters. Now we are working on expanding our public transport, which is free of charge, and on the promotion of sustainable energy and the circular economy. Luxembourg is so much more than just Luxembourg, we are a melting pot. An attractor for excellencies.”