Interview AllesWirdGut

How has the routine changed in your office?
We’re as optimistic as ever! The current restrictions and changes to daily life have made us doubly aware of the freedoms and possibilities that we used to take for granted. On the technical level, everything is working well. All the same, architecture is a team sport and our work is far more than just delivering results. We miss having direct contact with each other, having lunch in our cafeteria, the loud noises from the foosball table, the after-work beer on the pavement … Technology is supporting us as much as possible in our day-to-day work, but when we have to make difficult team decisions, we need to be able to look into each others’ eyes.

How are you handling the coronavirus crisis − are your projects continuing?
It took exactly 8 hours, two cars and the cooperation of all our staff to transport all the hardware to people’s homes and set up home offices for everyone. After that, only our IT manager had to work late one night to look after a bit of fine tuning. Since then, nearly everyone has been working from home.  We are still in contact with our project partners and clients via telephone and email. Conferences and smaller meetings, the ones that haven’t been put back, take place as video and telephone conferences. And when we can’t tolerate the glue withdrawal symptoms anymore, we sneak to the office one by one to gratify our unbroken craving for real styrofoam. The constant hand-washing has led to the cleanest possible working models.

Do you have any tips for your colleagues?
1. In the morning, either take off your pyjamas or switch off your laptop camera!
2. For those who, like us, feel an uncontrollable urge to build models and want to do it at home, here is a recipe for home-made modelling clay:

− 400 g flour
− 200 g salt
− 2 tbsp citric acid or 2 tsp tartaric acid
− 500 ml boiling water
− 3 tbsp cooking oil
− food colouring

Blend with a mixer and you’re ready to build models.

Do you have any plans for the time after the quarantine?
When the corona crisis is over, we expect a real explosion of joie de vivre in the spirit of our motto.