Meet
Cord siegel
Still curious about the history of us? Staffan Carenholm gives us a portrait of Cord Siegel, the person behind the company.
He kisses the future
Text by Staffan Carenholm (originally in Swedish, translated by Siegel).
Staffan Carenholm is the former long-time director of Architects Sweden. He is the initiator of the association Föreningen Byggande Arkitekter and is currently involved in the development of the construction sector's standard agreements.
It is a day in February 2020. I'm talking to Cord Siegel about his philosophy on architecture and building. We talk about how he takes a holistic approach to the building process in a whole new way and the identity it gives to the business of architecture.
The location is Sorgenfri in Malmö, where Cord and his colleagues are completing their latest project, IGGY, a building with 70 apartments for an urban, modern lifestyle based on a concept of modern mobility, for health, the environment and social interaction.
- Everyone is thinking about the future and wondering how to meet it, says Cord. I myself have chosen to face it, because it's already here. There's nothing to wait for, we can and must build today for the future we're already in the middle of.
- What I'm doing now is kissing the future, he says, I kiss the future.
”I kiss the future.”
There is no point in putting a label on Cord Siegel. He moves across all the boundaries that have long locked all the players in the construction sector into predetermined roles. He is a developer, architect, builder and property manager. He creates the concepts and the main ideas of the projects and he manages the whole process so that the projects finally meet the objectives set at the start of the project.
His projects have a strong identity. Cykelhuset Ohboy in Västra Hamnen in Malmö with 55 apartments and 31 hotel rooms is built for a modern urban life and is a piece of the puzzle in the green city. With no parking spaces.
When I look at the house, I am struck by the way it signals the future, with an obviousness and without pretension. It has also attracted justified attention, both in Sweden and in Europe. It is only the beginning, I think.
The project IGGY is also based on a mobility concept and is designed for people who move around the city in a way that the future requires of us. In the next major project, 45 apartments in Brunnshög in Lund, water is the starting point of the project, both from a sustainability point of view and in terms of quality of living.
Cord is an innovator who moves freely across the implicit boundaries of the construction sector. In his concepts, he constantly wants to explore possibilities and try out new ideas. This is extremely refreshing in a sector that many feel has long been idle in terms of ideas. Of course, new ideas are hatched in the industry, but they also have to be implemented, and that's when things often grind to a halt. Thinking outside the box is one thing, but it is rarely the new thinking that survives the production process.
Cord has shown that he canpull this off. He is not only conceptually strong, he is also a practical implementer. He manages to take his ideas through the whole process. He sets the programmes, he translates it into design and architectural solutions and he manages and controls the production.
Cord stands for an approach that can be described as a process-oriented architecture. The creative process goes back and forth, that is its hallmark. Volumes, design, façade design and window sets are all gradually evaluated and reconsidered. This is undeniably liberating when one considers how many other players approach new projects with ready-made solutions that have difficulty tolerating deviations and adaptation.
The architectural office is located in construction sheds on the construction site. For Cord, presence on site is imperative. It's a hundred metres to the new six-storey building that is now being completed. Young architects not only design, but have hands-on tasks as site managers on the construction site. Helmets and protective clothing hang in the architect's office. Everyone has an ID 06 card. The boundary between the architect's office and the construction site is blurred. The contractors' representatives naturally sit next to the architects in front of the computer.
The distance between the different worlds becomes smaller. Mental Berlin Walls have been torn down here, I think. Paul Hedqvist had his office on the site of the DN building in 1960-64, but has anything happened since then? Many architects who are completely detached from building production should probably think again.
Today, Cord Siegel has built a group of companies consisting of architectural firms, project development companies, real estate companies and a hotel company. It is a small, well-managed group with great potential for development.
Cord Siegel has built a strong brand and received a number of awards and accolades for his achievements.
I think many municipalities and other players in the construction industry will want to let Cord Siegel kiss their future for years to come.
Staffan Carenholm