6 Questions for...Anna-Zoë Schmidt, Conceptual Designer and Communications Consultant

What does the future of construction look like? Shared!

Zoë is our expert for communications and the sharing economy. She was one of the first Airbnb employees outside of San Francisco. As a City and Community Manager, she helped the company convince apartment owners of the Airbnb concept. With success, as we can now see. But - helping companies grow isn't Zoë's only ambition. Above all, she wants to make the world a better place.

She reveals why in this interview.

Photo: Jacqueline Schulz

1. Please introduce yourself briefly. Who are you?

I'm Zoë and I've been living in Berlin for over 20 years. I work as a conceptual designer and my work connects people and visions.

2. Zoë, let's start straight away with the elephant in the room: Was Airbnb a good idea? Rents have exploded since then.

For me personally, Airbnb was an invention that changed my life. Besides being a really important career move, it changed the way I lived. Private things were suddenly shared. I could finally live flexibly, travel, and host people from all over the world. And in new places, I immediately felt a bit more at home. That was exactly my idea of freedom.

But with money always comes with the danger that people will only see the profit and lose sight of the true value. I think that's what happened with Airbnb. Many people misused valuable living space as a money printing machine. And from there, it became problematic. The housing shortage itself didn't happen because of Airbnb, of course, but simply because there are ever more people in the world with ever-more specific needs. Airbnb was just one of the many symptoms of an unavoidable cause.

In addition, there are also other areas where we are beginning to realize that the resources are no longer sufficient, or at least that they can no longer be squandered as wastefully as they were a few years ago. Food, energy, water and, as we've seen, living space.

That's why I find the RoofUz concept so exciting. It has a very clear solution for the resource of "space": creating space on unoccupied roofs.

3. What do you think the future of housing looks like?

Rethinking the existing building stock. Maybe I'm already very aware of the topic, but I don't understand why we really need to have new construction in times like these. Since the post-war period, cities have been built up more; there is hardly any space left for nature, animals or even rainwater that can be returned to nature.

We have plenty of spaces, buildings and ideas. We just have to dare to think differently. And then to act. Certainly not an easy task, but doable!

If we were to redistribute the space we have, the space problem would suddenly be less of a problem. And maybe we would see more social interaction, which has decreased so much in recent years. More and more people are suffering from loneliness and depression, which is certainly also due to individualized living. Individuality has its price. That's true of life, but it's also true of living.

In a perfect world, I imagine small apartments: a cozy sleeping area, perhaps a kitchenette or tea kitchen, a bathroom. The rest would be shared by the house community. A large rooftop garden with vegetable beds, a communal kitchen, community spaces for working and crafting, a sandbox for the children. Living as a meeting place for young and old, for students and professionals. New communities could develop on the rooftops, sharing not only the space, but also life. I would move in immediately!

4. What do you think needs to be done so that things change?

The construction industry is very male-dominated. I think it's time for that to change. Higher, faster, further and the pursuit of profit have brought us where we are today. And it can't and won't go on like this.

Living means more than building and owning a home. Housing means home, togetherness, fulfillment, but also responsibility. We are in a massive crisis and need to rethink. We women proved after the war, out of necessity, that we could rebuild entire cities. Even if today's crisis is a completely different one, it is inevitable and something must be done now so that we people are not left without a roof over our heads in the future.

This requires creativity and courage. And when things get difficult, the women somehow have to fix it. With tact and empathy. I have the feeling that the time is ripe for this.

5. What do you find so exciting about RoofUz?

I like to find intelligent solutions. And that's exactly what RoofUz does. We have a housing problem, but plenty of space on the roofs. Why don't we build the apartments up top? And while we're at it, rethink the whole housing concept and energy retrofitting concept. Because in addition to the building revolution, clever construction can also positively influence the energy revolution.

I'm also excited by the idea of using serially produced prefab construction. Having it planned and built by people who really know what they're doing and have given it a lot of good thought beforehand. That saves so much valuable time on both sides.

I imagine wonderful cities of the future, if there are beautiful wooden structures on the roofs up above, where trees are growing and children are playing.

6. What would you personally wish for when it comes to building and living?

I have always wanted maximum flexibility when it comes to living, so I can try out many different things. That's what I want for the next generation, too. Rising rents in cities have made it extremely difficult for students, for example, to live where they study. Long commutes also mean that they can't make connections in a new city. Which brings us back to the problem of loneliness.

I have just become a mother and it is extremely difficult to find a suitable apartment near my friends. I may eventually have to move away completely. And yet in that beautiful saying, it says, "It takes a village to raise a child." But what if the whole big village lives behind high walls?

And it's not just because I live in a city that used to be separated by a wall, that I'm pretty sure that walls in cities also lead to walls in people's minds.

That's why I'm in favor of rethinking and opening up spaces. And for that, owners, politicians and all of us must want a future in which life becomes easier and more livable again. For everyone.