Martin Gran: "If there are no people, then there is no architecture – it's just a theory and some sketches"

Martin Gran is a partner at Snøhetta, one of the world's leading design and architectural firms. The company's collection includes the first underwater restaurant in Europe, a power plant building that produces more energy than it consumes, and many cultural and social facilities.

In an interview, Martin explained what an architect's mission really should be, as well as what conscious construction is for him.

– You once told me that once every two years, the Snøhetta team goes hiking together in the mountains, which is part of the company's corporate culture. Tell us more about it.

– Once every two years we go to Mount Snohetta (the top of the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway). We try to attract as many people as possible from all our offices located all over the world – from Australia to San Francisco. The idea of these trips is to get closer to nature, as nature is at the heart of architecture, because architecture is always related to context. This is an important principle in all our work.

During our trips, we talk about our motivation as architects and designers, and how we can push boundaries with our work. And so. Architecture and design make sense only when they fulfill some kind of role, respond to the needs and demands of people and society.

Sometimes clients ask us which project we consider the most important in our field of activity. And, probably, they want to hear some specific project from our portfolio. But we always answer that our most important project is Snøhetta, that is, ourselves. We strive to take care of people and to be the best members of society.

- Snøhetta won its first significant competition, the Alexandria Library project in Egypt, when the company's founders were still students, and now they have become a well–known international company. What do current students need to do to achieve the same success?

- I would advise you to follow your passion, your love for something. If there is no passion, if there is no love for business, then there will be no internal motivation, and success will not follow either. So yes, I will say that you need to follow your passion.

- Speaking about the project of the Library of Alexandria, you said that the staff of Snøhetta monitored the conditions in which the construction was carried out. Why is this important? Isn't the role of an architect limited to just an idea?

- We always try to make sure that there is added value when implementing projects. This can be an added value to the environment, either economically or socially. We believe that if an architect focuses on architecture for architecture's sake, then it's not really architecture at all.

In the Alexandria Library project, we included in the contract clauses to ensure work safety, to issue salaries to employees not every two weeks, but every four weeks, that helmets, water, and safety shoes should be on site. These are simple but very important things. We tried to ensure that there would be no work injuries at the end of the project, and we succeeded. And this was the first project implemented in the Middle East, in which there were no incidents.

- What benefit has it given you?

- Such a smooth flow of the project has shown us that we can really influence how people interact with buildings. And not only after the building was built, but also at the implementation stage. Because we always strive to create sustainable relationships between people and buildings, and strengthen social interactions. We believe that it helps to create a better world with small steps.

- Your company has created an office building of the Brattorkaya power plant, which produces more electricity than it consumes. How did you come up with this idea? What needs to be done to ensure that all buildings in the world will be like this in the future?

- I'll start with the last part of your question. For such changes, more interaction is needed between those who build buildings, politicians, designers and planners. We need more cooperation. For example, there is a lot of competition between designers now. We need to stop acting like this. You need to share your knowledge and experience.

Buildings consume at least half of all electricity in the world. The construction industry has a great responsibility to prevent the environmental crisis that we are already facing.

Buildings like Brattorkaya are becoming the answer to this challenge, as they produce more energy than they consume throughout their entire life cycle, including construction and demolition. In addition, they leave a much lower carbon footprint compared to other similar buildings.

- Another speaker of 100+, Leo Hollis, believes that it is necessary to think not about life in buildings, but about life among buildings. Do you agree with this opinion? Explain why.

- Yes, I think that's very well said. I would add that if there are no people, then there is no architecture in its final form. It's just a theory, some kind of outline that no one will accept.

We need people to interact, and we need to improve social interaction. If we do this successfully, it means that we will add value. I repeat, this is very important for us. If we successfully apply this approach in our work, there will be very positive changes.

- Let's fantasize. Based on all your knowledge of Russia, which building could you design for us?

- Of course, I would like to know more about Russia. I know that this country is very big, there are a lot of people in it, and they are very different. And, of course, it would be very pleasant and exciting to participate in a project where we could create value for everyone, perhaps in the field of culture or education, as we did with the Opera House in Oslo.

- We talk a lot about what Snøhetta has achieved. Was there anything that could not be implemented? Why did this happen?

- Yes, of course, we have had such cases. Like many other architectural and design bureaus, we lose many competitions for the implementation of projects. The vision of the project must match the ambitions of the customer, which is not always possible. Very often we made projects that were eventually disapproved of, not because we designed them poorly, but because they didn't fit, or some circumstances beyond our control changed. We have a lot of blueprints in our office that the world has never seen. We are even planning to give a lecture sometime about all those projects that are not destined to be built. We really want to present them one day.

- The theme of our forum this year is "Conscious construction". How do you determine for yourself where conscious construction is and where it is not?

- The forum topic is wonderful. I believe that mindfulness, or resilience, as we often say, is not only important, it is imperative. Sometimes we ask ourselves the question: maybe the world no longer needs any new building projects? Buildings should have some kind of function and practical value for society. With this approach, sometimes abandoning a project is also a reasonable decision.

By 2030, we have set ourselves the goal of making all the projects that Snøhetta implements projects with zero or neutral emissions. This is part of our strategy for sustainable development – social, economic, and environmental. In fact, social sustainability is a very broad topic that we still return to, even 30 years after our creation. Most importantly, buildings should benefit people and enhance social interaction. This is the true value.