The memory of places that we recognize as beautiful contains spaces and buildings that must be preserved, but these same buildings provide the guideline to generate others that complement them. Memory, in this sense, does not strictly belong to the past but becomes a fuse for the present, an activator that, if well understood, anticipates the future.

Memory is not an encapsulated event but a condition of projection. Landscapes are also memory. Luxembourg’s nature is of irreplaceable beauty, and urbanization must accompany it, not destroy it. The site of the project lies between the built-up memory and the ploughed-up nature; it represents both housing and work.

Therefore, the barn that occupies the center of our territory is the constructed image of that memory and of that work. It is the intermediary between the past and the projection into the future. The barn must be preserved and become the substantial axis of the proposal. Barns, in a generic sense, must be cared for because they are memorable; they contain memory and place, they exude work, and they connect us with the original land.

Having decided to safeguard the barn and provide it with other uses, the proposal we present here aims to be simple and forceful. Two buildings are located on the perimeter of what has already been built, defining two places with very different characteristics. The first building defines the limit of what has been built, marks the street des Prés, and at the back transitions with the old crop fields. The toponymy of the street defines the character of the building. In this respect, the communal gardens are characterized by low urbanization. It is more countryside than garden; more intermediary nature than urbanization.

The second building is intended to be more urban, facing the square presided over by the barn. It defines a precise geometry and faces the more consolidated city. Together with the barn, it defines a square with activity, where the public activities generated by the buildings will take place. The square becomes the center of community life, the heart of the urban structure.

The barn needs to be modified from its former use. Buildings that are difficult to renovate, old and sclerotic dwellings, and vulgar extensions are removed from its periphery. With this first cleaning, the building becomes the active protagonist, a significant presence.

It includes, on the ground floor, a small commercial area, an interior passageway, and a meeting area—a space with overlapping functions that allows for meetings and stays, a place that protects and helps to enjoy the sun, read, or converse.

Its upper floor becomes a place of possibilities. It can be a welcoming space, a bastion of solidarity containing toilets and rooms, and even a small living area with independent access. However, it can also become an area for events or multiple activities. The community will decide, and the architecture will serve this decision by proposing possibilities and taking suggestions into account.

The dwellings also embrace their condition of multiplicity. They are not intended to be a type that is repeated indiscriminately, but to provide the necessary diversity in a society changing at an unprecedented speed.

The system used for construction comes from the workshop and structures dwellings that can grow and shrink, adapt, and modify—in short, be in every moment of its time. The wet areas are concentrated, favoring the installation of services and their maintenance. This seemingly innocuous operation means that the rest of the house can be modified with decision and without issues that prevent it. Houses, in this sense, are machines prepared for change. All dwellings should be liquid, adaptable; these are intended to approach this concept, which is not only constructive but also social.

The construction, as we have previously indicated, is intended to be prefabricated, understanding the workshop industry as a substantial asset in the time and economy of this building. Its exterior is intellectually contextual, reinterprets the traditional, and adapts to the normative conditions in an elegant and disciplined manner. It uses Dudelange-colored zinc on roofs, which also serve as facades, and is punctuated by wood, which will age with the dignity of the place while also bringing the warmth of the domestic.

In short, it proposes housing that is unashamedly contemporary and, precisely for that reason, indebted to the most deeply rooted character of the place.