A Good Life

A Good Life

My colleague Dikchya Pandey recently asked me what actually is a good life. And what does the toolbox look like with which I try to make a good life possible for myself and for others. A question that is worth asking oneself. Because it is only when we ourselves have an idea of what a good life is, can we create the structural conditions for others to lead a good life.

How I answered this question you can read in my new column, which was published in the current issue of Immobilienwirtschaft.

My entertaining trip from Berlin to Dessau takes about one hour. There you will find the buildings that remain from the famous Bauhaus school of the 1920s. Today you will also find there a small school of architecture, the DIA, Dessau International Architecture Graduate School, which offers a master's degree program for students from all over the world. The language of instruction is English.

What would prospective architects from Nepal, Ghana, Malaysia, Egypt or Colombia be interested in hearing on the day of their Graduation? What advice can I give them on their way? I have doubts and ask Dikchya Pandey, my young colleague who recently graduated from DIA herself, for support.

She asks me two questions which she would have liked to have had answered: "What is the best way to give something back to society" and "How did you get where you are? - Two key questions that I like very much. Questions that have been frequently asked, but which people in all phases of their life can answer anew.

This cannot mean career counseling. Nor can it mean answering the question of the quickest way to earn a lot of money or become famous. None of this leads to a good and fulfilled life. It is boring and makes one unhappy. Why? Because it distracts from your own and much more beautiful life project.

Because it leaves the evaluation of one's life's work to others and makes recognition an end in itself. There is always someone who is better, more successful and smarter. So do not make yourself unhappy. And stop comparing yourself.

On the afternoon of the Graduation Ceremony I stand on the lawn in front of the renovated Bauhaus building and look into the expectant faces of about a hundred Master's graduates and their teachers. During the pandemic months they were only connected online. Now they are standing on the strikingly green lawn in their colorful and international festive dress and with a clear distance between them. The atmosphere is contagiously lively. At last they see each other again.

The students have lived in Dessau for two years now. In the last hundred years, the questions about real life, about personal success and about social responsibility have been asked there again and again in completely new ways, and answered in contradictory ways. The life plan of the Bauhäusler differed fundamentally from that of the Nazi barbarians who expelled them. And also the founders of the GDR had a completely different idea of a good life than the peaceful revolutionaries they drove out.

The Bauhäusler committed themselves to a culture of innovation and revolutionary architectural education. With their new ideas they wanted to achieve a better life for the New Human. But today nobody knows who the New Human should have been. And with their ideas, cities were created primarily for the new cars and less for the people of today.

After a few years, the Bauhaus was driven out of Dessau. They were driven out by the Nazis, who hated the Bauhaus. The Nazis were people who feared the change in their lives and despised those who thought differently. Their goal was also a better life. But this time only for the chosen ones, those who conformed, who belonged to the movement, to the race, to the party.

Today, in a secure constitutional state, for me a good life begins with one's attitude, with one’s perspective of oneself and of the world. These I can influence and I can put together a mental toolbox that helps me in the crafting of my own life. To this toolbox belongs:

The ability to lose: There is, for example, the initially shocking realization that all architects are losers. When the students on their green lawn hear this, a shocked murmur goes down the rows.

But even the most successful architects lose many more competitions than they win. The faster they come to terms with their last defeat, the more strength they have for the next attempt.

I don't like losing either. But I try to concentrate as quickly as possible on what I can change, what I can learn and what I can improve. My advice: Be a good loser.

Continue searching: Architects mostly remain learners, researchers and competitors of the expanding knowledge of the time. New expectations, ideas, standards and requirements are constantly being added as old ones are discarded. This is also exhausting. This is why again and again I try to reorient myself. For example, I change my diet or change the way I design, how I draw, collage, work with others, discuss, listen, organize my schedule, travel to work, consume the world, and so on. Being open to that which is external and internal is a powerful tool for a good life.

Enjoy moments: Do not worry. Not about you, next year, the right way, the economy, the pandemic, the climate, terrorists, etc. Worries do not help anyone, not even those you care about. So stop worrying and focus on your options for action.

Try to concentrate on the moment. Be in the here and now. Life offers you an almost endless chain of moments. Use that. At least I try to do that over and over again. Right now, as I write these lines, the church bells are ringing in the Saturday evening, and the cool breeze feels good. Or this morning at sports with my friends in the Tiergarten, it was raining, we got wet and we laughed a lot. Or afterwards while shopping. The requirement to wear a mask, attentive food specialists, it was hot, stressed customers, tasty vegetables. I can be annoyed or I can enjoy these moments. Today. Take a deep breath. Because I want to. Being present in the here and now is a powerful tool for a good life.

Being mindful: Talent is nothing to be proud of. Be grateful to your parents and grandparents. Be grateful also to luck, living today in this exciting time is not an individual achievement. In most cases, social position, success or financial status are also no personal achievement. So remain moderate with your self-assessment, and attentive and respectful to your fellow men. Whoever can help others out of conviction, can listen, is polite and friendly, has a good life.

Love life: Live your love. This is the greatest and most beautiful life experience. It is the strongest energy I have ever felt. Love the people around you. Be open and receptive to them.

In relationships, the strength is created that turns loneliness into community.

On this day the graduates on the lawn in front of the Bauhaus have outgrown the custody of their parents and their schooling. Like many others, they are a little insecure and overwhelmed by the pandemic, the increasing diversity, speed and the many technical developments that will change their lives even more.

The students are probably living in the most exciting time ever. What drives most of them is not maximum profit and media attention, but the longing for love, meaning and togetherness.
To critically question reality and to participate in an environment that makes a good life possible for every individual is for me a rewarding task. It is also for the coming generation.