Conversation with Xavier de Kestelier, Head of Design and Innovation at Hassell, a global architecture and design practice
We broadcast a recording of the interview with Xavier de Kestelier, head of Design and Innovation at Hassell. The conversation took place in the frame of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture, TU Vienna (WS 2025/26). Students were investigating current and future challenges in planning and building within a broader social, ecological and technological context. For this series, they asked researchers, creative people and experts from different disciplines and research fields about the following questions: What kind of future do we want to create? What role(s) does architecture play in this? What tools and technologies are available to us? What visions exist, and where are they leading us? What can we learn from other disciplines for a sustainable architecture? What lessons can be drawn from the past for future projects?
This interview explores lifestyle and technology adaptation to extreme environments, from terrestrial outposts to future space habitats. Xavier shares his travel experiences in extreme environments here on Earth and his adventurous approach to architecture and beyond. The discussion of terrestrial and extraterrestrial design concepts and built examples reflects the importance of material lifecycles, why we should prioritize design, how to critically evaluate emerging technologies, and the broader perspective of sustainability and the fundamentals of vernacular architecture. This interview invites listeners to consider what happens to design and to living when you don’t take resources available to you for granted, and how to be creative with constraints and available variables.
Luka Pejic and Karagozaiym Turganbek conducted the interview and produced this broadcast as part of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture at the Vienna University of Technology.
> More information about Xavier de Kestelier
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