Tatiana Fabeck: creating sustainable architecture

Her frank smile reveals a breathtaking dynamism. Immersed in the artistic world since her childhood, Tatiana Fabeck has built herself a true haven of creation in an old fire station that has been completely renovated. Captivating, the architect opens up with passion.

Daughter of the renowned Fernand Fabeck, the artistic fiber anchored in her DNA, she always knew she would study art. "Architecture was for me what orchestrated the art of building and the social link, two things that are essential to me on a daily basis" and to quote in the wake, art history, graphic design and design. A set of disciplines that allowed him to blossom and shine during his training at the Ecole Spéciale Architecture de Paris.

On the benches of the school her teachers teach her what she considers the most important: the critical spirit. She quickly learned to observe things carefully, to make thoughtful choices based on constructive criticism. After classes, Tatiana wanders the streets of Paris, a rich learning ground, and becomes intoxicated with lectures by internationally renowned architects, notably at the French Institute of Architecture, exhibitions at the Pompidou Center, and the Louvre. Enthralled by all this learning, combined with six months of study in the United States at the University of Milwaukee-Wisconsin, she obtained her diploma crowned with the ''Best Diploma Award'', a well-deserved reward for the young architect just 25 years old. Her project ''Art Station, the station for art and art for the station'', reported by the press, was about the rehabilitation of the station site into a contemporary art center. It was only after two years with Cuno Brullmann architect in Paris that she returned to Luxembourg: "after winning a very big competition, I seized the opportunity to return to Luxembourg because my place is and has always been in Luxembourg".

A breathtaking story

Her first project under the name of Tatiana Fabeck Architecte is a single-family house for a philosopher and a French teacher, which turns 20 this year. From one competition to the next, the office has grown and her father, a loyal supporter, has given her a great deal of autonomy. They are now a team of 27 to work wonders in the architectural studio Fabeck Architects. "In 2000, I was able to acquire a property classified as a historical monument and adjoining an old fire station," she says. After two transformations using the codes and identity of a rural architecture, in particular with the wooden lathing covering the entire volume, the building fits perfectly into the historical site characterized by the castle of Koerich. The interior is a mixture of steel and wood, industrial, in short.

For the perpetuation of projects

"There are projects that leave their mark and remain like Proust's Madelaine" she says with conviction. They are those where there is a perfect agreement with the client, but especially those that live beyond time. For architecture deals with both the built and the unbuilt space. So she refers to her fear, "how can architecture be so ephemeral? She continues, "We think we're building for hundreds of years, but projects disappear for higher structures or by tragedies like the New York towers. For all that, Fabeck Architects always bounces back.

The art of being part of posterity

Fabeck Architects' guiding principle is to create sustainable projects such as the all-glass Natixis Banque Populaire building in Kirchberg-Luxembourg. "20 years later, it hasn't aged a bit. The technology evolves but I could show you all our projects without having to hide any of them because they are out of fashion. I think that's what's important," she says with pride.

When it comes to color codes, Tatiana's heart is set on the sobriety of black without excluding others. Each project is defined by the geographic context, urban constraints, the client's program and the rational use of materials. Lime, steel and wood are natural rather than plasterboard: "I like the real thing, what you can touch, feel and even smell. There are many things that touch our senses without us realizing it and that makes us feel comfortable. A real architecture that crosses time, in short.

Photo credit: Patricia Pitsch