In my quest to get a handle on what "Made in Germany" means to thinkers and visionaries in different industries, I asked Prisca Terven Weems about her thoughts. Trained as an architect, she is the principal of Future Proof in New Orleans. The sustainability consultancy has seen its business soar since Katrina hit and intelligent rebuilding efforts were finally on people´s minds and in demand. Here is her take on the question of the identity of a national brand. (This installment again ties into this month´s issue of brand eins dedicated to identity):
Working in the green building industry in the UK and then the US, Made is Germany is the standard to which we measure and re-align our course.
Rapidly developing markets are subject to fluctuating and non-specific standards of achievement, and we often measure the technical sophistication of our efforts against German achievements to determine if we are accomplishing a high level of quality in our outcomes.
What attracts me to this process is the common sense approach in the German technical arena- a blend of passive and active solutions grounded in transparency and shared goals of high performance and applicability.
It is not uncommon for new "trends", such as cradle-to-cradle, to find predecessors in German-designed process. The tradition of precision and craftsmanship seems not to have been lost to younger, more affluent generations. As a result, conversations around quite technical issues are informed, relaxed and are not ego-based. Smoke and mirrors are left for amateurs. This is the mark of quiet confidence for which our team strives.
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