Christine Bürgler
What does a typical working day involve for you?
I am a project manager in the Department of Design’s Major-Minor programme.
My working day usually begins with a fresh coffee. I drink it while going through my diary in the office of the Department of Design (4.E03). So I start by preparing for meetings and reading my emails.
Which topics are you focussing on at the moment?
As a project manager I receive instructions from the Major-Minor project board and coordinate their implementation in the Department of Design.
I also assess the feasibility of Major-Minor processes and develop implementation proposals together with the team. I organize regular meetings at different levels which facilitate the information flow. With the monthly «M_m Implementation» meeting of the extended Department’s Conference we have introduced an additional format to support the project’s implementation phase.
What else keeps you busy?
In my personal life, I am involved in parenting and childminding. I have an eight-year-old son and we live in a communal housing scheme of eight one-parent families, each in their own flats, under a single roof. The ninth flat and the garden have been transformed into shared spaces where the mothers take turns to look after the children (lunch / afternoon care).
I have also started to play the piano again after 28 years and am currently teaching myself how to play «Nuvole Bianche» by Ludovico Einaudi.
With whom would you like to switch roles for half a year?
With an Italian wine grower. I would like to work in the countryside and without a computer for half a year, preferably at a vineyard in Southern Italy, near the sea.
What is your personal definition of design?
Design to me means conceiving, creating and shaping something that originates in or was triggered by an unsatisfied need or offers a solution to a problem (asking «why»).
