The New Entrepreneur from Greece, Mr. Vasileios Aloutsanidis with his design and fabrication business, Nexus Studio and the Host Entrepreneur from Denmark, Mr. Jesper Bork, with the successful architectural office 3XN (www.3xn.com), participated in the Erasmus for Young entrepreneurs programme, for 6 months, (September 2020 – February 2021). The outcome of their cooperation was even better than expected! They consider their opportunity of participating to the EYE programme as a unique one and valuable experience for both of them. With no doubt, it was great that they had the chance to exchange ideas and experiences.
See below how they present this successful business exchange relationship.
Mr. Bork is an architect and director at 3XN in Denmark. 3XN recently entered into a series of new projects in Greece and they were looking for competences to support them in the process of delivering architectural and interior design on a market which was new to them. In that way the EYE collaboration with Vasileios was very helpful for them.
Vasileios is a young Architect recently graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Having raised a big interest in construction techniques combined with current design norms, he has been looking for opportunities to have a glimpse and dive into the process of design in the European Architecture scene. The Host organization, 3XN was a case that would offer him the chance to evolve on the field, working on leading projects in the industry, among competitive and experienced colleagues. Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs has set this collaboration feasible, supporting it financially and assisting him with his travel and settling down.
Jesper:
“Vasileios is a very talented designer with a versatile set of tools and he was able to switch comfortably between concept finding over product development to interior detailing. It is in fact a rare chance to experience such a condensed design process and to go from concept to building site in only six months.
Vassilios could contribute to this process with his understanding of the Greek construction methods, and I believe his curiosity and eagerness to learn our way of working was mutually beneficial.”
Vasileios:
“During the collaboration I joined a team working on the concept and schematic design of two Hotels that are going to be built in Greece next year. In the team I took over the design of complex facades of the two buildings and later on I cooperated with the interior team. I completed a huge amount of technical drawings of a variety of scales, from 1:200 to 1:2. I also accomplished research on local and international material and construction techniques, contacting suppliers in both areas. The drawings I worked on had to respond to the high standard design of the HE (3XN) and at the same time to the construction standards and capacities of Greece.”
Benefits achieved
The Host entrepreneur considers the cooperation as valuable and believes that it was a tremendous help to have Vasileios on their team since he could contribute with his knowledge of the culture and of constructing methods, which they would otherwise not have direct access to. In that way Vasileios made a significant contribution to the process which enabled the HE to enter a new regional market. Jesper is satisfied with the exchange and he will stay in touch with the NE.
On the other hand, Vasileios, had the opportunity to learn new techniques and act in a broad professional environment, through his collaboration with 3XN. While working on the Greek hotels project, in a period of 6 months, they achieved to cope with complex design challenges and short deadlines for submissions. They totally submitted around 6 packages, each containing from 50 to 150 drawings. Being in constant communication with the clients in Greece and receiving feedback on a regular basis, the submissions corresponded to their expectations applying the design policy of the office. Since the office is very well structured, with many strong disciplines, it gave him a glimpse of how a successful company is operating and what the relationship between different departments is. The NE believes that the EYE programme gave him the opportunity to significantly improve his skill-set and evolve both technically and intellectually, through the creative process that was followed.
New Entrepreneur: “Expanding my horizons and gaining experience on an international level was my top priority. EYE gave me the opportunity to realize it through my business exchange relationship in a world-leading office with high standards design. Participating in complex and demanding projects and collaborating with competitive, skillful, well-trained and qualified colleagues was a great experience.“
Host Entrepreneur: “We all benefit from exchanging ideas and knowledge about different cultures. The exchange of Vasileios though the EYE program was a help for us when we entered a new regional market with designing several hotels which we delivered in a very short time span.“
