First Vice-President (of Spain), Commissioner, Members of the European Parliament, Ministers, Mayor, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Five years ago, Sevilla was hosting one of the New European Bauhauss first public dialogues. At this event, President von der Leyen offered a perspective on the NEBs ambitions, playing a crucial part in the evolution of the movement. She said – and I quote – that we “should not only promote visions, but also very tangible products”.

I remember very fondly the Commission Presidents reference to the New European Bauhaus being the soul of the Green Deal, which has led to an explosion of creativity across our Union.

In fact, I believe that the New European Bauhaus can turn the Green Deal into tangible change on the ground, improving daily lives through sustainable and resilient solutions for our environment and lifestyles.

And here we are, five years later, breaking ground on the most tangible product there can be. This will be the first EU building explicitly based on the principles of the New European Bauhaus.

Dear Bjarke, you once said that “its not about what we give up to be sustainable, its about what we get.” This is our mantra in the European Commission too. Sustainability goes hand in hand with competitiveness, security, and resilience. It can make our lives happier, healthier, and if we do it right – also more beautiful.

This new building will definitely do it right. Its stunning solar dome will be able to generate twice the buildings energy needs. With its passive design, it will compensate for its carbon footprint in record time. And – and this is close to my heart as Commissioner for Water Resilience – it will feature integrated rainwater collection to irrigate its beautiful green areas, and also to flush the toilets.

Whats more, it will look great, and with its shaded plaza and greenery, it will almost certain also feel great too. Once built this building will be a big and beautiful statement which pays tribute to the New European Bauhaus as visioned and initiated by our Commission President.

And this building is not the only expression of the New European Bauhaus. I also want to pay tribute to the hundreds of beautiful and sustainable statements that the NEB community is making in neighbourhoods around Europe. They tell us a story about the daily life of citizens and what resilience feels and looks like.

Through the New European Bauhaus, we called for a long-lasting and innovative movement to shape our future spaces and ways of living. A movement that adopts the free-thinking, experimental and interdisciplinary spirit of the original Bauhaus movement, and brings it alive in our century. It is also about preserving our cultural heritage.

And Europeans responded. The movement was small at first: a few pioneering partners, artists, architects, researchers. But it quickly grew into a vibrant and diverse community. Today, the NEB Community is more than one thousand nine hundred strong. Some are with us here today.

They bring projects to life in cities and villages, on campuses and in festivals. They have translated the New European Bauhaus values into local action, into teaching and experimentation, into new business models and urban practices.

The projects are as diverse as the challenges they address. Like Creating temporary housing for vulnerable groups. Ore promoting biodiversity through sustainable agricultural practices, right here in Andalusia. And greening our cities – including here in Sevilla – by bringing nature back into urban space.

Dear colleagues from the Joint Research Centre: as well as leading the co-design of the New European Bauhaus, you are working with over two hundred regions, cities, and communities through the Preparatory Action, Innovation for place-based transformation. Some territories have chosen to achieve this transformation through a New European Bauhaus experimentation journey, and I am looking forward to witnessing these voyages of discovery. Thank you for your dedication to this work. The Preparatory Action is also supported by the European Parliament.

For the start of next year, we are also working on a Recommendation to Member States on the New European Bauhaus. I believe that embedding the New European Bauhaus values at a national level is a crucial contribution to create affordable, sustainable and resilient concepts to address current challenges and to pave the way for a better future for the coming generations.

None of this is a top-down venture – it is a journey of co-creation. And that is the power of the New European Bauhaus. What we celebrate today is not just the start of construction, but the continuation of a story and its ever-learning journey that belongs to everyone.

Thank you.

And now that we have heard about the New European Bauhaus, lets see what it looks like.