It is in his rooftop flat, with a direct view of the vineyards that cover the Moselle region, that Raoul Gross assembles by hand the bottle openers designed for Esch2022. He works on the assembly line at his dining room table, sitting next to his father who helps him with the work.

Tinkering, designing, inventing, making… It was only natural that product design became a vocation for this Lego enthusiast, for whom doing anything else was out of the question. In his living room, five large cards under glass retrace his history, from the Mac Gyver he imagined himself to be when he was a child, to the designer he has become today: Esch-sur-Alzette where he grew up, Nuremberg and Karlsruhe where he studied, Vienna where he did one of his first internships and finally Bech-Kleinmacher, where he currently lives and works.

Signing various projects for both institutions and private clients, Raoul Gross is also keen to pass on his passion and know-how to the students at the boys’ high school in Esch-sur-Alzette, to whom he gives 3D design lessons while awakening their creativity.

Raoul Gross is one of the two winners of the call for projects launched in the framework of Esch2022 – European Capital of Culture and intended to give a second life to the century-old parquet floor of the Esch-sur-Alzette assembly hall.

Imagining the many scenes that must have taken place on these boards over the years, the designer chose to create a bottle opener, symbolising all the stories that we tell ourselves when opening a bottle. The bottle opener comes in the form of a metal rectangle decorated with parquet “slices” and is delivered in its storage box, which is nothing more than a piece of raw board. A beautiful and unique piece, entirely handmade, intended to evoke memories and invite stories.