Les jeunes designers polonais Maciej Kurkowski et Maciej Sutula ont collaboré pour ce projet appelé « Kredytowa » : construire un appartement et une salle de conférence à Varsovie. L’intérieur est parsemé de détails comme par exemple des gravures sur les murs ou au sol. Les photos sont de Paulina Sasinowska.
Voici la maison la plus étroite du monde. Elle porte le nom de « Keret House » et elle a été conçue par l’architecte polonais Jakub Szczesny (Centrala). Construite entre 2 autres bâtiments, la taille de sa largeur se situe entre 72 et 122 centimètres maximum. Une maison fonctionnelle à découvrir dans la suite.
This baguette shop in Warsaw, Poland, by architects MFRMGR is modelled on market booths and stalls set up in the city during the 1990s (+ slideshow).
Polish firm MFRMGR, formerly known as Moko Architects, designed Serwus as a healthy and modern version of the traditional Zapiekanka stall, which served open baguettes topped with meat, vegetables, cheese and ketchup as a popular type of fast food.
“The entire spatial idea relates to the market booths where virtually everything was sold in Warsaw in the 90s,” said the architects.
“Generally, we have pleasant memories from that time when small businesses developed and huge changes took place in our country after the fall of communism,” they added.
Red and yellow steel frames – coloured to resemble ketchup and cheese – surround wooden serving counters, representing the framework of a market booth.
During construction the architects also exposed the original tiled floor, dating back to before the Second World War.
The interior is divided into five stalls. The first one is a welcome zone with the menu and cash register while the second zone separates the customer and staff area with a flap and gate.
The third stall is designed as an area for preparing sauces and storing ingredients. The fourth stall is the food preparation area and the fifth stall, in front of the window, features a high counter where customers can sit and enjoy their food.
Recently, hamburgers and other types of food from distant places of the world have become extremely popular in Warsaw. However, we always felt sentimental about the typical Polish toasted baguettes called zapiekanka which were common fast-food in the 90s and were sold in hideous booths on markets or in trailers.
The basic zapiekanka was made with delicious baguette with mushrooms and real cheese with ketchup on top. Unfortunately, the typical tasty zapiekanka became extinct like the dinosaurs or we can say that they ate their own tail – instead of a yummy meal you could buy just a large frozen baguette with cheap ingredients (ham, cabbage, onion etc.) which was prepared in a microwave.
At Serwus we decided to experiment with the vision of zapiekanka. Apart from the reference to classics we created variations with original and healthy ingredients. Our offer is based on the idea of slow-food – each morning fresh products are prepared while the sauces (ketchup) is prepared using homemade methods. The ingredients, shape and size of the baguette was prepared by a partner bakery according to our guidelines. Zapiekanka is prepared in a fan oven.
The entire spatial idea relates to the market booths where virtually everything was sold in Warsaw in the 90s. Generally, we have pleasant memories from that time when small businesses developed and huge changes took place in our country after the fall of communism.
The small space features five such booths with different dimensions. Each stall is dedicated for a particular function in the process of preparing food. The structure of the stalls consists of powder-coated steel profiles which have the colour of ketchup and cheese. The frame of one stall is zinc-coated. Countertops and enclosures of the oven and refrigerators are made from softwood plywood coated with clear varnish. Round bulbs with visible filaments hang from horizontal steel connectors. Intensity of illumination can be regulated while the worktops can be illuminated with warm-colour fluorescent bulbs.
Each stall is equipped with all necessary elements for completing a certain function. Stall 1 – welcome zone for the customer. This is where the menu and cash register is located. Under the counter there is a place for beverages and a small refrigerator. After ordering and paying the customer moves further into the restaurant.
Stall 2 – serves as a separation point between the customer zone and the employee zone. There is a flap and gate. Stall 3 – the area for preparing sauces where the induction stove is installed. It also features the storage area for ingredients in plastic cases. It is possible to attach herb pots, knives, cutting boards etc. on the steel profiles.
Stall 4 – the area for preparing food, cutting bread and putting ingredients on the baguette. This area also features a large fridge, an oven and a storage area for bread in plastic cases. Apart from the multi-function hangers there is also a paper towel holder.
Stall 5 – the area for customers where they can enjoy their food, read a newspaper or have a cup of coffee. Due to the small space, this area features only a high counter where the guest can eat or talk to friends.
During renovation of this shop we discovered unique flooring from the pre-world war II period. The wooden frame where the glass panels were attached using putty was refurbished and repaired where necessary. The frame was coated with red varnish on the outside and cream-white varnish on the inside. We also successfully renovated the brass door handle. In order to easily locate the restaurant we have designed a neon light using old technology.
Project name – SERWUS – Zapiekanka Bar Project city, country – Warsaw, Poland Designers/architects – MOKO ARCHITECTS / MFRMGR / Marta Frejda , Michał Gratkowski / Collaboration – Pamela Krzyszczak Logotype – Lange & Lange Status of project / expected completion – completed in 2013 Usable floor area: 18 m2
A wooden canopy made of irregular timber lengths sprawls across the ceiling of this Thai noodle bar in Warsaw, Poland, by Moko architects (+ slideshow).
Referencing Thailand’s covered street food markets, the Tuk Tuk bar by Moko architects is contained in a small room that features an angular timber installation.
“Thai cuisine in Poland is usually associated with expensive sublime meals in large restaurants,” said the designers. “The concept of TUK TUK was to bring the people living in Warsaw closer to the atmosphere of street food in Bangkok.”
The dining area is covered by the freestanding wooden structure, lit by tubular lamps attached along the timber lengths.
The walls and floor of the restaurant are painted in light green to the height of the canopy, then the tops of the walls and ceiling are coloured black so the wood stands out.
A granite work surface separates the open kitchen at the back from the dining area towards the front of the restaurant.
Thai cuisine in Poland is usually associated with expensive sublime meals in large restaurants. There is no tradition of eating fresh food in small restaurants in the city or street food.
The concept of TUK TUK was to bring the people living in Warsaw closer to the atmosphere of street food in Bangkok. In our opinion it seems rather like a lack of order and rules, a bit of chaos and food prepared with fresh local products which tastes and smells delicious.
An inspiration for this project were the structures which can be seen above the markets in Thailand. In this single room of the restaurant we have designed an installation of square timber elements which appears to be out of order. It constitutes the vault and roof supporting the installed lights. Additionally, its aim is to attract the consumers.
The restaurant is illuminated using fluorescent lamps mounted in irregular intervals and at various heights. The lamps provide two different shades of light – intense warmth and intense coldness. Under the above structure, small tables and colourful stools are placed irregularly.
Initially, we proposed to use plastic stools, which are very often used in Thailand, but since it was impossible to acquire them, as a temporary option we used standard tools which are easily available.
There is no determined method of placing the tables – they can be freely arranged depending on the guests’ needs. The entire design is matched with a neutral interior which features finishing materials so often used in Thailand street food restaurants, i.e. inexpensive terrazzo tiles. The kitchen is open and forms a stage where the chef is a starring actor.
The design of TUK TUK does not contain any strict principles or a mathematical formula – it is merely an impression and a freely transformed collection of memories and associations brought here from a trip to Thailand.
News: Dutch architects Mecanoo have won a competition to design a garden and an underground pavilion with a corkscrew staircase in the Polish capital, Warsaw (+ slideshow).
The garden and pavilion proposed by Mecanoo will be located in the city’s popular Lazienki Park, which was designed around a series of buildings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Called the Garden of the 21st Century, this new addition comprises a triangular sliver of landscaped parkland criss-crossed by an undulating path, with exhibition spaces hidden underneath.
“The Garden of the 21st Century is special, because the design of the pavilion follows from that of the landscape,” said the architects.
Mecanoo collaborated with Dutch landscape architect Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects and Polish firm Jojko Nawrocki Architekci on the design of the landscaping and pavilion.
Entrances in the walls that run along both of the park’s long edges lead into the pavilion, which can also be entered from a public plaza that slices into the landscape.
“Two entry points are carved out of the side walls and another one out of the landscape,” explained the architects. “All give access to a central hall, which connects two major exhibition spaces and two smaller ones that have modular layouts.”
This entrance foyer contains a spiralling staircase connecting two levels and a series of skylights that appear above ground as rounded oculi embedded in the garden.
The pavilion is designed to house temporary exhibitions, while the garden will be used for educational as well as recreational purposes.
Here’s a brief project description from the architects:
Garden of the 21st Century in Warsaw
A team consisting of Mecanoo, Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects and Jojko Nawrocki Architekci has won the competition to design the new Garden of the 21st Century with integrated exhibition pavilion in Warsaw. In a ceremony at the Royal Lazienki Museum on Friday 16 November, the Polish Minister of Culture & National Heritage and the Minister of Environment jointly announced the result of an international competition with 80 submissions.
The new 2,5 hectare garden will be part of Lazienki Park, one of the most important touristic destinations in Warsaw that includes many 18th and 19th century buildings such as the Royal Baths, a Roman-inspired theatre and a water tower. The existing gardens in the park were all designed around these historic buildings. The Garden of the 21st Century is special, because the design of the pavilion follows from that of the landscape.
The 1800 m2, underground exhibition pavilion seems to grow out of the undulating walkway that surrounds the garden. Two entry points are carved out of the sidewalls and another one out of the landscape. All give access to a central hall, which connects two major exhibition spaces and two smaller ones that have modular lay-outs. Several oculi, or large round skylights, protrude through the walkway and the vegetation creating a mysterious play of light in the garden, but also providing carefully controlled daylight in the pavilion.
Both the garden and pavilion will provide new cultural life to the park with its many museums. The pavilion will host large temporary exhibitions, whereas the garden will play a role in local environmental education as well as be an example of 21st century landscape architecture.
Warsaw studio Moko Architects has unveiled plans to build a diving and indoor skydiving centre outside Warsaw by surrounding a pair of abandoned cement silos with a tower of shipping containers.
The facility is proposed for the industrial district of Żerań, where a series of channels transport water between the city and Zegrze Reservoir, and a number of abandoned factories, warehouses and silos stand empty.
Moko Architects has designed a ten-storey structure where diving and skydiving activities can take place inside the cylinders of the converted silos. The first will be filled entirely with water to allow divers to plunge to depths of 25 metres, while the second will contain an underwater “cave” at its base and a skydiving tunnel at its top.
Shipping containers will be stacked up around the outside of the silos to provide offices and training facilities, as well as hostel accommodation, an exhibition area, a reading room, sports shops and a summer cafe. Balcony terraces will also be created on each floor by the irregular arrangement of the containers.
Here’s some more information from Moko Architects:
Modernising the existing silos at the Żerański channel into a Diving and Indoor Skydiving Centre open all year round
The area for the investment is located ca. 12 km away from the centre of Warsaw. This is a part of a house factory in Żerań which operated in the past. Today, there are abandoned halls, warehouses and non-developed area. Main facilities include wholesale warehouses of construction materials and other products. The Żerański channel flows through the entire area, which creates a unique municipal landscape.
The collection of elements described above has a huge potential. The channel is a great water communication route between the City and the Zegrze Reservoir which provides the opportunity of doing water sports and staying active. The remains of the factories, warehouses and silos may be attractive for investors interested in their modernisation into lofts, offices, studios or erecting new buildings which will interline into the surrounding landscape.
Site plan
This area is also becoming a popular place for amateurs of extreme sports, artists or people who like exploring abandoned buildings.
Our design assumes development of a Diving and Indoor Skydiving Centre open all year round in the old silos where bulk cement used to be stored in the past. The existing facility is a perfect base for this investment and will be the only place in Poland where people wishing to learn the skills of diving will have the opportunity to safely train at the depth of 25m under control. The well located in one of the silos is connected to the “cave” of the other cylinder. This is an ideal place to train wreck diving. The diameter of the well is 7m.
Apart from the cave, the second silo will feature a technical area as well as an Indoor Skydiving Centre. This place will make dreams about flying come true. In the “tube” where air will flow at high speeds, you will be able to safely train skydiving.
The Diving and Indoor Skydiving Centre will feature additional functions for people who will only visit the centre for a few hours with their families as well as for organised groups coming for training sessions lasting a couple of days.
The ground floor will feature the entrance area with exhibition space, professional magazines reading area, external café open in the summer season as well as a workshop. Level 1 will house sports stores. Level 2 and 3 will feature offices and administration. Level 4 will feature a hostel for indoor skydivers while level 5 will house training rooms and changing rooms for skydivers as well as the entrance to the area where the practical training of indoor skydiving is conducted. Level 6 will house a hostel for divers, level 7 will feature training and presentation rooms for divers while on level 8 there will be changing rooms separate for women and men. The will also be a buffer zone for divers to directly access the place where they start diving. At the same level, the facility will also feature a warm-up room. In the retained control room area at level 9 a small bar with a view onto the city panorama is designed. There will be terraces on all levels where you can relax after training while watching the industrial scenery intertwined with the Żerański channel.
The modules forming the space for additional functions are applied onto the existing structure of the silo walls looking as if they were growing on them. They are made of light self-supporting steel structure located on both sides and connected by a staircase. They comprise system cubes operating on the basis of single containers which are relatively cheap to manufacture and easy to rearrange in case of the need of changing the functional arrangement of the entire project. Polycarbonate plates will be the covering material through which the structure will be visible.
Completion of this project will set a direction for the development of this district and may become an alternative cultural centre in this part of Warsaw.
There’s an upside-down living room on the ceiling of this Polish fashion boutique created by design studio smallna for fashion brand Risk. Made in Warsaw (+ slideshow).
The designers at smallna were influenced by the reversible nature of Risk. Made in Warsaw’s clothing range, in which items can be worn inside-out or back-to-front, to create the illusion of defying gravity.
An inflatable sofa by Polish brand Malafor, a chair and a side table have been fixed to the ceiling, along with a crumpled skirt and a pair of shoes that appear to have been discarded onto the simulated floor above.
White-painted steel pipes protrude from the walls, ceiling and floor, snaking around the perimeter of the space and forming rails from which clothes appear to hang in both directions.
A circular dressing room wrapped in a grey fabric curtain extends the full height of the shop, connecting floor to ceiling as though it could be accessed from either plane.
An upside-down balloon that appears to be made from concrete hangs from the ceiling, seemingly reversing the rules of gravity.
The same balloon, when viewed from the reversed perspective, appears to be floating but held to the ground by a brick. This deceptive installation was created by Polish artist Joanna Gwóźdź, whilst Daiusz Kwiet – another Polish artist – was commissioned to paint the walls of the shop to look like the sky.
Vintage light fittings are dotted around the space, including 1940s American train lights, 1960s Polish tram lights and a Japanese mirrorball from the 1970s.
All the soft furnishings throughout the shop are made from the same grey melange fabric that the Risk. Made in Warsaw designers use to make their clothes.
The Rib & Hull Heirloom Tote strikes a perfect balance of richly handsome leather with a timeless and functional silhouette, but just when we thought that was the only bag we’d ever want or need, its…
Polish architect Jakub Szczesny claims to have built the world’s narrowest house, just 122 centimetres across at its widest point.
The Keret House is squeezed into a crevice between two buildings in the centre of Warsaw and will provide a temporary home for travelling writers.
“It started with the space,” Szczesny told Dezeen, after explaining how he came across the site when walking home one day. “I started to think who could live there. It had to be a person that would like to be a hermit, someone who would like to spend time alone doing something, but doing what?”
Szczesny, who is one of the co-founders of arts group Centrala, approached Israeli writer Etgar Keret to get involved in the project and the pair started developing a triangular house with just enough space for a single inhabitant to live and work. “It requires a sense of humour, as you cannot stay long in a place like this,” joked Szczesny.
The body of the house is raised up on stilts and a staircase leads inside from underneath.
At its narrowest point the house is no more than 72 centimetres wide. “Everything was custom and everything needed to be pushed,” said Szczesny, explaining how they managed to fit in all the necessary furnishings.
The house will remain in place for at least two years, but could end up staying for good. “It has already become a Warsaw icon and is already on the tourist map,” said the architect.
The narrowest Keret House with the broadest horizons
Keret House is the installation art in the form of an insert in between two existing buildings. The project was launched on Saturday 20th of October in Warsaw. It is led by the Israeli writer Etgar Keret.
Keret House is fully functional space in which one can live as well as create. It is located between buildings at Chlodna 22 Street and Zelazna 74 Street. “We deeply believe it will become a symbol of modern Warsaw ingrained in its complicated history. The House attracts attention of media from entire world. He hope it will show the most fascinating side of Warsaw”, say Sarmen Beglarian and Sylwia Szymaniak form Polish Modern Art Foundation, the curators of the project.
The House is located on the plot measuring 92 centimeters in its narrowest point and 152 centimeters in its widest point. “That is why at first it seems that the construction of living space within such premise is impossible. Keret House is to contradict that false image, simultaneously broadening the concept of impossible architecture”, says the architect Jakub Szczesny. The house itself is 72 centimeters in the narrowest and 122 centimeters in the widest point.
In the fracture of history
The house is located between two buildings from two historical epochs. “The first is a brick building on Zelazna Street – a fragment of the pre-world war II city, almost no longer existing. The second – a cooperative concrete apartment building, an element of an “imposed structure”, which was aimed at negating the previous city landscape. Their adjacency is coincidental – like many architectural structures in Warsaw. Keret House is a perfect example of the so-called “non-matching” in the city’s urban fabric. Another reason is the city’s war history – where the house is located, two ghettos – the large ghetto and the small ghetto met. Only a few steps from the house, a bridge connecting the two closed spaces, stood”, explains Jakub Szczesny.
Project’s founder/concept designer: Jakub Szczesny Art curators: Sarmen Beglarian, Sylwia Szymaniak Executive producer: Joanna Trytek – Black Salt Production
Organiser: Polish Modern Art Foundation Co-financing: the Capital City of Warsaw Partner: National Centre for Culture
Sponsor: LHI General conctractor: AWBUD Partners: GIRA, Kingspan, Decoroom, Volunta Parket, Milantex, Polish Institute in Tel Aviv, White & Case, Kostrzewa PR, Chylinski Family, Jewish Community in Warsaw, Chlodna Comedy Club, PMG Partners, Biuro Wystaw.
Young architects dream about designing and building big houses. However, the reality is quite the opposite – they work on small scale commissions. FiuFiu boutique is one of those petite spaces and its concept is based on yearning for making homes even of paper-mache.
Bright forms on frigid blue background recall enchanted atmosphere of Scanidinavian landscape (or its imaginary archetype), because all the shop items originate from there.
Extra long gable house, looking like being freehand drawn by a child, is cut in three with red steel blades and slightly shifted to create complementary space for a cash desk, a fitting room and storage space.
Each of acquired spaces is furnished with same simple items such as rails, ledges and lamps.
Steel coulisses optically shorten long, enlighten only from one side room and encourage a passer-by to enter the shop and indulge in scandinavian atmosphere.
When looking at the small houses from the outside, it is finally possible to see their genuine nature- solid and beautiful wooden structure. Raw carpentry is emphasised by the use of snow white interiors of the volumes.
This nordic fairy tale cottage was put ‘ad hoc’ in an existing space, where the only inference was painting the walls and ceiling in one colour. The light reflected from these plains enters the houses, making the shop interior even lighter and more spacious. Nordic bonbon.
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