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There are plenty of Googleable (is that even a word?) stories that feature some really crazy structures around the world, so I’m going to make this more interesting for myself by sticking mostly to buildings I have already seen, all of them in Canada. (Of the two I haven’t, one is on my must-visit list and the other is missing a home).1. Absolute Towers (a.k.a. the Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio buildings), MississaugaThis rather striking pair of towers—only a few minutes’ drive from where I live—was the result of an international design competition hosted by the tower’s developers. The undulating towers, nicknamed Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, were designed by young Beijing-based architect Ma Yansong, and were named Best Tall Buildings in the Americas in 2012. Pro tip: Actually living in an apartment here may not be quite as enjoyable—some of the room shapes make for awkward spaces.2. Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), TorontoWhen the ROM decided to expand, they reached out to noted Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind (I encourage you to check out his very impressive portfolio). Libeskind took his inspiration from the museum’s gem and mineral collection and sketched his initial concept on paper napkins while attending a family wedding at the ROM. The 100,000 sq. ft. extension was named the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal because of its crystalline shape.3. Sharp Centre for Design, Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), TorontoDesigned by British architect Will Alsop, this “floating” two-storey structure stands on stilts 26 metres above the ground, straddling existing buildings of the College. The pixellated black and white exterior is a perfect fit for Toronto’s premier design college. Lifting the building above ground created a new outdoor public space while also improving pedestrian circulation in the area.4. Habitat 67, MontréalConceived by Israeli-born Canadian architect Moshe Safdie when he was just 21 (!), this pioneering development was presented at the 1967 World Expo in Montréal as an experiment in modular housing and a vision for the future of cities. Comprising 354 stacked concrete "boxes", Habitat 67 combines the urban garden residence and the modular high-rise apartment building. Each property in this 12-storey complex features its own roof garden and can be accessed from an external "street”.5. Biosphère, MontréalDesigned by noted American architect Buckminster Fuller, this architectural masterpiece housed the United States pavilion during the 1967 World Expo. The building originally formed an enclosed structure of steel and acrylic cells, 76 metres in diameter and 62 metres high. Today, the Biosphère is a museum dedicated to the environment.6. Olympic Park Tower, MontréalIt takes a funicular (cable railway) to ride up to the top of this 165-metre tower, which at 45 degrees is the tallest inclined tower in the world. As comparison, the Leaning Tower of Pisa tilts only 5 degrees, so the Montréal tower is either quite the engineering feat or somebody got things really, really wrong. Part of the Olympic Park (Montréal hosted the Summer Games in 1976), the tower offers excellent views over the city.7 Hôtel de Glace (Ice Hotel), QuébecThe only ice hotel in North America, this magical structure lasts less than three months each year. Featuring 44 rooms and suites sculpted out of ice, the hotel is built each winter on the slopes of the Laurentian mountains just outside Québec City. Even the beds are made of ice, but a wood base, comfortable mattress and cozy sleeping bag ensure you won’t be cold. (I haven’t stayed here myself yet, but have had friends who have and they vouch for this as being a fantastic experience). The virtual tour is worth checking out as are the images from the gallery.8. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Odditorium, Niagara FallsRipley's needs no introduction, of course, and the picture says it all. All that’s missing is Jessica Lange. Located on Clifton Hill, close to the Horseshoe Falls.9. Sam Kee Building, VancouverAt just 4'11" (1.5m) wide, it is listed in the Guinness Book as the world's shallowest commercial building. It's easy to miss the Sam Kee because it looks like the front of the larger building behind, to which it is attached. Rumour has it that the owner of the Sam Kee Company, Chang Toy, built it in response to the City of Vancouver’s expropriation of his lot in 1912.10. Device to Root Out Evil, current location unknownThis 22-foot Dennis Oppenheim sculpture is well travelled, if nothing else. The upside-down church represented the US to both acclaim and censure at the 1997 Venice Biennale. It was supposed to be later set up in New York, but fears of offending religious leaders scuttled that. Stanford University in California purchased it in 2004, then backed out after its president John L. Hennessy feared similar controversy. From there it travelled to Vancouver where it was set up in Stanley Park for two-and-a-half years, before being moved to Calgary where it lasted another five. The lease however expired last year and the installation is currently believed to be looking for another home.

Poland is a less known and less popular tourist destination but it’s rapidly changing. It is obvious that you must be better educated to be willing to explore the wealth of things Poland has to offer. The average public generally goes to warm/hot areas of the world but those who require more stimulating and new, unexplored places and those who with more demanding tastes will certainly choose Poland and all her features.Poland, because of her geographic position and history, is extremely rich culturally, her architecture, art, music, folklore, cuisines, literature etc are very diverse and complex and one would need long time to experience them all. Then we have our majestic Polish nature that looks different during every season and is your eyes’ delight. It is fresh, refreshing, burning, freezing, white, golden, deeply green, blue or hazy, you can chose. You have the last remaining primeval European forests with all its wildlife, lakes, rivers, waterfalls and sea, you have the sand dunes and even desert. It can be cold, and hot and warm and freezing, again, it depends what season you choose. We, of course, don’t have Mediterranean climate but I think 35 deg. C in a Summer is more than enough unless, of course, you love extremes, then Sahara would be better.Poland offers great range of tourist attractions and possibilities. You can do all yourself and be your own guide or hire a professional tourist guide, a traveller type guide, an academic guide, a private guide, you can go on a organise tour (sometimes that might be the only option due to safety reasons). You can often find volunteer tour guides who are students of Tourism and Hospitality or History of Art faculties from various universities.. It can be fun, enjoyable and interesting.Now with the reference to the comment of Micheal Ler.Ha, you see, We have a long tradition of tourism and tourist itineraries in Poland that date back the XVI c. but you OBVIOUSLY have never been to Poland (as there are a few funny give aways that this is the case).. Why writing pseudo-informed comments.. you just made a f o ol out of yourself. And BTW all things “flashy” are for “fla shers” and if that’s what you require/need, try the n.u. d. i. s.t. beach.And here some tips10 Reasons You Should Travel to Poland At Least Once In Your Life!And here something for the intellectuals and more cultured travellersStacja ‘Kultura’ [‘Culture’ Station] in RumiaThe proverb ‘never judge a book by its cover’ perfectly suits the railway station in Rumia. This modernized yet unassuming building erected in 1958 houses a real marvel – an innovative cultural centre. This elegant and cosy space is divided into zones and includes a library, a suite of photographic, artistic, and sculpture studios, a children’s corner (full of books for children and educational toys), computer work stations on the mezzanine, conference halls, and NGO offices. Anyone who feels like setting off for a journey through different periods of literature may enter the former waiting room transformed into a reading room, choose a book, and sink into one of the couches arranged to resemble train compartments. This is not the only railway connotation: black and red elements of the interior design make associations with an old locomotive, the book racks are stylized to resemble railway tracks, and the passing of time is measured by a railway clock.Information Centre and Academic LibraryAcademic Library in Katowice, photo: Jakub Certowicz / CINiBAJorge Luis Borges described the universe as a phantasmagorical library composed of an infinite number of hexagonal galleries, an infinite number of floors and spiral stairways containing all the books of the world. A little bit of that unrealistic and fantastic vision has actually been realised by the HS99 architectural studio, designers of the libraries of Katowice’s two universities– the University of Silesia and the University of Economics. It is not easy to assess the number of floors or the number of bibliographic items displayed on its nearly 60 kilometres of shelves. The interior, arranged with geometrical precision, gives a feeling of harmony and calm. The windows help create an exceptional atmosphere: daylight penetrates through 4,000 glass apertures, and after dusk, artificial lighting draws patterns on the building’s façade.The building, composed of two combined cubes of different height, ideally harmonises with the urban landscape of Katowice. The intense colour of the external sandstone walls (the inhabitants call the building ‘the redhead’) corresponds with the neighbouring industrial red-brick buildings and Silesian multi-family houses (familoks). The winner of many architectural awards, it was built in 2012.Warsaw University Library‘Hinc omnia’ (Latin for ‘Hence all’), reads the inscription on a huge, open book hanging over the entry to the university’s athenaeum. This book is guarded by the statues of four wise men mounted on columns: Kazimierz Twardowski, Jan Łukasiewicz, Alfred Tarski, and Stanisław Leśniewski. Inside the building, before we actually enter the library’s gate, we have to walk along a little paved lane – a passage covered with a glass roof – which connects the leisure and entertainment centre of the building with the library. This crescent-shaped part of the building houses commercial institutions; its façade is adorned with 8 boards which feature texts in various languages, mathematical notation, and a fragment of music notation (Etude in B minor by Karol Szymanowski. The design by Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski was intended to give visitors the impression that they have entered a temple from a market place, to overwhelm them with a huge open space, and to mingle tradition with modernity (the card catalogues stand next to computer work stations).Three years after the library was opened to the public in 1999, a garden was constructed on its roof. Designed by Irena Bajerska, it is one of the biggest and the most beautiful roof gardens in Europe. The total surface area of the garden exceeds 1 hectare, and the roof part of the garden is connected with the ground section by a cascading stream. On the roof one can walk through various colour zones: cochineal, golden, silver, and green (named after the colours of blossoms), and little bridges and a viewing terrace which offer a panorama of Warsaw, or one can peek through the glass roof at what is going on inside the building.On the 200th anniversary of the library and the university, Amazon presented the academic institution with 200 Kindle e-readers which can be borrowed by students. In this way BUW (Warsaw University Library) has become the biggest and the only university Kindle-lending library in Europe.The Jagiellonian LibraryThe Jagiellonian Library in Kraków, photo: courtesy of the architectThe list of the most famous university libraries in Poland would not be not complete without the popular Jagiellonka. The library of the oldest Polish university has changed its location a few times to finally find its place on Mickiewicza Avenue, which is the part of Trzech Wieszczów Avenue in Kraków, where it was installed before WWII. A massive, glorious T-shaped building was constructed based on a design by Wacław Krzyżanowski. The main reading room is surrounded by galleries, the staircase is of the kind seen in palaces, and light and luminous interiors harmonise with the façade which was to give the impression of rows of books sitting on shelves. After WWII this modernist building was extended twice: in the period 1961-63 the back part of the library was extended according to a design by Jerzy Wierzbicki, and in the period 1995-2001 a wing was added with an entrance from Oleandry Street, according to a concept elaborated by Romuald Loegler.The Jagiellonian Library is deemed the national athenaeum. It has been collecting bibliographic items since the 14th century, focusing on humanities publications. The library’s staff collects and archives printed materials published in Poland and abroad. The enormously vast collection of manuscripts, incunabula, books, and other printed materials exceeds 7.5 million items. Poland’s most precious antiquities are stored here, including the 15th-century record Bogurodzica, the Copernicus manuscripts on De Revolutionibus…, Chopin’s manuscript of Scherzo in E-major, and even the Liber Viginti Artium – The Book of Twenty Arts, which was once associated with the legendary Faustian sorcerer Twardowski (a stain on the parchment was deemed to have been the imprint of the Devil’s claw). It was surely such a place that Umberto Eco had in mind when he talked about a library ‘which becomes an adventure’, and about ‘discovering books whose existence we never suspected’.The Raczyński LibraryThe Raczyński Library, Poznań, design: JEMS Architekci, photo:. Juliusz SokołowskiThe history of the institution dates back to 1829, when Count Edward Raczyński opened a regional centre for Polish culture promotion on Polish terrain under the Prussian occupation. A classical palace, the design of which is deemed to be the work of French architects Charles Percier and Pierre-Francois Fontain and inspired by the Paris Louvre, was erected with the front facing Independence Square in Poznań. The books collected in the first public library in Poland originated from the private collection of its founder. Today, the library stores the archives of Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna, and Henryk Sienkiewicz.Expansion of Raczyński Library in Poznań – Image Gallery1 / 8The decision was made to return all the bibliographic items scattered in many branches of the library around Poznań to the main building in the city centre. The Warsaw architectural design studio JEMS Architekci was faced with a tough challenge. They had to design the library extension so that the building wouldn’t lose its historical context. The architects had a marvellous idea: they designed a seven-storey wing at the back of the historical building, and connected both of them with a glass-walled passage. The new façade was completed in 2013 and it is a contemporary interpretation of the colonnade which was the feature of the ancient façade of the library. The new building makes the area of the institution nearly three times bigger. Its most extraordinary solution was to locate book storage rooms on the upper levels, which do not have windows, so that sunlight does not damage invaluable volumes. The middle levels were intended for reading rooms and workshops, and the ground floor was arranged to include a tea-room, a children’s library, and an art gallery.The Library in OpoleMunicipal Public Library in Opole: design: Architop (Małgorzata Zatwarnicka, Andrzej Zatwarnicki), photo: press materials of Architop StudioIt’s not only Poznań that makes every effort to combine the past with the present. In the outskirts of the Old Town district of Opole, in the neighbourhood of a philharmonic hall, a Gothic and Baroque-style Franciscan monastery, and the Museum of Prisoners of War, is the ultramodern building of the Municipal Public Library. The simple architectural form is separated from a 19th-century tenement house by a glass crevice which opens the building onto the Planty walkway and the Młynówka canal. The interior footbridges and catwalks make it possible to move freely between the old and the new parts of the building.A spacious library building houses a librarian’s desk, a large media library, a ‘fairytale room’, a reading room with computer work stations, a photography gallery, conference hall, and a café. The eyes of passers-by are attracted by its awesome façade with engravings of Edward Stachura's lyrics. In 2011, the design by Andrzej Zatwarnicki received the SARP award for the best architectural development built with the support of public funds, and it also won the Polish Architecture XXL award.The Book Gallery in OświęcimBook Gallery in Oświęcim, design: S2 Susuł & Strama Architekci, photo: the studio’s press materialsFive thousand square metres, featuring an underground parking garage, two small cinema auditoriums, a café, a children’s play area, conference halls, and almost one and a half thousand guests each day: this is not a description of a shopping mall, but of the Oświęcim library premises which is to imitate a shopping gallery. And it does: ‘bookshops’ are laid out on several levels, as in a shopping centre, there are two entrances – one on each side of the premises, as in a shopping centre, and the interior is bathed in glittering reflections of rainbow light formed by the horizontal layout of the outside ceramics which causes refraction. The façade looks like blinds. However, instead of the various goods and commodities you’d find in a shopping mall, the shelves are full of books.The Book Gallery in Oświęcim – Image Gallery1 / 7The contest for the design of a municipal library building, the aim of which would be to attract the average citizen to borrow a book, was won by S2 Susuł & Strama Architekci design studio. The goal was achieved by combining educational and leisure functions within one building. The Book Gallery was opened to readers in 2011 and was listed as one of the best European libraries in a list published by World Architecture News service.SopotekaSopoteka, interior design: Jan Sikora, photo: designer’s press materialsDo you enjoying reading a favourite book while sitting or lying on a beach, regardless of the weather? This is possible thanks to a multimedia library in Sopot, which is located at a shopping mall next to the railway station. The interior design was entrusted to Jan Sikor, and judging by the reception to his design for Stacja Kultura Culture Station) in Rumia, success was inevitable. The venue, which was opened at the end of 2015, is inspired by Sopot’s beaches and nature, which is reflected in the original wood decorations and white and natural green colours. Apart from offering discrete working or meeting spaces, Sopoteka encourages the use of the Strandkorb Zone – enclosed individual work stations – or the Beach Zone, where you can read while lying on a comfortable beach chair-imitating chaise longue. The library offers a wide range of art: books, visual arts and music, in traditional as well as digital format. It’s also a place where you can attend a meeting with the author of your favourite book, a workshop, or one of the events held on regular basis, such as Literary Sopot. Here, the cultural peak season lasts all year round.The Czarny Bór LibraryMunicipal Public Library at Czarny Bór, design: ISBA Grupa Projektowa, investor: Municipal Public Library at Czarny Bór, 2011-2012, photo: http://isba.com.pSmall villages can also boast beautifully designed libraries. At Czarny Bór in Lower Silesia, a municipal cultural centre was opened in 2014. Its architects, from Wrocław design studio ISBA Grupa Projektowa, focused on functionality, elegance, and simplicity spiced up with a bit of extravagance. A glass plinth housing an exhibition space and a café is the support for a huge wooden loft. Under the loft’s roof is the library hall and a wide corridor. One wall of the building creates a sheltered courtyard for the neighbouring school and the line of the building harmonizes with the nearby hills.The reading room is quite ascetic in style featuring concrete floors, brick walls, and an uncovered reinforced concrete structure. The unadorned interior was laid out around two oval structures. The first is the librarian’s desk and a café, and the second houses a computer room surrounded with racks, and a reading room. As the building is a cultural centre, apart from the library there is a hall for performances and a place for artistic workshops. Thus, the library is not only meant for borrowing books. A lot of cultural events take place there, but first of all, it is a place where the local community can integrate and relax.The Grafit [Graphite] Library in WrocławGrafit Library in Wrocław, photo: Tomasz Szambelan / AGWrocław's 8 Namysłowska Street is the address of an ultramodern multimedia cultural centre. It’s been open since March 2015 in the place of once planned but never built business centre – Grafit [Graphite] Hall. It was established by merging 4 other public libraries. The place attracts with its bibliographic items (35 thousand books and magazines, 5 thousand films on DVD, 2 thousand music albums, audiobooks, computer games), various sorts of cultural entertainment, and a quite original interior. The floor features a red ribbon – the sign of Wrocław’s libraries – which divides the space into squares. Its colour contrasts with the dominating white. Apart from a library there is a meeting space, a playroom for children, and a leisure zone with a stand for speakers. The interior design was developed by the Synergia studio: Anna Bać, Krzysztof Cebrat, Piotr Michalski, and Sandra Piasek (as well as Małgorzata and Mateusz Sum, with whom they cooperated for the contest).The Grafit Libary in Wrocław – Image Gallery1 / 6The Grafit [Graphite] Library and the city of Wrocław are facing the challenge of organizing the International Librarian Congress in 2017, and the challenge must be met as the city’s title of UNESCO World Book Capital demands.Some music?Excellent concert hall in Warsaw! - Review of National Philharmonic, Warsaw, Poland - TripadvisorA beautiful concert hall with sensational acoustics... - Review of National Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio, Katowice, Poland - TripadvisorPhilharmonic Hall in SzczecinPoland’s concert halls in great shapeor some architecture?10 Polish Architects You Should KnowArchitecture from Poland | ArchDaily+48 – The Wooden Chunk House, SękocinWooden Chunk House, project by +48, photograph courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignThe architects from +48 (Karol Szparkowski, Kamil Miklaszewski, Agata Filipek, Jacek Kamiński) have been active since 2006 and have experience from housing projects to the interior design of office buildings. They have authored award-winning projects including a modernisation project for Warsaw’s Three Crosses Square, the Jacmel primary school in Haiti and the ESK exhibit pavilion in Wroclaw. One of their acclaimed designs is the Wooden Chunk House, a private building located on the green outskirts of Warsaw with a characteristic surface, as it’s covered by pine chunks from cut trees. The project won the 20+10+X Architecture Awards 6th Cycle Award, organised by the World Architecture Community.137Kilo + WWAA – The Służew Cultural CentreThe Służew Cultural Centre, project by 137kilo and WWAA, photograph by Jakub Certowicz courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and Design137kilo is a Warsaw-based architecture practice opened in 2006. Its founders, Zofia Strumiłło-Sukiennik and Jan Sukiennik, are involved in the production of exhibitions, stage design and interiors – examples of previous work include the café-club Latawiec, NBP and the Łódź Design Festival. With WWAA, they co-authored the Służew Cultural Centre project, due to open at the end of 2013. This modern construction reminds the viewer of the location’s history: the dominant wooden structures, as well as the pet enclosure, vegetable garden and container for biodegradable waste all convey the idea of an old village settlement. Members of the executive team include Maciej Kleszczewski, Wojciech Piwowarczyk and Anna Zawadzka.Bridge – OperaLab, The Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera, WarsawThe OperaLab exhibition, project by Bridge, photograph by Mikołaj Molenda courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignBridge is a practice specialising in Augmented Reality technology connecting the real world with the virtual one, and in personalised furniture. Founded by Hanna Kokczyńska, Jacek Majewski, Mikołaj Molenda, Jarosław Nowotka and Michał Piasecki, the studio combines technology and design. It is active mainly in graphic and interface design, new apps, parametric models and video mapping. For the recent OperaLab contest organised by the Polish National Opera (Designing identity / The identity of design, in cooperation with Bogdan Grygo and Krzysztof Mazanek) the team created an app enabling users to see the “finalised” mock-ups of those mobile pavilions, which made it to the final of the contest.BudCud – Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing, ms2, ŁódźBudCud – Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing, ms2, Łódź, photograph by Janek RateckiMateusz Adamczyk and Agata Woźniczka currently lead the BudCud practice, founded in 2007. They won the 9th European contest (2008) with their project to transform old industrial sites in Warsaw. Collaborating with WWAA, MOKO, KAPS and Centrala in their mission to create common public spaces, they designed the Seven Years Stadium and the Square for City Sports in Bemowo (under construction). BudCud are currently working on reviving the Millenium Park in Zielona Góra, and transforming a potable water container in Kraków to suit recreational needs. On their premises in Łódź (ms2), they recently created an interactive exhibition - Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing – which tested the relationship between the visitor and the exhibition space. Team members included Dominika Tomaszewska and Jakub Urbaniak.Marcin Kwietowicz – Edward Krasiński's Studio, WarsawMarcin Kwietowicz, The Avant-Garde Institute - Edward Krasiński's Studio, Warsaw, photograph by Jan SmagaMarcin Kwietowicz is an architect and designer whose creations include luxury stores in Warsaw (Galilu, with Grażyna Czarnota) as well as art spaces such as the entrance hall to the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle (with Wojciech Kotecki and Albert Salamon), the Avant-Garde Institute – Edward Krasiński's Studio (with BAR Architekten: Joost Glissenaare, Klaas van der Molen) and the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2005, Artur Żmijewski’s exhibition). In 2013, a building he designed with Piotr Brzoza was recognised as the best single-family home in Poland (2000-2012) by the architecture magazine Murator.Then there’s Krasiński's glass-covered studio: constructed on top of an 11-floor apartment block from 1962, it adds an extra floor to what had been this legendary avant-garde artist’s actual studio. Currently, it houses a museum dedicated to Krasiński and his work.Michalewicz Tański – Hotel Baltic Palace, PobierowoHotel Baltic Palace in Pobierowo, designed by Michalewicz Tański, photograph by Piotr Krajewski, courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignThis Warsaw practice, founded by Piotr Michalewicz and Michalewicz Tański, designs and constructs technologically advanced buildings. The architects polished their craft at the New York-based Asymptote and Valode et Pistre in Paris, both of which influenced their decision to create geometrically complex buildings, revealing the search for a new quality of space. Michalewicz Tański placed third at the Polish Pavilion contest for the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, and received an honourable mention at the international contest for Poland’s largest concert hall, the coming home of Sinfonia Varsovia.mode:lina – CLAE Pop-Up Store, Poznańmode:lina, CLAE Pop-Up Store PoznańPaweł Garus and Jerzy Woźniak, founders of the Poznań-based studio mode:lina, like to play around with materials and conventions. Since 2009, they have been working on some unusual projects, which, apart from looking good, also have a particular mission. An example of such work includes installations (Audiocloud, built from tubes, showcased at the 2011 London Design Festival) and pop-up stores for commercial clients, where the young architects recycle cheap and easily accessible materials. The CLAE pop-up store was built using old EUR-pallets.MOOMOO – Yachting HouseYachting House, project by MOOMOO, photograph courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignThe MOOMOO practice, founded by Łukasz Pastuszka and Jakub Majewski, was chosen as one of the world’s top 30 architecture studios in 2009 by Wallpaper magazine. Their projects are characterised by a sense of minimalism, and the structures relate to the ideas of neo-modernism. The Yachting House is the design for a house on a steep hill, which can be practically accessed by boat.NArchitekTURA (Bartosz Haduch) – CONTINUUM, Southern PolandNArchitekTURA, ContinuumThe Kraków-based NArchitekTURA was counted among the world’s top 30 "rising stars" of architecture in 2010 by Wallpaper magazine. It had been established three years prior by Bartosz Haduch as an interdisciplinary workshop, combining commercial design, publishing and art. The relationship between architecture and nature plays a particularly important role in NArchitekTURA’s projects.One of them involves a garden hut covered by a semi-transparent, external veil refracting light, shadow and the geometrical limits of architecture. The cover, made of Air Z material (usually used for isolation in roof construction), had been put together from a number of moving elements, which make it possible to open and close the whole structure depending on atmospheric conditions, time of day and seasons. The house was co-created by Zbigniew Haduch.Maciej Siuda + Rodrigo García González – DEVEBEREMaciej Siuda, Rodrigo García González, DEVEBEREMaciej Siuda earned his experience in design studios in Madrid, Tokyo and Alicante. He is the co-founder of the IWAU international architecture workshops and creator of the Balon experimental workshop. He designs and experiments with fellow Spanish architect and designer, Rodrigo García.Their DEVEBERE installation is an attempt to create architecture out of plastic bottles and pure air, or rather the lack thereof. As the air is sucked out of the plastic bag wrapped around the bottles, it produces a vacuum, which in turn increases the load-bearing and structural aspects of form – and the form could be a pavilion or a piece of furniture. The project received an award from the French Institute of Architecture (Cité de l’Architecture) and was picked for the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture from among 130 works.Jan Strumiłło – Klubokawiarnia Towarzyska (Towarzyska Café-Club), WarsawJan Strumiłło, Klubokawiarnia Towarzyska, photograph by Jakub CertowiczJan Strumiłło started out at the Centrala Design Group and the JEMS Architects workshop, but has been freelancing since 2010. He created the architectural model of Warsaw’s smallest gallery, Witryna, and interiors for the Towarzyska café-club in Warsaw and the Recto | verso bar in the National Library’s building. He is also the author of numerous installations.Jakub Szczęsny (Centrala) – Keret’s House, WarsawJakub Szczęsny (Centrala), Keret’s House, photograph by Krzysztof Wojciewski, Bartek WarzechaJakub Szczęsny’s work ethic is to combine architecture and art. Over a decade ago, he set up the Centrala Design Group with Krzysztof Banaszewski, Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Jan Strumiłło, whose architectural projects attempt to find new solutions for contemporary urban problems and protect the heritage of post-war modernism - but also to serve as purely artistic endeavours.Szczęsny has received awards for his designs of the Sports Hall in Bierun (2006, with Ryszard Szczęsny and Jan Strumiłło) and the Ohel temporary pavilion at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (2006, with Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Krzysztof Banaszewski). He has edited books and co-created architectural projects such as the restoration of the Warsaw-Powiśle Station (2009), currently home to a prominent central club. Keret’s House (2012), reputedly one of the narrowest houses in the world, is a space to reside and create in. The installation’s patron is the Israeli writer Etgar Keret.Aleksandra Wasilkowska – Zachęta National Art Gallery, WarsawAleksandra Wasilkowska, Zachęta National Art Gallery, photograph by Maciej LandsbergAleksandra Wasilkowska’s work traces the very limits of architecture, art and science. Together with Agnieszka Kurant, she represented Poland at the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture. In addition to being a book editor, she designs installations exhibited in galleries and contemporary art museums, as well as stage decorations for the theatre.Her projects include a house built as a passive, energy-saving construction, but her work has been recognised in a wide range of contests – for example the modernisation of Warsaw’s Grzybowski Square, or a garden in Pontivy, France. At the Zachęta National Art Gallery, she rebuilt the space occupied by the bookshop, entrance hall, locker room and library; the new, entirely white interior forms a neutral background for the gallery’s neoclassical building.WWAA – Rebel One, WarsawWWAA, Rebel One, WarsawWWAA is a Warsaw-based studio founded in 2006 by Natalia Paszkowska and Marcin Mostrafa. This duo has won several prestigious contests, including the Polish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and the Służew Cultural Centre with 137kilo (currently under construction). A significant part of their work consists of stage designs and installations.Since 2012, they have been collaborating with Slovak stage designer Boris Kudlička. The Rebel One apartment building in Soho was co-created with Iwona Borkowska, Andrzej Hunzvi, Michał Kielian and the Konkret Architects group. The cube alludes to the architectural motifs of the nearby industrial relics. The fact that the bricks are positioned in 26 different ways lends the building its unique, sculpted character.Maciej Jakub Zawadzki – Museum of Latin American Immigrants, MiamiMuseum of Latin American Immigrants in Miami, project: Maciej Jakub ZawadzkiMaciej Jakub Zawadzki is the author of the Miami Pier Museum of Latin American Immigrants project, recognised by Wallpaper magazine as one of the world’s best graduate projects (Graduate Directory 2011). Zawadzki’s sculpted surface proposal is for a site located near the South Beach coast and alludes to the hurricanes, which frequently torment the area. The design was also nominated as the best project at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. Zawadzki earned his experience in prestigious Warsaw-based studios, and then in some of the most renowned workshops in the world, such as the Bjarke Ingels Group and MVRDV in Rotterdam.Karol Żurawski – OperaLab, The Grand Theatre – Polish National OperaOperaLab, mobile pavilion project, Karol ŻurawskiKarol Żurawski polished his skills under the supervision of contemporary minimalists including Christian Kerez, designer of the unrealized project for the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, and Peter Zumthor, winner of the Pritzker prize. Żurawski’s projects are formally modest and make use of natural materials; many have won prizes in architecture and design contests. His idea for a mobile pavilion contoured by an anthracite curtain came in first place at the Designing identity/The identity of design OperaLab contest, organised by the Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera and BMW.The Tomorrow’s Avant-Garde? / Map (2013) project was produced by the Architecture and Design Centre at the Higher School of Art and Design in Łódź, and edited by Igor Gałązkiewicz. In addition to presenting relevant projects, the volume also contains interviews with the selected artists and articles by Professor Jerzy Derkowski and Igor Gałązkiewicz.And this Poland for .. surprise … wine loversPoland for wine loversMonika Bielka-Vescovi introduces wine enthusiasts to her homeland. See this guide to all the entries in our travel writing competition that have been published so far.Have you ever thought of travelling to Poland for wine? It is one of the most beautiful and geologically diverse countries with access to the sea, mountains, rivers, amazing National Parks and, what may come to you as a surprise, wine. Believe it or not Poland has 230 registered wineries, double that number if unregistered wineries are included.HistoryViticulture in Poland dates back to introduction of Christianity in 966. The first vineyards were located on Wawel Hill in Krakow. Polish viticulture was developed by monks and later became popular among Polish nobility. By the end of the sixteenth century due to climate change (cold waves) and war as well as the rise in popularity of imported goods, including wine from warmer climates, wine production started to diminish. Communism eventually destroyed all that remained of wine production.The modern era of winemaking started in the 1980s with Roman Myśliwiec who planted his first experimental vineyard, and later started a nursery, in Jasło in the Subcarpathian region. In the harsher climatic conditions then prevailing, hybrids proved to be the most successful varieties.It was not until late 1990s when vine growers started experimenting with Vitis vinifera varieties. Finding the right site, with enough warmth and sunshine as well as protection from winter freeze, is crucial for the success of Vitis vinifera in Poland. The first plantings of Pinot Noir in Silesia saw severe winter freeze damage and cast a shadow on the possibility of growing vinifera there. At the same time Agnieszka Wyrobek Rousseau, a flying winemaker, decided to settle back in her home country bringing a wealth of knowledge with her. She has planted 100% viniferas, choosing clones carefully, as well as the site for her biodynamic vineyard, the first in Poland, located on hills above Krakow, in Wieliczka (pictured above right). Soon Agnieszka became a consultant for many winemakers and thanks to her, as well UC Davis graduate Piotr Stopczyński, and many other brave producers, Polish winemaking started to flourish.KrakowWhere do you start? Fly to Krakow. Thirteenth century downtown, one of the most beautiful in Europe, or perhaps in the world, will take your breath away. Of course while you are here you do need to visit a few of the cult wine places.Start with a glass of wine at legendary Piwnica pod Baranami, home of the political cabaret that made a difference in the difficult 1960s and 1970s. Have your, perhaps first ever, glass of Polish wine from winnica Turanu while listening to the music of the well known Polish musician Grzegorz Turanu, the winery investor. All of them right there on the square at Main Square 27.Refreshed, move on to explore the wine bar scene to Stoccaggio at Krupnicza 9. You will find the largest selection of Polish wines in Krakow. Choose from well-known cool climate grape varieties grown here like Chardonnay, Riesling or Pinot Noir or venture to hybrids well adapted to harsher conditions and crossings such as Regent, Hibernal or Solaris.Many wines from all over the world are also available here by the glass or small taste. Right around the corner there is Słoneczny Kredens, yet another place for fine Polish wines with a selection of European wines, great cheese, deli and the most admired Polish water Kinga Pienińska. You may not know that Poland is also well known for great quality mineral water springs.If you venture further, visit the wine bars in Kazimierz (Jewish quarter). Go to Bar a Wino at Mostowa 1, a concept developed by famous Polish actor Marek Kondrat with a large international wine selection at reasonable prices, or walk to the newly-opened wine bar Lustra at Bocheńska street.Those of you who love natural, organic or biodynamic wines will fall in love with Krakó Slow Wines. Focused on central and eastern European selection, and located right next to Schindler’s Factory at Lipowa 6F, which you may want to see as well.A special night ahead of you? Go for a fine dining experience to Bottiglieria 1881 at Bocheńska 5, with one of the most amazing wine lists in town. All servers and sommeliers there are WSET-trained and the service is perfection, not to mention unbelievable food made with local ingredients.WieliczkaReady for your day two? Plan your trip to the Wieliczka salt mine. It is a mere 20-minute train ride away, but if you rent a car you will also be able to visit a winery. Outside of Wieliczka you will find the first and only Polish biodynamic winery Winnica Wieliczka, led by the most famous Polish winemaker Agnieszka Wyborek Rousseu and Piotr Jaskóła.Agnieszka is a Polish rock star. In a cool climate she managed to plant vitis viniferas, and they are doing extremely well. Obvious cool climate players like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Riesling are planted here. Agnieszka was also brave enough to plant Merlot in her vineyard (we are still in zone A for cool climate growing). She based clone choices on her New Zealand experience and the quality of this wine was a great surprise, although she did start producing red blends like Regis to get the most out of her red grape varieties. When coming with a group, pre-order her famous prażonki, a pheasant dish cooked over the fire in a cast iron pot, and enjoy a late afternoon and the most beautiful sunset in the vineyards. If you would rather have a fine dining experience go to Dwór Sieraków, a magnificent mansion with a great wine focus, located few kilometres awayJust in case you wanted to stay in Krakow for day two, you can visit Winnica Srebrna Góra in Krakow, and take a walk to the Kościuszko mound after wards.Jura Krakowsko-CzęstochowskaDay three – rent a car and go for a short but stunning trip to Ojców National Park. Explore the Pieskowa Skała castle and the Hercules bat, a large stone formation that resembles a baseball bat. Take a slow walk through the serene valley to Pstrąg Ojcowski for a glass of Polish wine, and the best smoked trout you ever had, from the most prestigious fishing farm in Poland. Lie down, take a breath and enjoy nature.Whenever you are ready, you have few options of visiting wineries in the area. Winnica Słońce i Wiatr, Winnica Kreasy and Winnca Goja are all possible destinations. Słońce i Wiar (Sun and Wind) is an organic winery focused on hybrids and crossings. Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska with its outcrops of limestone is much cooler then hills above Krakow, hence classic cool climate viniferas are not doing as well here. Wines from here tend to show minerality with a salty aftertaste and higher acidity. Refreshing rosés and zesty whites are great choices in all of those wineries.SilesiaIf you want to venture further visit Silesia where you will find the amazing Winnica Jakubów with Poland’s most innovative winemakers Michał Pajdosz. and Winnica Wzgórz Trzebnickich. This is the home of the best Polish Pinot Noir. If you are lucky to get it, his Riesling Pet Nat will send a chill down your spine. Stay at the magnificent Villa Elise led by a couple whose hospitality is famous throughout Poland, and taste one of the finest homemade breads you can get your hands on.Lubuskie and West PomeranianYou have a whole week? There are more vineyards for you to see around city of Zielona Góra, known for sparkling wine production. You may not be aware that one of the first German Sekts was made here in Grünberg(Zielona Góra) at the Grempler & Co winery dated 1826. Two wineries Gostchorze and Winnica Miłosz, produce traditional method sparkling wines that are definitely worth trying.Ready to rest? Stop at Pałac Mierzęcin for its wine spa, and be greeted by a skilled Polish winemaker Piotr Stopczyński with a glass of wine. Dining here is yet another amazing treat. About an hour away towards the Baltic Sea you could stop in Baniewice for the famous wines of Turnau. Try their late harvest and ice wines and you will be surprised. This is one of the most developed wineries in Poland by far with state-of-the-art winery equipment.Sandomierz and SubcarpathianGoing east from Krakow you may want to visit the medieval city of Sandomierz with a warmer mesoclimate allowing for winemaking. Stop at Winnica Płochockich or, even better, book your night there as the winery has five delightful guest rooms. Be sure to taste their qvevri wine as they are the first to bring qvevri from Georgia to Poland. At the end of your tasting ask for Rasins, sweet wine made by drying grapes, in this case in the shed, a real jewel among sweet Polish wines.Other great wineries to visit here are Winnica Nad Jarem, Modła and Nobilis, and Dom Bliskowice. You will also find wineries at the foothills of the Carpathian mountains in the Subcarpathian region known for harsher growing conditions. One of the best Polish reds comes from Rondo and Regent grown here. Try Winnica Spotkaniówka or Winnice Półtorak.As you see, there is a lot to discover in Poland. You simply must come and visit, although don’t forget to make your bookings in advance. As we say in Poland when we raise a glass: Na zdrowie! (to your health)And the alone would really take you a lot of time to explore and enjoy and expand your horizons even more and more and more…

Who are some famous Polish architects?Top Polish Architects Under 40The guide by the Centre for Architecture and Design in Łódź to young Polish architecture, Tomorrow’s Avant-garde? / Map, contains the profiles of 16 practices and freelance architects under 40. The Map showcases one project by each, creating a web of mutual collaboration - as the publishers attest, "the transition between the 20th and 21st centuries revealed the fact that architecture and design are the icons of modern culture and civilisation."+48 – The Wooden Chunk House, SękocinThe architects from +48 (Karol Szparkowski, Kamil Miklaszewski, Agata Filipek, Jacek Kamiński) have been active since 2006 and have experience from housing projects to the interior design of office buildings. They have authored award-winning projects including a modernisation project for Warsaw’s Three Crosses Square, the Jacmel primary school in Haiti and the ESK exhibit pavilion in Wroclaw. One of their acclaimed designs is the Wooden Chunk House, a private building located on the green outskirts of Warsaw with a characteristic surface, as it’s covered by pine chunks from cut trees. The project won the 20+10+X Architecture Awards 6th Cycle Award, organised by the World Architecture Community.137Kilo + WWAA – The Służew Cultural CentreThe Służew Cultural Centre, project by 137kilo and WWAA, photograph by Jakub Certowicz courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and Design137kilo is a Warsaw-based architecture practice opened in 2006. Its founders, Zofia Strumiłło-Sukiennik and Jan Sukiennik, are involved in the production of exhibitions, stage design and interiors – examples of previous work include the café-club Latawiec, NBP and the Łódź Design Festival. With WWAA, they co-authored the Służew Cultural Centre project, due to open at the end of 2013. This modern construction reminds the viewer of the location’s history: the dominant wooden structures, as well as the pet enclosure, vegetable garden and container for biodegradable waste all convey the idea of an old village settlement. Members of the executive team include Maciej Kleszczewski, Wojciech Piwowarczyk and Anna Zawadzka.Bridge – OperaLab, The Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera, WarsawThe OperaLab exhibition, project by Bridge, photograph by Mikołaj Molenda courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignBridge is a practice specialising in Augmented Reality technology connecting the real world with the virtual one, and in personalised furniture. Founded by Hanna Kokczyńska, Jacek Majewski, Mikołaj Molenda, Jarosław Nowotka and Michał Piasecki, the studio combines technology and design. It is active mainly in graphic and interface design, new apps, parametric models and video mapping. For the recent OperaLab contest organised by the Polish National Opera (Designing identity / The identity of design, in cooperation with Bogdan Grygo and Krzysztof Mazanek) the team created an app enabling users to see the “finalised” mock-ups of those mobile pavilions, which made it to the final of the contest.BudCud – Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing, ms2, ŁódźBudCud – Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing, ms2, Łódź, photograph by Janek RateckiMateusz Adamczyk and Agata Woźniczka currently lead the BudCud practice, founded in 2007. They won the 9th European contest (2008) with their project to transform old industrial sites in Warsaw. Collaborating with WWAA, MOKO, KAPS and Centrala in their mission to create common public spaces, they designed the Seven Years Stadium and the Square for City Sports in Bemowo (under construction). BudCud are currently working on reviving the Millenium Park in Zielona Góra, and transforming a potable water container in Kraków to suit recreational needs. On their premises in Łódź (ms2), they recently created an interactive exhibition - Come, We’ll Show You What We’re Doing – which tested the relationship between the visitor and the exhibition space. Team members included Dominika Tomaszewska and Jakub Urbaniak.Marcin Kwietowicz – Edward Krasiński's Studio, WarsawMarcin Kwietowicz, The Avant-Garde Institute - Edward Krasiński's Studio, Warsaw, photograph by Jan SmagaMarcin Kwietowicz is an architect and designer whose creations include luxury stores in Warsaw (Galilu, with Grażyna Czarnota) as well as art spaces such as the entrance hall to the Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle (with Wojciech Kotecki and Albert Salamon), the Avant-Garde Institute – Edward Krasiński's Studio (with BAR Architekten: Joost Glissenaare, Klaas van der Molen) and the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2005, Artur Żmijewski’s exhibition). In 2013, a building he designed with Piotr Brzoza was recognised as the best single-family home in Poland (2000-2012) by the architecture magazine Murator.Then there’s Krasiński's glass-covered studio: constructed on top of an 11-floor apartment block from 1962, it adds an extra floor to what had been this legendary avant-garde artist’s actual studio. Currently, it houses a museum dedicated to Krasiński and his work.Michalewicz Tański – Hotel Baltic Palace, PobierowoHotel Baltic Palace in Pobierowo, designed by Michalewicz Tański, photograph by Piotr Krajewski, courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignThis Warsaw practice, founded by Piotr Michalewicz and Michalewicz Tański, designs and constructs technologically advanced buildings. The architects polished their craft at the New York-based Asymptote and Valode et Pistre in Paris, both of which influenced their decision to create geometrically complex buildings, revealing the search for a new quality of space. Michalewicz Tański placed third at the Polish Pavilion contest for the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, and received an honourable mention at the international contest for Poland’s largest concert hall, the coming home of Sinfonia Varsovia.mode:lina – CLAE Pop-Up Store, Poznańmode:lina, CLAE Pop-Up Store PoznańPaweł Garus and Jerzy Woźniak, founders of the Poznań-based studio mode:lina, like to play around with materials and conventions. Since 2009, they have been working on some unusual projects, which, apart from looking good, also have a particular mission. An example of such work includes installations (Audiocloud, built from tubes, showcased at the 2011 London Design Festival) and pop-up stores for commercial clients, where the young architects recycle cheap and easily accessible materials. The CLAE pop-up store was built using old EUR-pallets.MOOMOO – Yachting HouseYachting House, project by MOOMOO, photograph courtesy of the Łódź Centre of Architecture and DesignThe MOOMOO practice, founded by Łukasz Pastuszka and Jakub Majewski, was chosen as one of the world’s top 30 architecture studios in 2009 by Wallpaper magazine. Their projects are characterised by a sense of minimalism, and the structures relate to the ideas of neo-modernism. The Yachting House is the design for a house on a steep hill, which can be practically accessed by boat.NArchitekTURA (Bartosz Haduch) – CONTINUUM, Southern PolandNArchitekTURA, ContinuumThe Kraków-based NArchitekTURA was counted among the world’s top 30 "rising stars" of architecture in 2010 by Wallpaper magazine. It had been established three years prior by Bartosz Haduch as an interdisciplinary workshop, combining commercial design, publishing and art. The relationship between architecture and nature plays a particularly important role in NArchitekTURA’s projects.One of them involves a garden hut covered by a semi-transparent, external veil refracting light, shadow and the geometrical limits of architecture. The cover, made of Air Z material (usually used for isolation in roof construction), had been put together from a number of moving elements, which make it possible to open and close the whole structure depending on atmospheric conditions, time of day and seasons. The house was co-created by Zbigniew Haduch.Maciej Siuda + Rodrigo García González – DEVEBEREMaciej Siuda, Rodrigo García González, DEVEBEREMaciej Siuda earned his experience in design studios in Madrid, Tokyo and Alicante. He is the co-founder of the IWAU international architecture workshops and creator of the Balon experimental workshop. He designs and experiments with fellow Spanish architect and designer, Rodrigo García.Their DEVEBERE installation is an attempt to create architecture out of plastic bottles and pure air, or rather the lack thereof. As the air is sucked out of the plastic bag wrapped around the bottles, it produces a vacuum, which in turn increases the load-bearing and structural aspects of form – and the form could be a pavilion or a piece of furniture. The project received an award from the French Institute of Architecture (Cité de l’Architecture) and was picked for the 2012 Venice Biennale of Architecture from among 130 works.Jan Strumiłło – Klubokawiarnia Towarzyska (Towarzyska Café-Club), WarsawJan Strumiłło, Klubokawiarnia Towarzyska, photograph by Jakub CertowiczJan Strumiłło started out at the Centrala Design Group and the JEMS Architects workshop, but has been freelancing since 2010. He created the architectural model of Warsaw’s smallest gallery, Witryna, and interiors for the Towarzyska café-club in Warsaw and the Recto | verso bar in the National Library’s building. He is also the author of numerous installations.Jakub Szczęsny (Centrala) – Keret’s House, WarsawJakub Szczęsny (Centrala), Keret’s House, photograph by Krzysztof Wojciewski, Bartek WarzechaJakub Szczęsny’s work ethic is to combine architecture and art. Over a decade ago, he set up the Centrala Design Group with Krzysztof Banaszewski, Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Jan Strumiłło, whose architectural projects attempt to find new solutions for contemporary urban problems and protect the heritage of post-war modernism - but also to serve as purely artistic endeavours.Szczęsny has received awards for his designs of the Sports Hall in Bierun (2006, with Ryszard Szczęsny and Jan Strumiłło) and the Ohel temporary pavilion at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (2006, with Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Krzysztof Banaszewski). He has edited books and co-created architectural projects such as the restoration of the Warsaw-Powiśle Station (2009), currently home to a prominent central club. Keret’s House (2012), reputedly one of the narrowest houses in the world, is a space to reside and create in. The installation’s patron is the Israeli writer Etgar Keret.Aleksandra Wasilkowska – Zachęta National Art Gallery, WarsawAleksandra Wasilkowska, Zachęta National Art Gallery, photograph by Maciej LandsbergAleksandra Wasilkowska’s work traces the very limits of architecture, art and science. Together with Agnieszka Kurant, she represented Poland at the 12th Venice Biennale of Architecture. In addition to being a book editor, she designs installations exhibited in galleries and contemporary art museums, as well as stage decorations for the theatre.Her projects include a house built as a passive, energy-saving construction, but her work has been recognised in a wide range of contests – for example the modernisation of Warsaw’s Grzybowski Square, or a garden in Pontivy, France. At the Zachęta National Art Gallery, she rebuilt the space occupied by the bookshop, entrance hall, locker room and library; the new, entirely white interior forms a neutral background for the gallery’s neoclassical building.WWAA – Rebel One, WarsawWWAA, Rebel One, WarsawWWAA is a Warsaw-based studio founded in 2006 by Natalia Paszkowska and Marcin Mostrafa. This duo has won several prestigious contests, including the Polish Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo, and the Służew Cultural Centre with 137kilo (currently under construction). A significant part of their work consists of stage designs and installations.Since 2012, they have been collaborating with Slovak stage designer Boris Kudlička. The Rebel One apartment building in Soho was co-created with Iwona Borkowska, Andrzej Hunzvi, Michał Kielian and the Konkret Architects group. The cube alludes to the architectural motifs of the nearby industrial relics. The fact that the bricks are positioned in 26 different ways lends the building its unique, sculpted character.Maciej Jakub Zawadzki – Museum of Latin American Immigrants, MiamiMuseum of Latin American Immigrants in Miami, project: Maciej Jakub ZawadzkiMaciej Jakub Zawadzki is the author of the Miami Pier Museum of Latin American Immigrants project, recognised by Wallpaper magazine as one of the world’s best graduate projects (Graduate Directory 2011). Zawadzki’s sculpted surface proposal is for a site located near the South Beach coast and alludes to the hurricanes, which frequently torment the area. The design was also nominated as the best project at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. Zawadzki earned his experience in prestigious Warsaw-based studios, and then in some of the most renowned workshops in the world, such as the Bjarke Ingels Group and MVRDV in Rotterdam.Karol Żurawski – OperaLab, The Grand Theatre – Polish National OperaOperaLab, mobile pavilion project, Karol ŻurawskiKarol Żurawski polished his skills under the supervision of contemporary minimalists including Christian Kerez, designer of the unrealized project for the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, and Peter Zumthor, winner of the Pritzker prize. Żurawski’s projects are formally modest and make use of natural materials; many have won prizes in architecture and design contests. His idea for a mobile pavilion contoured by an anthracite curtain came in first place at the Designing identity/The identity of design OperaLab contest, organised by the Grand Theatre – Polish National Opera and BMW.Two-Tier Architecture:Famous Polish Architect CouplesFrom housing complexes and family homes, to shopping centres, office buildings and religious structures, these five dynamic duos built amazing things together. Their unique contributions to Polish architecture helped to shape the field during the 20th and 21st centuries.Barbara & Stanisław BrukalskiIn a boat, from the left: Zofia Siemaszkowa, Stanislaw Brukalski and Barbara Brukalska. Photo: Adam Siemaszko / http://muzeumzofiiiadama.plBarbara (1899-1980) and Stanisław (1894-1967) Brukalski are one of the best-known couples of avant-garde architects and interior designers of the Interwar and post-war periods. They were known admirers of Le Corbusier. As members of the modernist group Praesens, they were representatives of functionalism – comfortable and affordable apartments for all.In her book Women Architects, Marta Leśniakowska writes:The Brukalskis were aware of the fact that a modern architect must become ‘an element of social organization,’ responsible to society, and they defined contemporary architecture as a combination of classicism and modernism.Barbara and Stanislaw Brukalski at their home, 8 Niegolewskiego Street in Warsaw, 1927-1929, photo: Marta Leśniakowska / IS PANTheir best-known joint projects are the colony known as the Warsaw Residential Cooperative in Żoliborz (1928-30; post-war continuation 1946-48) and their home and architectural studio at 8 Niegolewskiego Street, which is now considered the first avant-garde project in Poland. In 1937, this house won a bronze medal at the International Art and Technology in Modern Life Exhibit in Paris.Zofia & Oskar HansenZofia and Oskar Hansen, photo: from family archivesThe architect couple Zofia (1924-2013) and Oskar (1922-2005) Hansen jointly designed exhibition pavilions, residential colonies in the Rakowiec neighborhood in Warsaw and the Słowacki Colony in Lublin, as well as their most controversial undertaking, the Przyczółek Grochowski (editor’s translation: Grochów Abutment) in Warsaw.In each of their designs, the Hansens built upon the principles of the theory of Open Form. Their own home in Szumin completely expresses its manifesto, being one of a small number of the couple’s structures built in line with the couple’s wishes and without the limitations of the socialist construction industry.The Polish reporter and architecture expert Filip Springer wrote in the daily Gazeta Wyborcza:Zofia and Oskar Hansen, the architects’ home in Szumin, built in 1969, photo: Andrzej Przywara / courtesy of the Foksal Gallery FoundationIts fundamental axiom is the transformability of architecture, the ability to adjust to the needs of its users. […] In an ideal world, Open Form would allow people to decide not only about the layout of their apartments, but also about their height, their functional divisions and the placement and size of the windows in the façade. All this to allow each individual to ‘build their own nest’.Szumin: The House of Zofia & Oskar Hansen – VideoCulture.pl takes a tour of the remarkable home of two pioneers of architecture: Zofia and Oskar Hansen.https://culture.pl/en/video/szumin-the-house-of-zofia-oskar-hansen-videoEwa & Stefan KuryłowiczEwa and Stefan Kuryłowicz, photo: courtesy of Kuryłowicz & AssociatesEwa (born 1953) and Stefan (1949-2011) Kuryłowicz are the owners and creators of one of the largest contemporary architectural studios, Kuryłowicz & Associates, whose work has left a lasting impact on the landscape of Warsaw.Home of Ewa and Stefan Kuryłowicz in Kazimierz Dolny; design: Ewa and Stefan Kuryłowicz with the studio APA Kurylowicz & Associates, photo: Hanna DługoszIn the capital, at least fifty structures were designed by their studio: office buildings, religious structures, residential complexes and public utility buildings. Among others, these include the headquarters of the Warsaw Rowing Society, the Modlin airport and the Plac Unii shopping centre, which, standing on the former site of the famous Supersam, caused controversy and stirred up emotions among the residents of Warsaw. On the Polish architecture website http://Bryła.pl we read:Prof. Ewa Kuryłowicz for years as an architect remained in the shadow of her husband, Prof. Stefan Kuryłowicz, who died tragically in June 2011. (…) Ewa Kuryłowicz, as her husband often emphasised, was the co-author of the majority of the work coming out of the studio. (…) It is said that the failure to build the Barnabite Church in Warsaw’s Stegny district as it was designed by Ewa Kuryłowicz in a competition in 1988 was a loss for Polish architecture. She had designed a glass, semitransparent, illuminated rectangular container. In its place, a brick, styleless, historicizing structure arose.Maria and Kazimierz PiechotkaMaria and Kazimierz Piechotka, photo: courtesy of the authors’ familyMaria (born 1920) and Kazimierz (1919-2010) Piechotka studied architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. Starting in 1947, they worked professionally in tandem, designing, among others, the residential complexes Bielany I-III (1951-1963) listed among the Treasures of Contemporary Culture, the Medical Professional Development Institute on Marymoncka Street (1958-1965) and the residential neighborhoods of Słodowiec (1963-1964) and Aleja Zjednoczenia (1964-1965).Wooden Synagogues by Maria & Kazimierz Piechotka – Image Galleryhttps://culture.pl/en/gallery/wooden-synagogues-by-maria-kazimierz-piechotka-image-gallery1 / 15Starting in the mid-1960s, the Piechotkas conducted research on the industrialsation of residential n construction, but it is their work on the history of architecture, particularly as reflected in Jewish heritage, that is better known. Their books Wooden Synagogues (1957), Heaven’s Gates: Wooden Synagogues in the Territories of the Former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1996) and Heaven’s Gates: Brick and Stone Synagogues (1999) rescued many synagogues from oblivion.Helena and Szymon SyrkusHelena Syrkus, photo: from the collection of Marta Leśniakowska; Szymon Syrkus, photo: from Awangarda Polska Architektura Urbanistyka 1918-1939, PAI Interpress 1981Helena (1900-1982) and Szymon (1893-1964) Syrkus worked together in designing and in creating an architectural theory in which they postulated the industrialisation of residential construction. This theory was put into practice in the buildings of the Warsaw Residential Cooperative in Rakowiec (1934-1938) and in homes in Łódź, Marysin and Grudziądz. They were constructed from repeating segments with bedrooms on the mezzanine level. Their façades were made of prefabricated materials and wood, which created an attractive visual effect at low cost.They conducted their experiments in novel construction primarily for private clients. Examples include: a house built on a steel base on Jasiowa Street in Konstancin (Skolimów) in 1930, the villa at 26 Katowicka Street in Warsaw (1936), a villa in Sosnowka near Pińsk (1937), the houses at 12 Walecznych and 8 Estońska (1938). They used an iron-concrete construction for the residential buildings on Jaworzyńska Street in Warsaw (1936-1937). The tenement houses they built were modestly appointed from mass-produced elements, but with great attention to details and aesthetics.Helena Syrkus, Szymon Syrkus, interior of their home in Skolimów, 1932-1933, photo: reproduced from Wnętrze magazine, 1933-1934.After the war, they worked in the Capital Reconstruction Office, soon returning to the theme of industrialization of residential architecture and developing apartments for high-rise apartments of concrete slab construction. In this, they encountered many problems stemming from decisions of the authorities, economic and material limitations and poorly developed technology. Their residential colonies in Warsaw’s Kolo and Praga were among the first examples of post-war architecture inscribed in the landmark registry.Polish Womenat the Drafting TableWhat role did women play in the creation of modern architecture and city planning? Drawing on the book ‘Kobiety-Architektki’ (Women Architects), we present six prominent Polish women architects who made a significant impact in their field.Barbara BrukalskaBarbara Brukalska, 1927, photo: family archivesBarbara Brukalska (1899-1980) was one of the most important architects and avant-garde designers in Poland. She was also the first female professor to teach at the Warsaw University of Technology. She worked with the modernist group Praesens and was an ardent admirer of Le Corbusier.Working with her husband Stanisław (also an architect), Brukalska implemented her idea of low-cost, practical architecture and design. Together, they designed a housing development in the Żoliborz district of Warsaw and a house in 8 Niegolewskiego Street (1927-28), which is considered the first avant-garde artefact in Poland.The Brukalskis' Poetics of the Avant-garde - Image GalleryBoth Barbara Wanda Brukalska and Stanisław Brukalski participated in the Le Corbusier-run international movement of modernist architects (CIAM) and in the Polish avant-garde movement concentrated in the Praesens group, where Barbara Brukalska was the sole architect at the first Praesens Exhibition ahttps://culture.pl/en/gallery/the-brukalskis-poetics-of-the-avant-garde-image-gallery1 / 9After World War II, Brukalska focussed on individual projects, expanding the House Under the Eagles (1948-1950) and designing a housing development in Okęcie (1960), the Matysiak House in Warsaw (1956), as well as a church in Troszyn ( 1956–1975) and in Sypniew (1971–1974).Jadwiga Grabowska-HawrylakJadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, 2016, photo: Mieczysław Michalak / AGJadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak (1920-2018) was called an icon of post-war Wrocławarchitecture. Her best-known project is a housing development on Grunwaldzki Square often called Manhattan… or ‘the toilet seats’. It was designed in cooperation with Zdzisław Kowalski and Włodzimierz Wasilewski. The development’s design comes from the late 1960s and is considered one of the best – and most controversial – architectural pieces of the time. The apartment blocks were inspired by the works of Le Corbusier. What’s most distinctive about them is the lack of angular, block-like forms (so popular at the time), as well as the observation decks on the rooftops.Patchwork: The Architecture of Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak – Image Galleryhttps://culture.pl/en/gallery/patchwork-the-architecture-of-jadwiga-grabowska-hawrylak-image-gallery1 / 11Grabowska-Hawrylak also co-designed the Kołłątaj (1955-58) and Gajowice (1960-68) housing developments, the House of the Scientist (1958-60) and the primary school on Podwale Street (1957-59). Her own house on Kochanowskiego Street (co-designed with Maciej Hawrylak, 1978-84) won the House of the Year Award from the Stowarzyszenie Architektów Polskich (Association of Polish Architects).Anatolia Hryniewicka-PiotrowskaAnatolia Hryniewicka-Piotrowska, photo: ‘Kobieta Współczesna’ (Modern Woman) vol. 3, no 5, page 8, 1929In 1929, when the winning design for the pavilion of the Polish General Exhibition in Poznań (which was supposed to show how Poland had prospered in its 10 years of independence) was announced, its designer was but a recent graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology. Anatolia Hryniewiecka-Piotrowska had previously only done projects along with her fellow students and a residential housing unit for workers of the State Rifle Factory (designed together with her husband Roman Piotrowski).Working Women’s Pavilion by Anatolia Hryniewiecka-Piotrowska, 1929, photo: www.gdynia.plHer Working Women’s Pavilion (1928-29) was built to show the activity of feminist organisations of the time – its form and the way it was equipped brought to mind a modern villa. In Kobiety-Architekti, Szymon Piotr Kubiak writes:The house may have been directly inspired by the recently built ‘experimental house of foam concrete’ by Bohdan Lachert and Józef Szajnaca on Katowicka Street in Warsaw. Piotrowska, who wasn’t a stranger to the avant-garde groups such as Blok or Praesens, probably knew this style by heart. She also surely knew the theories and works of the leading master of the architectural school – Le Corbusier. [...] Although the domestication of ‘female issues’ at the Polish General Exhibition seems the exact opposite of how the feminist movement is understood today, it’s important to remember that was the prevailing way of presenting it at the time around the world.Trans. WFDiana ReiterDiana Reiter, photo: National Archives in KrakówDiana Reiter was one of the first female architects in Poland. She was born into a Jewish family in 1902 in Drohobycz, before leaving for Lviv to study. There, in 1927, she graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of the Lviv Polytechnic National University. Between 1928 and 1932, she worked at the Regional Directorate of Public Works in Kraków. In 1928, a design of hers, alongside Z. Kowalski and A. Moscheni, won third prize in a contest for the design of Jagiellonian Library’s new building.Eleonora and Józef Elsner’s tenement house, designed by Diana Reiter, 16 Pawlikowski Street, Kraków, 1937-39, photo: google.plTwo of Reiter’s buildings still stand in Kraków today: one at 26 Beliny-Prażmowskiego Street (1933-35) and the other at 16 Pawlikowskiego Street (1937-39). Before she was forcibly sent to the Kraków ghetto in 1941, she worked in the studio of Kazimierz Kulczyński. Her tragic death in the Płaszów concentration camp (ordered by Amon Goethe, c. 1943) was recalled in several memoirs of Holocaust survivors as well as in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993).Halina SkibniewskaHalina Skibniewska in her office, 1963, photo: Wiesław Stasiak / PAPHalina Skibniewska (1921-2011) was not only an architect and an urban planner but also a member of the Sejm under the communist regime, as well as a deputy speaker of the Sejm (1971-85). After graduating from the Warsaw University of Technology, she began working at the Biuro Odbudowy Stolicy (Warsaw Reconstruction Office), where she was part of the team working on the reconstruction of the National Theatre. At the same time, she was working in the studio of Romuald Gutt – one of the most prominent pre-war modernist architects.She is the architect behind one of the most sought-after housing developments in Warsaw: Sady Żoliborskie or Żoliborz Orchards, where she used the greenery that surrounded it, the Szwoleżerów estate, to place ornaments from the ruins of historical buildings. A school in the Sadyba district (1971) is also one of her designs. She was also the first architect to design independent housing for the disabled.Halina Skibniewska, Żoliborz Orchards area in Warsaw, 1969, photo: Marian Sokołowski CAF / PAPKonrad Kucza-Kuczyński writes in Women in Architecture:The Żoliborz Orchards complex from 1958 to 1963 or the Szwoleżerów complex from 1974 to 1976, built in times of normative and financial restrictions are proof that despite the difficulties of that time, one could create things with a sense of ethical responsibility for the creation itself and the recipient, that were better than what was standard at the time.Trans. WSHelena SyrkusHelena Syrkusowa speaking at the World Congress of Intellectuals in Defense of Peace at the Wrocław University of Technology, 1948, photo: Jerzy Baranowski / PAPHelena Syrkus (1900-1982) was a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, where she later taught as a professor. Together with her husband, Szymon, they developed the idea of industrialising the process of building residential housing. They designed housing developments in Rakowiec (1934–1938) and Koło in Warsaw as well as houses in Łódź, Marysin and Grudziądz. They also designed many villas and residential houses in which they used reinforced iron or concrete constructions, which include houses on Jasiowa Street in Konstancin (Skolimów) in 1930, in 26 Katowicka Street in Warsaw (1936), in Sosnówka by Pińsk (1937) and on Jaworzyńska Street in Warsaw (1936-1937).Construction site for the Koło-East housing development in Wola (Warsaw), according to Helena and Szymon Syrkus’ design, Warsaw, 1950, photo: Roman Wionczek / East NewsIn 1959, Helena Sykrusowa began her work on the Tatary housing development in Lublin, which was later taken over by a group of architects. In 1976, she published Towards the Concept of the Social Housing Estate, a summary of her own and her husband’s work.From Brazil to Qatar: Projects by Polish Architects around the WorldFor some of them, work abroad was only a brief jaunt, for others it was their entire life. Even though none of them has yet achieved the stardom of Frank Gehry or Zaha Hadid, Polish architects have realised some incredible projectsLucjan Korngold – from Warsaw to São PauloLucjan Korngold, CBI Esplanada skyscraper, São Paulo, 1948, photo: São Paulo photo.Lucjan Korngold, graduate of the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology in 1923, designed tenement buildings and villas for private investors. Linking modern form with classical elegance brought him popularity among pre-war Warsaw citizens eager to invest in real estate.In 1939, Korngold and his family left Poland, escaping war and fascism. Via Italy, the architect travelled to Brazil, finally settling in São Paulo. Before acquiring rights to realise independent projects, he collaborated with other architects. In the mid-1940s, a real estate boom started in Brazil, resulting a lot of investment in construction. During this perdiod, Lucjan Korngold designed houses and residential settlements, but his specialty was city offices for the corporations and banks that were rapidly developing in South America at the time.Commercial designs for big corporations were very different from Warsaw tenement buildings. In São Paulo, Korngold started designing reinforced-concrete skyscrapers with simple, geometrical forms and rhythmical façade patterns. He gave them unique character by using details such as rounded quoins or steel elements.Dorton Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina, designed by Maciej Nowicki, 1949In 1945, architect Maciej Nowicki, who designed urban plans during the war for the future rebuilding of Warsaw, was appointed Polish cultural attaché in Chicago and became a member of the team constructing the United Nations headquarters in New York City. Afterwards, he decided not to come back to Poland. He started a series of lectures at the North Caroline State University, combining theoretical work with architectural practice. In 1949, he designed the multi-purpose Dorton Arena, which today still holds a place in architecture textbooks worldwide.UN advisors, first from the right: Maciej Nowicki, New York, 1947, photo: UNThe arena, which can seat up to 8,000 people, is unique in its construction: it mainly consists of a massive suspended roof. Two parabolic arches made of concrete create a frame on which steel lines are spread out that hold up the roof as it spans widely over the interior. Thanks to this, the arena is not divided by any load-bearing columns – the roof does not require additional support. Only 4 years after it was opened, the arena was listed as one of the ten constructions that have had the biggest influence on American architecture. In 1972, the Raleigh arena was placed on the National Historic Registry.Construction of the arena ended in 1953, three years after the tragic death of the architect. Maciej Nowicki died in a plane crash on his way from the Indian city of Chandigarh, where he had been designing a governmental district. After his death, the city was later designed by Le Corbusier.Polish architects in FranceCongress Hall, Perros Guirec, Bretagne, designed by Andre (Andrzej) Mrowiec, photo: courtesy of the architectIn the 1960s, Warsaw and Gdańsk architecture faculties got a chance to send their students for internships in France. Many of the young architects who participated in the programme decided not to come back to Poland – hence, there is a rather numerous group of Polish architects who shortly afterwards started working in France. At that time, the French government was carrying out the massive Villes Nouvelles project, which involved building new planned communities and towns in the region surrounding Paris. This meant a surfeit of jobs for the architects.In 2009, SARP (the Association of Polish Architects) held the exhibition ARCHIPOL EXPO, which presented the legacy of Polish architects working in France in the second half of the 20th century. Among the projects displayed, there were: the surprisingly modern public housing projects by Iwona Buczkowska (in Saint Dizier, Le Blanc Mesnil and Ivry-sur-Seine); the expressive congress hall made of concrete, designed by Andre (Andrzej) Mrowiec for Perros Guirec in Bretagne; and the visionary utopian projects of Witold Zandfos. Zandfos, together with Jan Karczewski and Michel Lefebvre, started the Miasto group and created futuristic visions that were supposed to, in his own words, ‘use novel technologies in science and industry for complex spatial planning and the construction of cities on the ruins of 20th-century urban planning.’Stanisław Fiszer – a postmodernist in FranceStanisław Fiszer, Theatre and Media Library, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 1993One of the architects who decided to move their practice to France in the 1960s was Stanisław Fiszer. In 1972, he opened his own studio, Fiszer Atelier 41, in Paris, and in 1997 he opened a branch in Warsaw. He co-designed the Warsaw Stock Exchange headquarters and was responsible for the rebuilding of the Kubicki Arcades at the Royal Castle in Warsaw as well as Miasteczko Orange, a complex of office buildings also in the capital.Stanisław Fiszer - Architectural Works - Image Galleryhttps://culture.pl/en/gallery/stanislaw-fiszer-architectural-works-image-gallery1 / 5Stanisław Fiszer draws from different styles. He sees his departure from Poland as a ‘widening of the array of aesthetics’ which inspire him. Some consider Fiszer’s realisations to be supreme examples of postmodern architecture because they incorporate details and elements of the most diverse origin. The postmodern works of Fiszer include a school in Régalles (1980) and the Theatre and Media Library in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (1994). In 1988, the Marais district in Paris saw the construction of the research centre of the French National Archives. The solid, heavy form was finished with the use of stone and black metal. Another unique building is the monumental hotel at the Thermes Nationaux in Aix-les-Bains (2000), which combines modernist simplicity with ancient motifs.Bohdan Paczowski – through Italy to LuxembourgRocade de Bonnevoie, town offices, Luxembuorg, designed by Paczowski et Fritsch Architectes, 2007, photo: courtesy of the artist / www.apf.luBohdan Paczowski is a graduate of the Kraków University of Technology. He also studied at the Polytechnic University of Milan. In the early 1960s, he settled abroad permanently – first in Italy, later in Paris. Today he lives in Luxembourg, where he co-runs architecture studio Paczowski et Fritsch Architectes. Besides his designs, Paczowski is a writer, penning essays on culture (his anthology Zobaczyć (editor’s translation: To See) was published in 2006 by słowo / obraz terytoria), and a photographerAirport terminal in Luxembourg, 2008, Paczowski et Fritsch Architectes, 2007, photo: courtesy of the studio / www.apf.luThe studio Paczowski et Fritsch Architectes was founded in 1989 and has since then realised multiple projects in Belgium, France, Switzerland and predominantly Luxembourg. In 1994, the expansion of the European Court of Justice was completed. The result is a massive form with darkened windows, located behind a row of smaller, stone-decorated pavilions. In 2007, Rocade de Bonnevoie, one of the city council’s headquarters, was unveiled with the studio’s input, and then an airport terminal in Luxembourg a year later. Both are characteristic for their frigid modern form, in which metal and glass are dominant. Apart from public utility buildings, Paczowski’s ensemble has also designed residential buildings, offices and commercial objects.Polish Embassy in New Delhi, designed by Witold Cęckiewicz and Stanisław Deńko, 1973-1978Witold Cęckiewicz and Stanisław Deńko, Polish Embassy in New Delhi, photo: SARP archiveIn 1973, SARP (the Association of Polish Architects) organised a closed architectural competition for the design of the Polish Embassy in the Indian capital, New Delhi. Out of eight project groups invited to compete, the first prize was awarded to a design by Kraków-based architects, Witold Cęckiewicz and Stansiław Deńko. On a relatively small plot, the architects had to squeeze in not only the Embassy building, but also several accompanying objects, such as the trade advisor’s office, the ambassador’s residence, a school for the embassy staff’s children as well as recreational spaces. The construction of the complex was completed in 1978.Witold Cęckiewicz and Stanisław Deńko decided to use a novelty material at the time: reinforced concrete. Using it, they built a complex of simple buildings raised onto 11-metre columns, which is today considered one of the most interesting examples of post-war modernism.Many years later, Deńko recalled working on the design:We were heavily influenced by Le Corbusier, but back then everybody was influenced by him. We wanted to translate Corbusierian language into Indian reality, so to speak.The Polish Embassy in New Delhi is a geometrical, simple, modernist building adapted to the challenges of the sweltering Indian climate, such as lifting the buildings up onto columns to allow for the creation of a large shadowed area. Also, the two-ply roof helps ventilate and cool the interior, while the heart of the complex is an atrium with a swimming pool. The architects also thought of numerous terraces for meetings. An important element of the design are also the concrete trusses that protect the glass façade from overheating. These light breakers, aside from their practical function, also have a decorative one.Polish architects in the Middle East and AfricaWojciech Jarząbek, Al Othman Center, photo: http://mallsandstores-kwt.comIn the 1970s and 1980s, the collaboration of Polish government with several Middle East and Africa nations resulted in interesting architectural projects. Polish architects travelled to Damascus, Baghdad, Tripoli, Abu Dhabi, as well as Nigeria and Ghana to build housing estates, schools and entertainment venues. They also created urban plans for city centres and neighbourhoods.The authors of the book Postmodernism is Almost All Right: Polish Architecture After Socialist Globalisation explain:The export of architecture and urban planning was the feather in the Polish People’s Republic’s cap. It constituted an element of political and economic support given by the Eastern Bloc to the newly-formed countries in Africa, Middle East and Asia.National Library in Damascus, Syria, designed by Jan Jacek Meissner, Małgorzata Mazurkiewicz, Marek Dunikowski and Wojciech Miecznikowski, photo: press materials Al-Assad Library (مكتبة الأسد الوطنية ) / مكتبة الأسد الوطنية - الموقع الرسمي - مكتبة الأسد - سورياWojciech Jarząbek, one of the most important Polish postmodern architects and the man behind Wrocław’s Solpol, designed a commercial and office complex called Al Othman in Kuwait. Jan Jacek Meissner, Małgorzata Mazurkiewicz, Marek Dunikowski and Wojciech Miecznikowski designed the monumental National Library in Damascus. An architecture team led by Wojciech Zabłocki created the Olympics centre in Latakia, Syria, while Stefan Kuryłowicz and Jakub Wacławek competed for the design of the Parliament building in Algiers. The general consultant for urban planning in Baghdad was Tadeusz Ptaszycki, the head designer of Nowa Huta (the urban plan for which was developed by the state agency Miastoprojekt Kraków).34/35 Dessauer Straße residential building in Berlin, designed by Romuald Loegler, 1991-1993Romuald Loegler, IBA’87 design, Berlin-Kreuzberg, 1987, photo: www.loegler.com.plInternationale Bauaustellung (IBA, Interbau) was an international exhibition cycle on urban planning and construction, organised in Germany throughout the 20th century (both before and after World War II). During each of the exhibitions, architects presented innovative and experimental urban designs, which were supposed to answer urgent city needs, e.g. cheap residential buildings. One of the most important exhibitions was the 1987 edition organised in Berlin. Since the topic of the IBA’87 was on the urban revitalisation, rebuilding and reconstruction of historical buildings, Rem Koolhaas, Aldo Rossi, Zaha Hadid, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Rob Krier and many other architects were charged with designing infills for an exhibition in the Kreuzberg neighbourhood.Romuald Loegler designs – Image GalleryPhotographs of selected architectural projects by Romuald Loegler.https://culture.pl/en/gallery/romuald-loegler-designs-image-gallery1 / 24Polish architect Romuald Loegler, designer of the Łódź Philharmonic and the Kraków Opera, also realised a project at IBA’87. The residential building at Dessauer Straße 34/35 was the result of Loegler’s analysis of the urban situation of its historic district, partially destroyed during the war. The four-storey corner building was designed according to basic geometric shapes: squares and rectangles. The plaster façade was adorned with a clay truss, arranging different-sized windows in order and giving them a harmonic rhythm.Romuald Loegler’s designs from the 1980s are considered some of the best examples of postmodern architecture. The house in Berlin can also be considered part of the postmodern trend, given that, like other IBA’87 designs, it creates a form of dialogue with its historical surroundings and paraphrases architectural motifs from the distant past.Polish Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, designed by Krzysztof Ingarden and Jacek Ewý, 1994-2001Polish Embassy in Tokyo, designed by Krzysztof Ingarden & Jacek Ewý, 2002, photo: Ingarden & Ewý Studio / http://www.iea.com.plKrzysztof Ingarden, co-founder of Kraków studio Ingarden & Ewý, first went to Japan in 1977. In the 1980s, he worked at Arata Isozaki’s renowned firm. Since then, he regularly travelled to Japan and, in 2002, became an honorary consul of Japan in Poland. It was his studio that designed the Polish embassy in Tokyo between 1994 and 1999, with the construction ending in 2001.On their website the architects described the challenge they faced:The building of the new Polish embassy is situated in the Meguro-ku district, where it is surrounded by low residential buildings. The small plot required development fitting the dimensions and shape of the building to the scale of the narrow street and leaving as much open public space in front of the building as possible. At the same time, the building needed official character, although not ostentatious.... Showing the relationships of the architecture to Polish tradition was a major objective.Designs by Krzysztof Ingarden and Jacek Ewý – Image Galleryhttps://culture.pl/en/gallery/designs-by-krzysztof-ingarden-and-jacek-ewy-image-gallery1 / 12The embassy building was divided into two parts. One is a relatively simple office building, while its entrance is located in a separate pavilion adjoining the façade. The oval pavilion made of brick has a small suspended roof protecting the entrance. The entire composition resembles a medieval barbican with an open, and thus inviting, drawbridge. The intended gravity and elegance of the diplomatic building were achieved by the use of appropriate materials: dark brick on the façades of the entrance pavilion, and fair stone and glass in the main building.WWAA w KatarzePolish Pavilion at Shanghai EXPO 2010, photo: promo materialsYoung Polish studio WWAA was made famous through its design of the Polish Pavilion, prepared for the Shanghai EXPO in 2010. The pavilion, with its plywood façade inspired by folk cut-outs, was so popular that it was quickly plagiarised. Its exact copy was built in Dubai.This did not lead the WWAA architects to hold a grudge against the Middle East, however, and since 2013 they have been collaborating with a television station in Qatar. They have created a couple of interior design projects for television studios, ordered by National Qatar Television, including one for a game show, Ched Halak, and a morning programme called Sabah Rabah, as well as one for a programme celebrating Qatar National Day 2013. It’s no coincidence that a member of the WWAA studio is a respected scenographer, Boris Kudlička.Stanisław Kwaśniewicz18.04.1930—23.07.2006Stanisław Kwaśniewic was a Polish late modernist architect who worked in Silesia. He was born on April 18th 1930 in Kraków and died on July 23rd in Katowice.His most important realisations include the Paderewski housing estate (1967-1969) designed in collaboration with Jurand Jarecki and Ryszard Ćwikliński, and a collection of edifices in Korfanty Avenue in Katowice, completed in the 1960s, consisting of the office block named Separator, an exhibition pavilion of the Biuro Wystaw Artystycznych (Artistic Exhibitions Bureau) and the 20-storey residential block Ślizgowiec. These buildings played their part in a major reorganization of the city centre in the spirit of late modernism planned after the war.One of the most interesting projects by Kwaśniewicz is the abode of Śląski Instytut Naukowy (the Silesian Scientific Institute, completed in 1977), which is now in ruins. Because of its difficult location next to a busy intersection, and a small parcel of land surrounding it, its workshops and conference rooms were only open to its inner patios. The skeleton construction was based on a module of squares, connected by hinged joints. This low, compact building seems lighter thanks to its splayed edges and to the columns on which it is placed. Triangular incisions in the facade form the main decoration of the building, making it more dynamic.1970-1980s , the "Polmag" enterprise in the Separator building, designed by Stanisław Kwaśniewicz, photo courtesy of Polska na fotografiiBetween 1959 and 1965 the architect designed (together with Jurand Jarecki) the Kosmos cinema on Grunwaldzki Square – the first panoramic cinema in Katowice. Its characteristic element was a spacious, two-level hall, with glass walls facing the park. A polychrome by Zbylut Grzywacz was placed on one of the walls. Although the materials used for the project were of low quality (aluminium columns that mimic chrome), Kosmos was one of the best realisations of late modernism in Katowice, but modern renovation has totally changed the character of the building.2009 , BWA Gallery in Korfanty Avenue, in Ślizgowiec, designed by Stanisław Kwaśniewicz, photo courtesy of Polska na fotografiiOther important projects outside of Katowice were a shopping mall in Jastrzębie Zdrój, the Dobry Pasterz and Matka Boska Częstochowska churches in Drogomyśl (1966-1969), and a parish church in Wrzosowa, next to Częstochowa, which was completed in 1978. Both churches were expressive in form, which was typical of sacral architecture in the 1970s. The new building of the Biblioteka Śląska (Silesian Library) in Katowice, one of Kwaśniewicz's later projects created in collaboration with Jurand Jarecki and Marek Gierlotka as a result of a contest organised in 1989 (built between 1991 and 1997), is also worth mentioning. The enormous, clear building fits well with the urban environment and the surrounding greenery. The solid of the magazine grows out of an octagonal base surrounded by an embankment, hiding garages and reading and utility rooms. The architects decided to reference Silesian modernism – the columns on which the magazine is placed were inspired by the simple modernist colonnades that are often found in Katowice, and the monumental form of the building is reminiscent of the late modern architecture of the city. Thanks to its diagonal axis, the facade was placed on the shorter side of the construction. The entrance was marked by an openwork gate covered with black stone which was supposed to evoke coal. The building's biggest benefit is its functional arrangement and technological use, which distinguishes it among Polish libraries.WorksHope this is helpful.