An architect is someone more than a building permit guy

Błażej Ciarkowski

27 of April '23

Karol Fiedor

...

Interview from A&B issue 02|2023

"After defending my diploma, my supervisor, an excellent man and architect Jerzy Gurawski, asked if I would pursue this profession. I don't know what I told him at the time. Years later, I can admit that I don't regret my choice, every day is different and there is no expectation of boredom." Karol Fiedor, founder of CDF Architects, talks about the challenges faced by architects, cooperation with officials, concretization and... working in the garden.

Błażej Ciarkowski: The origins of CDF Architects date back to the mid-1990s. How have the conditions for practicing the architectural profession changed in these almost thirty years?

Karol Fiedor: Almost everything has changed. That goes for the tools—the technology of doing projects, but nothing has changed the conditions for practicing the profession as much as bureaucracy and bad law. It used to be that a zoning decision took one or two pages. Today it is whole volumes of documents. We have less and less time for creativity. Willingly or unwillingly, the architect becomes a workman—he has to provide the appropriate "receipt", which is the result of going through a thicket of conditions, opinions, decisions, stipulations, derogations spiced with frequently changing laws.

The tenement house at the intersection of Krysiewicza and Ogrodowa Streets, or the popular „Żelazko”, is an important part of the downtown fabric of Poznań

Blażej: An acclaimed Polish architect once said that one of the problems we have to face every day is „over-regulation.” The legislator tries to describe every aspect of reality with successive regulations, which of course is impossible, but effectively hinders the designer's work.

Karol: I agree with this, I remember who said it. The legal acts within which we move are often equivalent. Since Tom Konior said this, the situation has become even more complicated. It seems to me that it would be worthwhile to look at a few proven solutions from other countries. Based on them, we could develop a good construction law that would give designers some kind of creative freedom. Why do we want to set everything by regulation? Perhaps because as societies we tend to think first about how to get around the law, not how to apply it. Paradoxically, the level of architecture in our country is very high—and that's amazing!

Blażej: I agree, but hasn't it always been like this?

Karol: It used to be that an architect started his work with an idea, with a concept. Only then did he think about how to dress the concept into paragraphs. Now it's the other way around. First there are paragraphs that need to be packaged into architecture. Really, practicing architecture today is not as easy as some may think.

In 2011, the „Iron” was reconstructed, and the corner turret destroyed during World War II reappeared

Blażej: Is it that bad?

Karol: A dozen years ago at a sarp meeting I was sitting in the hall behind two of my professors, renowned architects with a great track record of accomplishment. One began to question whether he could still design: „you know Jerzy I received more than thirty comments on the project in the form of a stipulation, the worst thing is that I don't really understand what the author of the comments had in mind.” There was a moment of silence, after which the other noble admitted: "you know, I have a similar situation, only I have more comments. I think that on the subject of architecture the architect has less and less to say."

The situation I mentioned took place some time ago, now it is even "merrier". I dream that someone will arrange the law in a way that does not raise doubts about its interpretation. What we lack in many cases is dialogue and face-to-face meetings, constant contact, conversations between all those involved in the construction process, especially on the architect-official line. Such meetings would allow us to build mutual trust, which would result in better realizations, because I believe that this is what it's all about, that the quality of architecture gets better and better.

Ubiq 34 is a complex of three buildings on the site of former barracks in Poznań; the restored historic building houses the design office of CDF Architekci studio

Blażej: You are the author and co-author of many projects for the adaptation and modernization of buildings under conservation protection. What was the cooperation with the office of the city's conservationist like? Have you been able to establish a thread of understanding?

Karol: There are better and worse days, the most important thing for our daily activities—relationships—is to find a balance. The zero-sum mindset presented by part of the conservation community means that many objects, for economic reasons, have no chance of receiving a second life. One senses a certain suspicion about the sincerity of our actions, architects, investors.

Let's look at Betonhaus or Hugger's Brewery. These are buildings that were neglected throughout the communist era and later, during the transition years. Unexpectedly, someone appears who wants to save them. Conscious investors who want to carry out such projects should be respected by the conservator and treated as partners. Conservator's arrangements took a long time and were very difficult. But now that we have the conservator's approval, I am positively surprised, cooperation is based on partnership principles. There are meetings, exchanges on the site. Everything looks as it should.

The facades of the historic building are made of hand-formed brick; the modern part of Ubiq 34, made of glass and aluminum, introduces contemporary themes into the historic space

Blażej: That is, cooperation on the line of architect—investor—authority is possible. This is seemingly obvious, but the narrative of „good conservator and bad investor” or „bad conservator and good architect” is still popular.

Karol: When I was chairman of the council of the Wielkopolska District Chamber of Architects, we organized periodic meetings with officials. We met once a month and talked about problems on the line between the office and the architectural community. We were able to solve and clarify many issues. Then the Polish Association of Developer Companies joined our meetings. In this formula, our initiative worked successfully for several months. The time of the pandemic caused the abandonment of this practice, I think it is worth returning to it. Maybe there should be a team of SARP architects that could support preservation efforts with their opinion?

The historic buildings of the Concrete Hall and Hugger's Brewery in Poznań will be restored to their original appearance and expanded with new volumes

Blażej: In addition to the problems arising from thelack of understanding between the parties, there are also those resulting from certain policies of the authorities—for example, in the field of urban planning.

Karol: Whatever one may say about the communist era, it was a positive phenomenon to plan the development of cities over many years. Today it is much shorter. The imagination of our city managers is often limited by the term of office. Social media, which imposes on us the need to boast about the results of work here and now, further shortens the desire to accomplish something important. Large-scale actions often involve making unpopular decisions. And they most often produce results that are postponed. It is also not uncommon for them to result in a decline in the popularity of the decision-maker in question.

Blażej: The problem of greening in cities cannot be overlooked here. The effects of greening are visible only after a few years, and yet the authorities are looking more and more favorably on new plantings, new squares and parks.

Karol: The mayor of Poznań, Jacek Jaskowiak, did a very cool thing at the turn of his first and second term. He stated that there was no point in creating new parks as long as the ones that existed were neglected. Not only the big parks were taken care of, but also the small, local, neighborhood parks. New benches and lighting have appeared, and the surface of paths has been replaced. There is still a great deal of work to be done, but we can see the changes. We should collectively ensure that in new developments, tree plantings are tree plantings, not saplings. Plantings are often part of fulfilling a requirement of an administrative decision, rather than a design activity that improves the shaping of common space.

The harmonious coexistence of history and modernity will make the former Hugger's Brewery and Concrete Hall unique—both in terms of exterior form and interior design

Blażej: Public consultations are playing an increasingly important role in the discussion of urban spatial policy. On the one hand, they can be seen as an opportunity to listen to the voice of residents, and on the other—a threat to the smooth implementation of investments.

Karol: Public consultations, like conversations with a preservationist or a building administration official, are very important, because they allow us to look at a problem from a different perspective. They are important, but they cannot determine decisions and replace the voice of experts. Let me give an example. When we were preparing a project for the modernization of the Arena sports and entertainment hall in Poznań, we organized consultations. We presented our concept for seven hours. What did we hear afterwards? That it was concretosis! Meanwhile, we reduced the amount of „concrete” in the project in relation to the condition we found. We didn't significantly interfere with Kasprowicz Park, instead we made a preliminary concept for its new development—this work was our contribution to the discussion on its revitalization. There were allegations that there were too many paths and sidewalks around the hall. More than nine thousand people have to leave the building, so it can't be sidewalks two meters wide. People can't walk around and trample lawns and new plantings, and in case of evacuation trample each other, we have to meet the requirements that common sense and the law impose on us.

Blażej: The Arena is an extremely interesting case, because we are talking about a legacy that is relatively young (the building was constructed between 1972 and 1974).

Karol: The Arena is our biggest project carried out at a building under conservation protection. It is a beautiful and majestic building, designed by Jerzy Turzeniecki, whose work together with a large team we are „improving” in the context of adapting to the requirements of the times in which we live, but thinking about the next generations who will use this iconic and unique building—we designed the building for the next decades. The results of the changes we made will have to wait a while longer. However, before we proceeded with the design, we sorted out copyright issues with the investor. This was crucial, important for us and for the owner of the building. We should talk about copyrights in the community, so as to regulate the subject in an unambiguous way. It is important that the awareness of investors and architects in respecting copyrights is growing.

The modernization project of the Arena sports hall, erected in the 1970s, also includes its reconstruction, expansion and redesign of part of the Jan Kasprowicz Park in Poznan

Blażej: Respecting copyrights is not only a legal issue, but also an ethical one. You have a very strong view of the architectural profession.

Karol: There is no denying that I have radical views on several issues. In many quesions I am zero-sum. I used to have the conviction that I had the power to change the world to a greater extent than I have succeeded. I will continue to try for some time to come. I am committed to making the architectural profession a profession of public trust; we must as a group work for that trust every day. If we respect ourselves, they will respect us. With this attitude, one often loses in a clash with professional everyday life. I believe that an architect is more than a guest to bring a building permit to a developer! Considering all the problems, difficulties we encounter in our professional life, I once compared an architect to a bacterium. Many colleagues were outraged. Bacteria—because we always manage, it is difficult to discourage us from doing things. It is a very demanding profession, and at the same time interesting, I love it and hate it, and every professional day is different and unique. This is not a profession for everyone, the one who does it is able to endure and endure a lot.

After the modernization is completed, the Poznań Arena will be about 6 meters lower than it is now, which will increase the capacity of the stands to 9200 seats

Blażej: Not even another crisis?

Karol: Not the first and not the last. We need to use this time well. The last few years have been amazing, but is this how our daily lives should be, attributed only to the rush for material or business success? Maybe this is the moment to change our approach and find balance in life. Today we are seeing the end of the „golden era of investment,” everyone who had a piece of land wanted to design something, build it, sell it and make money. We're facing a big slowdown, which, paradoxically, may come in handy. We will all cool down a bit and return to creating architecture with a different approach, if only with regard to ecology, more concern for the environment.

Blażej: You have already found this "other approach"?

Karol: Iam certainly in the process of searching for this other approach. If I hadn't become an architect, I would have become a gardener. Not many people know that this is my second hobby after photography. I love working in the garden. My grandfather taught me everything when I was a child. I love my forest and garden. Contact with nature gives me respite and allows me to de-stress. I am happy when what I plant grows. The same way I enjoy another good project or realization.

Blażej: Thank you for the interview.