Interview with Anna Chrząszcz, Dominik Darasz, Kinga Gibiec, Dominika Kisielewska, Bartek Kisielewski, Robert Strzeński, Daria Trzepla, Volodymyr Tsapuk, Maciej Warot and Krystian Wawer (Horizone Studio)
[ A&B 11'2019 original material]
We have been following Horizone Studio closely for years. We like their uncompromising approach to creating architecture that is well grounded in context, time and place. Horizone architects believe that "as designers, they are responsible for the quality of the space around us." This is valuable, especially since few architects today can afford such a confession. However, it is difficult to persuade them to make personal ascensions, to find out what anyone thinks and what their views are, because even though all the partners and staff of the office participated in the conversation and worked on the issue, they sign their name as Horizone in their answers. This is the decision they made. They take us into the world of their inspiration, approach to architecture, explain a little about the worldwide mania for certification, talk about trends, real and time travel.
The cover of A&B's 11/2019 issue,
proj.: Horizone Studio
Malgorzata Tomczak: Tell us briefly what this issue is about?
Horizone Studio: In September, we were invited to co-create the November issue of A&B, and we must admit that editing it proved to be an interesting challenge for us. It gave us the opportunity to show how we think and design. Since Horizone Studio's projects are usually a synthesis of ideas from several people, we also decided to work as a team on A&B. We also speak with a common voice in this conversation.
When looking for a theme for the issue, we quickly discovered that the experience of travel in its various aspects is what unites us and motivates us to act. Travel becomes a catalyst for change and growth, influencing the relationships we create, both on an individual level and collectively - in the office and in the buildings we design. The Moodboard shows where we get our ideas from, in the Presentations we presented out-of-the-box, stunning realizations by other architects, to end with "A&B Conversations" - here we discuss selected Horizone Studio projects and realizations.
Horizone Studio's introduction in the 11/2019 issue of A&B
Malgosia: Moodboard - what did you want to show in it, what drives you, inspires you on a daily basis?
Horizone:In a way, it is a resultant of our inspirations, which we get from everyday life and from traveling. We wondered what inspires us the most, and it turned out that each of us has a slightly different opinion. Hence the idea that our Moodboard should be multithreaded. So it features people, flavors, landscapes, arts and crafts and technologies. Memories of places, people and experiences then find a trace in the discussions and projects created at Horizone Studio. Examples for each category were chosen by people who are most inspired by the topic.
As we begin work on each project, we are aware that the addressees of our architecture are people. It is for them and their sense of comfort that we try to select the most appropriate solutions in the projects. In the collection People in Spaces, for which Krystian was responsible, we wanted to strongly emphasize this aspect and prove that whether we design a good apartment, office, concert hall or museum, will be largely determined by whether we have understood the needs of the future user of these objects.
Moodboard
Robert prepared Tastes we inevitably associate with food - sometimes we have cooking nights at the office, to which we invite our acquaintances, friends, former employees. We associate food with necessity on the one hand, and pleasure on the other. The same is true of architecture. You can admire it, be indifferent to it or dislike it, but it is impossible to live without it. The better the architecture, the better we feel about it. Not everyone can explain why this is so. However, everyone will confirm that good architecture has a positive effect on the environment and the people who use it. In order to create good architecture, it is necessary to draw from everything around us and what is important to us, always remembering for whom it is created. In many cultures, food is incredibly important. Not only as a necessary element to live, but also as an element that brings people together. It makes them united not only by the passion to create better and tastier dishes, but also by the pleasure of eating together. And this, in turn, makes us feel good, happier. Such feelings spur action, including the creation of good architecture. One that creates vibrant urban spaces, a backdrop for our gatherings and places where we can indulge in the pleasure of eating and simply spending time together.
The natural landscape, for us, is not only an inspiration, but also a domain to which we return in every free moment - we understand the opportunity to commune with it as a privilege, while at the same time we feel obliged to treat it with maximum respect in our professional work and not disturb it unnecessarily. We want the architecture we create to be a harmonious reference to the surrounding nature, not a brutal interference. This section was developed by Daria and Maciek.
Art and Craft - Bartek and Ania's choice - fulfilling various functions: aesthetic, educational, therapeutic or memory-forming, naturally inspires us. Of particular value is the art present in public space, where its recipient gets the opportunity to experience something unexpected, which can become a respite from the everyday. We are also inspired by the work of human hands - craftsmanship that masters elevate to the status of art. In our architecture, we pay attention to the detail that will tell the story of our time in the future.
In turn, we consider technology - for which Dominik and Volodya were responsible - in the context of a journey, as a journey into the future. The impact of innovative technologies on the creation of modern architecture is inspiring. The development of technology makes it possible to design previously unattainable structures and individual solutions. In the age of digitization, parametric design, generative design, having precise equipment at our disposal, we can expand the horizons of architecture.
Grotto private sauna, proj.: Partisans
Photo: Jonathan Friedman © Partisans
Gretel: How did you select other designers' projects for presentation?
Horizone:The projects we showed were selected from a much longer list of objects that inspired us. First, everyone presented their ideas and a few projects, then, in discussion, we selected some common proposals. The Grotto Sauna, designed by Canadian firm Partisans Architects on Lake Huron, captivates us with its elegance and respect for nature. From the outside, it's a small simple block, gently inscribed in the context of the bay. In contrast, the curved, natural lines of the interior carved from solid wood combine architecture and nature into a unified whole.
Another example of rediscovering the value of nature through architecture is the Oberholz Cottage in the Italian Alps by Peter Pichler and Pavol Mikolajcak. Each of the building's large windows is oriented toward a particular peak, emphasizing the uniqueness of the place, and the natural materials of its interior create an unusually warm atmosphere.
The building's relationship with its surroundings is also important because of its urban context. An exemplary example of such architecture is one of the recently completed buildings by the Kengo Kuma and Associates studio. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Eskişehir, Turkey, is a complex building of large size, but its massing is so sculpted that the building blends in with its surroundings and conforms to the proportions and scale of the local architecture.
Public buildings are among the most common subjects we develop. In this regard, The Maersk Tower by C.F. Møller Architects is an interesting example. Although the university building is the dominant element in its surroundings, it creates a very welcoming public space, open to both students and city residents.
The Maersk Tower, proj.: C.F. Møller Architects
Photo: Adam Moerk © C.F. Møller Architects
Malgosia: What do you want to pay attention to? What in architecture keeps you up at night?
Horizone:On a daily basis we are pained by the lack of awareness that the space that surrounds us is not just decoration, and that its quality is not just an aesthetic value. In our projects and conversations with investors, we try to emphasize the fact that well-thought-out architecture enhances the quality of life. On the other hand, poorly designed space or ill-considered designs for apartments and workplaces can lower it and make everyday life more difficult. Our investors often appreciate this dialogue and are eager to participate, because the result is a product they are aware of and identify with.
Public spaces and residential architecture
Malgosia: Let's talk about your projects. Let's start with public spaces. You are working on a large urban project in Jaworzno. What will this part of the city be, how do you see it?
Horizone:SILO! This project is unique for us in every way, not only by its scale - it's about twenty hectares - but also by the issues and scope of the work. We have an open-minded and informed investor who is also convinced of the importance of the project and the unique opportunity that comes with it. SILO is an ecological residential district, located on a revitalized, post-industrial site surrounded by forests, a quarter of an hour by train from the center of Katowice, which will eventually house four and a half thousand people. Here we have the opportunity to build a model settlement, following the Scandinavian model. SILO is not only the first project in Central and Eastern Europe to undergo BREEAM Communities green certification, but also a holistic view of the urban fabric being created, matching scale and context, caring about people and putting them at the center of attention. In addition, the project has great revitalization significance for Jaworzno and can positively influence the development of neighboring neighborhoods. Now that the initial concept has been completed, it is at the stage of additional analysis and defining guidelines.
Silo - an ecological estate in Jaworzno, 2018-2019
Photo: © Horizone Studio
Małgosia: We will come back to certification, now I would like to ask about residential architecture - what trends are emerging in it, in your opinion?
Horizone:Residential architecture is particularly important to us - creating it involves a great responsibility of designing spaces that future users will call their home. We are currently designing a dozen buildings in Łódź for Atal - one of the values of this place will be attractive green spaces of semi-open courtyards and a clear urban layout, with an entrance plaza, first floor services, recreational areas and lots of greenery. In other words - a new part of the city. This shows which direction - animated by good examples and buyers' expectations - the Polish residential market is heading.
Malgosia: In view of this, how does the user and his needs, expectations and growing awareness influence architecture?
Horizone:Every scale is a challenge, but only with single-family projects can we fully respond to the needs of the individual client, tailor the architecture to his needs. For such projects, the cooperation between architect and client is close. Both parties learn from each other, and only a very active exchange of information leads to an almost ideal result. When working on multifamily development projects, we do not know the future users. We can only draw an average from the requirements of investors, sales departments and future buyers. We try to somehow filter all the guidelines that come to us and incorporate them into the design, so that the development is a high-quality architecture. At the same time, we observe that a conglomeration of too much information from different sources, not necessarily overlapping with each other, can adversely affect architecture and urban planning, and after all, we as designers are responsible for the quality of the space around us. So the hope remains that the architect will be able to enjoy more confidence from investors in matters of creating this space.
House near Krakow, 2010-2014
Photo: © Horizone Studio
Malgosia: Which investors come to you most often, how do they get to you?
Horizone:More and more often clients come to us through a recommendation from someone who has worked with us before. We also have investors who are satisfied with previous cooperation and come back with new projects. Our clients count on getting a great design from an architect in addition to drawings and arranging official paperwork - we are able to create new quality in every project, regardless of its scale. We also often help investors, in joint discussions or design workshops, to define the final functional program and advise on the best solutions. Thus, in our understanding, an architect is to be not only a creator, but also an advisor.
Green technologies vs work spaces?
Malgosia: You have been active in the subject of green building for years. Is this an important area of your business?
Horizone:Yes, it is. Horizone Studio, as one of the founding companies of PLGBC Polish Green Building Association, is actively involved in various activities transforming our construction market. We prefer to co-create it rather than catch up with changing trends. In this way we expand our knowledge and stay up to date. The subject of green, environmentally and people-friendly buildings has exploded in recent years, it will be one of the mainstreams of construction, whether we want it or not.
Malopolska Science Center in Krakow, competition entry
© Horizone Studio
Malgosia: For the past month you have been working on a new certification for residential buildings, "Green Home, Green Mortgage."
Horizone:Currently, in accordance with the guidelines of the EU program "Smarter finance for families," a certification is being created in Poland designed for green residential buildings. Roughly twenty specialists from various fields are involved in the creation of these standards under the aegis of PLGBC: developers, designers, consultants and even technology suppliers. According to some, after January 1, 2021, there will be an adjustment in the rules of residential architecture design due to new regulations. The emerging certification is expected to allow residential buildings to be evaluated for their environmental and human friendliness. It will be a kind of less complicated environmental certification, and thus a passport for obtaining green mortgages or development loans. Talks with banks are also underway. Such loans have already appeared in Romania, for example. Now it's Poland's turn.
Malgosia: Last year you co-wrote a report called "Healthy Green Office," analyzing the Polish office market and tenants' expectations related to it. It was met with great interest. You are also co-authors of this year's edition.
Horizone:The reports were created within the PLGBC working group. Last year's was developed based on data from a survey of seven hundred and three people working in dozens of office buildings in various cities in Poland. As a result, it reflects today's employee expectations. For developers and landlords, this is valuable information. The report is freely available to the public, this year's edition - published both as an online platform (http://zdrowebiuro.plgbc.org.pl,) and in print "Healthy Green Office: practical solutions" - focuses on aspects related to work comfort, as well as their positive impact on creativity or employee health.
Marshal's Office of the Malopolska Region in Krakow, 2013-2017
© Horizone Studio
Małgosia: So how are office buildings changing?
Horizone:In an era of highly developed awareness in the fields of health and ecology, modern office buildings have to meet ever-increasing demands in terms of environmental solutions. This is heavily influenced by the increasingly developed and globally popular multi-criteria certification systems, such as BREEAM, LEED and WELL. This year's report focuses on aspects derived from WELL certification and is a collection of practical advice and tips on how to properly design modern office spaces to respond to the need for a comfortable and friendly work environment. It can therefore be seen as a set of guidelines for designing healthy, green offices. There are many examples of proper solutions, but issues related to air quality, acoustics, lighting, building management, office layout or the still innovative ABW (Activity Based Working) philosophy should be mentioned as the most relevant. We sincerely encourage you to read this year's report.
Malgosia: There is a perception that BREEAM, LEED and other certifications are associated with increased investment costs, and bring little to architecture. So I'll ask somewhat provocatively - do certifications make sense?
Horizone:We often treat them in a project as a kind of checklist, reminding us of possible solutions. But we are far from treating certifications doctrinally. In some projects we have consciously abandoned them. However, certification is often the result of clearly stated requirements of the investor, who wants an A-class building built with respect for the environment, the environment and human-friendly. In residential, this is not so present yet, but office buildings in Poland today are certified - these are the expectations of the end user, and this is due to the global pro-environmental approach to design, it sets the direction.
Malgosia: You design very modern work spaces. The ones that are already standing are in a class of their own, and the ones that will be built will bring a new quality to the existing space.
Horizone:Office buildings are evolving all the time. On the one hand, this is caused by technological developments, on the other - by the increased awareness of their users. Not so long ago we were delighted with open-plan offices, now they are becoming a relic. It took time for people to find that working in such spaces is tiring. Today, everyone wants to bring some of the atmosphere of home to the office, so intimate work spaces designed for a few to a dozen people, separated by areas for relaxation and joint meetings that will result in increased productivity, are emerging. In offices, greenery appears as an element that brings us closer to nature and has a positive effect on humans - it calms us down. Nature enters offices at every turn. We draw from it colors, finishing materials and sounds. Increasingly, wood or water are used in offices - natural elements give a sense of warmth and authenticity.
Ericpol office building in Lodz, 2013-2015
Photo: © Horizone Studio
Malgosia: So a healthy employee in a healthy office?
Horizone:Yes, after all, we spend a large part of our lives in offices. In addition to properly designed ventilation and air conditioning, where the right amount of fresh and clean air is supposed to simulate the natural environment, the ability to ventilate buildings naturally is increasingly expected. The use of opening window elements is already becoming standard in our office projects. This is especially important in buildings surrounded by greenery, where we can not only see it, but also feel it. This is how we designed the Ericpol office building, for example: the surrounding park greenery here influenced both the shape of the body and the building's facade.
Malgosia: The surroundings of office buildings are also changing.
Horizone:The anonymous, nameless spaces around the buildings, where one only goes out for a cigarette, are already a relic. The outside area is now expected to continue the standard of the space inside. It is to be a space with lots of greenery, with intimate squares, allowing people to relax and unwind. This is a frequent requirement of our investors. In our studio's recently completed Lodz office and retail project Textorial Park 2, the investor - St. Paul's Developments - also wanted us to come up with an unconventional new urban space within the entire building complex, where both the future employees of the office building and local residents could spend time. So we designed a place where the first floors in the old fabric of the post-industrial buildings will house restaurants, cafes, stores and other accompanying services to raise the attractiveness of the place and create a setting for common meetings.
office building in Brest, 2019
© Horizone Studio
Malgosia: The same is probably true of your latest project in Brest.
Horizone:Yes, we are trying to transfer these standards to other markets, where office building trends have not yet undergone the evolution that has taken place in Poland and the West in recent years. In designing an office building for Epol Soft (formerly Ericpol) in Brest, Belarus, we are trying to create, as part of the site development project, a common space that redefines the context of the place, accessible not only to the users of the building. This is a new approach in Brest, and we hope to convince the local administrative authorities of the validity of this way of thinking, and that the investor will be able to attract employees.
Studio
Malgosia: Now let's talk about your studio. The core consists of four partners. How do you work? What methods of cooperation do you use? Who and what do they do?
Horizone:The studio is the people. Concepts are usually created collegially, although of course there is a lead architect for each project, responsible for coordinating the work. It is difficult to briefly answer the question of who is responsible for what. And although each of us is different, we have different temperaments and points of view, we tend to agree on architecture. This makes cooperation very easy. It happens that the concept created under the leadership of one leader is continued at further stages by another partner. This allows everyone to identify with the resulting projects. Staff turnover is rather low compared to other studios. We put a lot of effort into selecting associates, because in addition to architectural ability, it is important for us to have confidence that the person will fit into the way the team works. We are also pleased that we still have contact with people who worked with us several years ago.
Study for the expansion of a school near Krakow, 2019
drawing: Dominik Darasz © Horizone Studio
Malgosia: You have a Scandinavian-German-Irish pedigree. How do you draw on that experience?
Horizone:As you mentioned, we have the opportunity to use our different professional experiences. Some of us have spent almost half of our professional lives to date outside of Poland, including Sweden, Germany and Ireland. The pragmatism of the Swedes, the perfectionism of the Germans and the spontaneity of the Irish, and even exposure to exotic Mexico have had a major impact on our approach to design. This diversity is also complemented by the experience of the other people in our studio. Foreigners were and are part of Horizone Studio. They bring a different perspective on design solutions to our work.
Direct contact with multiculturalism translates into our openness in approaching design topics. We want there to be time in the office for work, but also for pleasure and entertainment. However, we never try to take shortcuts. We want the projects that come out of Horizone Studio to always add value and have a positive impact on the place where they will be implemented.
Academy of Music, competition project
© Horizone Studio
Malgosia: You also have a separate graphics and modeling department. Does this help with design?
Horizone:Horizone Graphics. Yes, it's a separate graphics department that does architectural mock-ups, 3D modeling, photorealistic visualizations, and for the past two years, also creating VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) models. Graphics works not only for our office, but primarily on behalf of external companies, including those from Sweden and Ireland. By the way, exposure to these markets allows us to observe which way architecture is heading in other European countries. Having a professional model shop with 3D printed digital milling machines obviously expands our capabilities, but even so, when we create concepts, we almost always start by cutting simple models out of insulation foam. As you can see, this traditional method survives, it helps a lot in creating architecture. In the modeling studio we employ people with special skills. There you need to demonstrate, first of all, patience and precision of work, and manual skills are of particular importance. The final assembly of models is done by hand, but the production of parts itself - with the increasing help of CNC equipment.
Malgosia: I would like to propose a little more confrontation. For me, your architecture is: very concretely grounded in reality, very contextual, without unnecessary formal gestures, technologically advanced, urbanizing and green. In other words, it's good background architecture rather than iconic and stellar. Do you agree with this? How would you define your architecture in a few words?
Horizone:It's difficult to judge our own designs. We can do that, I guess, only by analyzing the discussions we have during design, especially at the concept stage. We want our architecture to fit in with its surroundings. It is also each time inspired by the found context - in this sense it is contextual. It is important to us that it conducts a friendly dialogue with people, without overwhelming them. Anyway, I think the meaning of "people in space" resonated quite strongly in this conversation. We also hope that our buildings will age well - that in ten or a hundred years they will not only bear witness to the times in which they were built, but also still fit in with the place where they were built.
Margaret: Finally, tell us, how did you work on this issue?
Horizone: It was a very interesting experience for us. Not only because we had the opportunity to see from behind the scenes what the work of publishing a magazine looks like, but most importantly because we had the opportunity to hear where the people we share a desk with get their inspiration from: everyone is inspired by something different, and this is probably the most valuable thing in all of this. To this we owe the interesting discussions that arose during the co-creation of this issue. Everyone had a slightly different idea of how to reflect the character of our office, and this didn't just apply to the moodboards, but also to the cover. However, just like during the design process, after many suggestions and lively discussions, we chose the final version that you are holding in your hands right now. Was it worth it? Answer for yourselves :)
Malgosia: Thank you for the interview!
interviewed by {tag:AuthorAiB}
Krakow, October 17, 2019
