Festival of Open Architecture Studios vol. 5

Ola Kloc

03 of November '21

...

+11

Online broadcasts are available on our channels

FOPA 2021 (fall edition)

The fifth autumn edition of the FOPA 2021 Festival of Open Architecture Studios, an event traditionally accompanying the Value Economy Congress - Open Eyes Economy Summit, is coming.
On three November afternoons (at 1 pm) we will virtually visit as many as four exceptional studios - WXCA (15.11), Tamizo Archite cts and KUOO Architects (19.11) and Kurylowicz & Associates (24.11).
You can't miss it!

Held since 2018, the festival is a great opportunity to learn about the daily work of interesting architectural offices from behind the scenes, take a look at their design methods, learn about the details of office organization and ask nagging questions. In this edition, two offices from Warsaw - WXCA and Kurylowicz & Associates - and two studios from Lodz - Tamizo Architects and KUOO Architects- will reveal their secrets. The event is free and no registration is required - just sit comfortably in front of your computer or phone screens and join the live broadcast.

WXCA
November 15, 1 pm

zespół of WXCA studios

The festival will open with a visit to Warsaw-based studio WXCA, which specializes in developing concepts for complex projects, both public and commercial, that require deep consideration of the specifics of the site and the functional qualities of the planned building. The team's credits include the Polish Pavilion currently on display at the EXPO in Dubai, the Mies van der Rohe Award-nominated Palmiry Memorial Museum and the European Center for Geological Education in Chęciny, as well as museum projects that brought them first prizes in architectural competitions - the Wielkopolska Uprising Museum in Poznań and the Museum of the Dukes of Lubomirski in Wrocław.One of the largest museum complexes of their design - the Museum of the Polish Army and the Museum of Polish History- is currently under construction at the Warsaw Citadel. Last summer, the studio edited one of the issues of A&B, which the architects titled "Traces."

A virtual walk through the studio will be led by Marta Sękulska-Wronska and Szczepan Wronski

Marta Sękulska-Wrońska
Partner at WXCA studio, president of the Warsaw Branch of SARP, member of the College of Competition Judges of SARP and architect of IARP. As she says, she is close to designing complex public and private buildings in unique locations, where in the creative process she combines a sense of context with the individual needs of the investor. You can read more about the architect in the series "10 questions to...".

Szczepan Wroński
Co-founder and partner at WXCA studio. Advocate of the use of subtle architectural means that most strongly affect the audience, emphasize the functions of a given building and the uniqueness of the context. The team of architects he co-creates works according to the author's community of ideas, where each creator has an equal voice in the creative process. This model of cooperation results in many wins in prestigious national and international architectural competitions. You can read more about the architect in the series "10 questions to...".

Tamizo Architects and KUOO ARCHITECTS
November 19, 1 pm

The motto of the studio founded by Matthew Kuo Stolarski is "Simplicity lives here". Tamizo Architects is an in-house design studio, specializing in architecture and interior design, also involved in industrial design, graphic design and urban planning. The team, according to their guiding principle, values sincerity and simplicity the most in design.

However, we understand that simplicity at its best requires perfection. Therefore, when designing, we place special emphasis on the role of details and precisely selected materials. We believe in the power of the most natural, real ones, such as stone, concrete, wood and glass. Their unique character defines the entire arranged space, which escapes both the established patterns and the destructive process of aging," the architects explain. - Years of experience and challenges that we have met have allowed us to develop a proven design methodology. It involves a constant study of the relationship between form and function. When thinking about a solid, we consider what effect a change in function has on it.... and vice versa. An open mind and a deep understanding of the design process help us create interesting, bold, often unorthodox concepts. Why do we value simplicity? Because, as Leonardo da Vinci said, "simplicity is the highest form of sophistication." We feel good about ourselves as minimalists and believe in the power of simple, though not necessarily easy, solutions. Their functionality perfectly harmonizes with the style and form of the design," they add.

wnętrze architectural office

"Sincerity and passion. Only this guarantees the mutual success of the architect and his client." - This, in turn, is the motto of the KUOO ARCHITECTS team, for which the most important thing is to reconcile the client's expectations with the possibilities offered by the interior, to create the most functional, and at the same time aesthetic layout of the space.

Focusing on timeless simplicity, which will defend itself in 10 or 20 years, but with a strong emphasis on the quality of each element, material and metal. There are no coincidences here," say the designers. - Although KUOO ARCHITECTS does not create art for art's sake, but designs spaces for everyday life, the ability to draw from the full wealth of modern art forms is the studio's hallmark. KUOO ARCHITECTS regularly collaborates with renowned painters and sculptors, as well as with little-known brands, and offers custom-designed furniture and furnishings, ensuring that carefully selected works of fine and applied art give each project that unique "something" that makes the designed interior stand out as a complete, coherent and unique whole. The most beautiful interiors of KUOO ARCHITECTS are the result of the trust placed in them by the client. The belief that passion combined with experience brings the best results, they add.

We will be shown around the studios of Lodz by Mateusz Kuo Stolarski and Katarzyna Kuo Stolarska

Mateusz Kuo Stolarski
Agraduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Lodz, he was awarded first prize in the Concrete Architecture Diploma of the Year competition and honorable mention in the SARP Diploma of the Year competition for his diploma project. Since 2009, he has been a member of the board of directors and currently the first vice president of the Lodz branch of SARP. He is also one of the founders and a board member in the SAW Interior Architects Association. He is co-founder of the KATMATKUO photography project and co-owner of the MINIMALL.ONE brand.

Katarzyna Kuo Stolarska
Graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technical University of Lodz, co-founder of SAW, co-author of the KATMATKUO photo project and co-owner of the MINIMALL.ONE brand. KUOO Architects, the studio she founded, has branches in Lodz, Warsaw and the United States Read more about the architect in the series "10 questions to...".

Kurylowicz & Associates
November 24, 1 pm

The Warsaw office of Kurylowicz & Associates was founded in 1990 by Professor Stefan Kurylowicz. Today, after more than thirty years in business, it is one of the leading architectural offices in the country, employing eighty experienced architects in offices in Warsaw and Wroclaw. The office's vice president is this year's recipient of the SARP Honorary Award, Professor Ewa Kuryłowicz.

The team has more than four hundred prestigious projects of various scales and functions to its credit, including office, retail, residential, educational, cultural and recreational facilities. Many of them honored with national and international awards.

Our work is guided by the principles of humane, sustainable and sustainable design, the architects explain. - Over the years, the office has earned a reputation as a reliable partner, able to provide solutions of the highest quality within the specified deadline and budget. The most important distinction in our work is our extensive portfolio of satisfied clients, many of whom have worked with us continuously for more than a dozen years, they add.

For the past five years, each of the Kurylowicz & Associates studio's projects has been developed using BIM technology. Meeting the highest standards of modern investment management, the projects are created in the Autodesk environment, the main activities of the design process are carried out in Autodesk Revit software and complementary programs. What's more, the studio develops its own tools for optimizing and improving the quality of project documentation, extending the standard capabilities of software available on the market. Are you curious about these solutions?

The nooks and crannies of the studios of Kurylowicz & Associates will be shown to us by Jerzy S. Majewski

Jerzy S. Majewski
Art historian, varsavianist, author of dozens of books about Warsaw, everyday life of its inhabitants, architecture and cultural landscape. Author of the miastarytm.pl blog. Longtime journalist for Gazeta Stołeczna, the Warsaw supplement to Gazeta Wyborcza, currently a journalist for the monthly Stolica, author of numerous architectural reviews.