What secrets does Baba Yaga's House hide and what is the secret of its success? How to design good living spaces and what can be seen at the author's exhibition at the Domoteka Design Center - all this is discussed by Bartłomiej Popiela, Łukasz Gniewek and Wojciech Gajewski, owners of Pole Architekci studio.
Baba Yaga's house (Pole Architekci)
photo by Wojciech Ustupski
To begin with - perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek - I would like to ask whether the Baba Yaga's House project of your authorship is by any chance an attempt to tame childhood fears? For I am intrigued by its name....
BP: The project took its name from the first realized house, which was built in Podhale. Aunt Jaga, from the family of Wojtek - our partner, approached us with a request to design a holiday home. We managed to convince her of a more contemporary form and began to realize the house for her. The finale exceeded her wildest expectations. So, everything actually unfolded a bit like in a fairy tale. Beyond the seven mountains, beyond the seven forests.... There was a Baba, whose name was Yaga, and she wanted a Home. Then it turned out that a similar house was also wanted by her other guests. And so it all began...
Baba Yaga's house (Pole Architects)
photo by Wojciech Ustupski
The fairy tale pedigree of Baba Yaga's House we have already known. So perhaps it's time to explain why you decided to promote this very project in the Domoteka space?
BP: For some time we had been looking for a stationary space where we could show our project. This coincided with the creation of more versions of our bungalow. During one of the lectures for DMNTR magazine, we were showing the latest versions of the project. It was a stroke of luck that Domoteka was one of the co-organizers of the event. They liked the project very much. So there was a proposal to organize an exhibition in the center's space. We decided that this idea suits our current needs, namely the promotion of the Baba Yaga House by Pole Architects, as well as the launch of the new models of the house.
Pole Architects
© Pole Architects
What is your goal in showing the Baba Yaga House project at this exhibition?
BP: As I mentioned earlier, we wanted to show the house in a slightly different way.
More direct. The form of the exhibition offers such an opportunity, and meeting people, getting out from behind the desk, is an important aspect of this project. This is, after all, where it all starts.
La Scala (Pole Architects
Photo: Filip Bramorski
In a survey conducted by one of the architectural portals, two of you (Bartlomiej Popiela and Wojciech Gajewski) indicated the Baba Yaga House project as one of the three most important buildings for them. Why?
WG: I think a number of factors made us consider this project one of the most important, and to some extent unique. First of all, it was one of the first projects created in our own Pole Architects office. Second, the project was carried out in the Podhale region, where I come from and where I always wanted to realize a building. Third, the building was realized by the economic method with a lot of involvement on our part.
La Scala (Pole Architects)
photo: Filip Bramorski
Seemingly, Baba Yaga's House is characterized by a very simple and compact body. On the other hand, however, there is a lot "going on" in it - Attention is drawn, for example, to the very original, diagonally running ridge, or to the gates that close the extensive glazing when the occupants are away. How could this project be most accurately characterized?
WG: In my opinion, this is a design for a building with a very small footprint, similar to that of a motorhome, in which design decisions managed to achieve a space that gives the feeling of being in the living room of a single-family home. This was achieved through the use of a sloping ridge, mezzanine, open space and one large window.
Potocka Apartments (Pole Architects)
Photo by Nate Cook
When designing a building, architects often already have a vision of its occupants ready. Was it similar in this case?
ŁG: It's difficult to talk about one dominant audience here, because Baba Yaga's House doesn't have one dominant scenario of functioning either. We know that one of the houses realized in the Tatra Mountains serves as a meeting place for family and friends, a space for picnics and a base for mountain trips. A great many people pass through it. Another, on the other hand, serves as a rental house for everyone, although it is mainly used by couples and families with small children. Still another functions as a cottage on a plot of land, being such a small, private holiday residence. As you can see, the audience of our project is very wide and diverse.
Potocka Apartments (Pole Architects)
Photo: Nate Cook
Probably the group of those interested in this project will expand even further, given the fact that Baba Yaga's House also lived to see larger versions with areas of 70 m2 and 105 m2. Are they a faithful reproduction of the basic design?
ŁG: The DBJ_70 and DBJ_105 models are an extension of the base version, which has a 35 sqm construction area. The DBJ_35 model - due to its dimensions - will not meet the needs of a large family or a larger group of friends. We noticed that customers were often looking for a house like Baba Yaga's House, but bigger. That's why the idea was born to treat model 35 as a module that could be combined with more modules as needed, but still maintain the character and geometry of the body of the original Dom Baba Yaga.
Looking at the design of Baba Yaga's House, you can see that the simple form here goes hand in hand with economical solutions. What do they consist of in practice?
LG: Despite its very distinctive, atypical form, Baba Yaga's House is built on a standard wooden frame structure. However, the unusual form and layout of the structure can cause a lot of problems during construction, take a lot of time for contractors, which is no longer economical. Therefore, we relied on prefabrication and modularity. The design of the house is developed in detail in advance. Thanks to this, the individual parts of the Baba Yaga House arrive at the construction site as successive pieces of the puzzle, which greatly speeds up the whole process, which in turn translates into costs.
Domoteka Design Center
photo by Bartek Barczyk
Let me refer once again to the aforementioned survey. In it you unanimously declared your love for modernism. What convinces you of this trend - simplified, geometric solids, or perhaps the primacy of functionality?
BP: I think both need to exist at the same time. What would a beautiful and elegant solid be without well-planned functions in the building. Only such a combination moves the imagination.
Speaking of stirring the imagination.... I think that your Potocka Apartment Building project does this perfectly. This building is not only functional, but also has a fantastically sculpted body. How did you come up with its concept?
BP: The concept for this building came from needs, but also from constraints. Probably it's nothing revealing, but just in this project the constraints forced us to make more daring decisions. Because of the surrounding nature, we wanted the building to open to 4 sides of the world, and not - as in the case of frontage development - only to two. At the same time, the location of the plot meant that the rear northern elevation did not meet the sunlight conditions. That's why the building's plan gained a stepped and rhomboidal shape. All this to ensure that the apartments also received eastern and western sunlight. An additional challenge was balconies, which are very important to us in residential construction, and in this location they seemed particularly essential. Thanks to offsets within the block, we were able to obtain them for each of the residential modules. The investor liked the idea very much. After convincing the officials of our idea, we quickly proceeded with the implementation. This is a very important project in the portfolio of our studio, for which we also managed to win an award for the best multifamily building in Poland, awarded by the Association of Architects of Poland.
Domoteka Design Center
Photo: Bartek Barczyk
This was not the only situation when you were forced to have a kind of "dialogue" with the space and "deform" the body of the building due to the conditions found on the plot. Another of your projects - Ceramic Point - faced a similar challenge.
BP: The project at Ceramiczna was one of the first of our buildings realized. We were given a plot of land located between blocks of flats. An additional challenge was the trees growing on the plot, which we had to preserve. This gave us an excuse to deform the mass. In the projection, the building "received" stepped indentations to protect the tree stand. Thanks to the faults, the apartments gained additional visual opening and loggias at the front. In this case, the challenge was to turn a potential realization difficulty into a functional advantage. I believe we succeeded in doing so.
The fact that you excelled in reconciling the new building with the conditions of the existing development is confirmed by last year's Brick Award for "La Scala." How important was it for you?
BP: This award is important to us for several reasons. First, it is the culmination of 7 years of work and waiting for the right investor. For that is how much time separates the first design sketches from the implementation process. Initially, the project was created with the owner of the land in mind, who was anxious to sell it. Then, after the plot was purchased by the next owner, we jointly prepared a construction project. The property was again sold before the detailed design was started. The new investor turned out to be MOTA - ENGIL, which believed in the project. As a result, we can finally enjoy its realization. Secondly, this award was also important for opinion and worldview reasons. The project had a bad press, mainly due to its location on a narrow plot and in a dense development. Through functional and formal solutions we tried to tame this project. Therefore, the body of the building, in order to meet legal requirements and optically look smaller, was reduced by pyramidal terraces and a large undercut for the entrance area. In addition, we designed a facade of bright ceramic tiles with a variable texture that reflects light. The award silenced the critics, and at the same time convinced people that - despite the difficult location - this was a worthwhile and noteworthy project.
Finally, let's return for a moment to your exhibition at Domoteka, where another premiere will soon take place.
BP: During the ongoing exhibition, we will want to hold the premiere presentation of two new houses available as part of the Baba Yaga House project. These will be - Double and Triple House: DBJ_70 AND DBJ_105. Both new concepts, already mentioned by Luke earlier, are based on the basic module, but have gained new functions, form and scale thanks to additional elements. Also the family is growing, so there is something to celebrate! For the guests who come, in addition to the opportunity to meet and get to know each other, there will also be a raffle with prizes from Baba Yaga. You are cordially invited!
Domoteka Design Center
Photo: Bartek Barczyk
The exhibition "Baba Yaga's Homes" can be seen at the Domoteka Design Center until February 29, 2024.
On February 29, at 7:00 pm, an official finissage of the exhibition will be held with Pole Architekci architects, during which 2 new designs of Baba Yaga's House will be premiered.
Pole Architects
© Pole Architects
