"10 Questions to an Interior Designer" is a series of short talks inspired by the series "10 Questions to...". This time our attention is turned to interior architects. In today's episode, Tomasz Pągowski talks about his approach to design.
Tomasz Pągowski - designer, television host, co-founder of PĄGOWSKI STUDIO. Author of countless projects of interior design, furniture and utilitarian objects, created in cooperation with many Polish as well as foreign brands. In his professional as well as private activities , he promotes a pro-ecological attitude in the spirit of the "less waste" idea, as well as social activism for animal welfare and counteracting the climate crisis.
1. home for me is...
Accumulator... Asylum... base... source...another "shell" of a human being...a common denominator for the emanation of all household members....
2 The key to successful interior design is....
Finding that common denominator of functional needs, stylistic preferences and artifacts that maintain a link to what is important in the past, as well as those that create a symbolic portal to the future, all for specific people in their personal microcosm.
3 I look for inspiration...
In people, their stories of desires, needs and in the context of their daily life, what they already have and their attitude to these objects and places. I am most inspired by the prospect of finding the golden mean, which in each case lies somewhere else. In parallel, the search for inspiration is, of course, surfing the surging waves of the Internet, catching whiffs of the fresh energy of the time we are in, and intuitively looking out for the directions from which the future is coming.
4 In working with an investor, the most important thing is....
Working together to realize and understand his needs and preferences, and then consciously selecting the components of the project, which will help to create not only a harmonious interior, but first of all to clean up the "inner space" of the investor. Designing a new place is easier because it is a kind of reset. It is more difficult to carry out an effective renovation of an incumbent apartment/home, and due to the nature of our programs, mainly such orders come to us. However, in both cases, a thorough environmental interview, should be a kind of therapy for the investor, in which the architect should demonstrate not only stylistic sense, but also, and perhaps above all, psychological experience or even pure empathy.
5 My favorite design style is.
By nature I'm rather a minimalist and functionalist, but human nature also seeks uniqueness, and in this regard I like non-obvious associations, irony and an abstract sense of humor. I know that a successful arrangement is always a mix of style preferences and the unique energy of the household members, so I avoid patterns like a pole skier in a slalom.
6 The most important object in my home is....
Computer, because it helps me accomplish the most tasks and reach the most resources.... But it's a mobile laptop, so it doesn't count.... More broadly, all those items that help me create.... projects, music, texts, but also good food and proper regeneration - bed.... In general, I try to choose things in such a way that when I look around the house I don't favor any of the items, so that I have the feeling that they are integral parts of one cohesive organism.
7 The most common mistake in self-decoration is....
Maybe not so much a mistake, but the problem in self-arranging is the lack of distance. Often this problem also applies to architects or designers. Everyone has a limited field of vision. The closer the shirt is to the body, the more difficult it is to see how it lies on a person as a whole. Inexperienced people, as a rule, are too attached to individual things, details that usually do not stick together. A skilled architect creates mostly valuable "fillers" and "binders" for which those without experience do not have the proper attentiveness. As in music, the magic is not in the notes, but in the space between them.
8 My favorite material is.
It used to be wood. Not only because of its physical and mechanical properties, but especially the smell.... No matter how I dabbled with it, I always smelled.... However, after college I had to spend several years to unlearn this "bias". The essence of harmony is balance, including material balance. Wood with wood on wood - only in marquetry elements, these in turn need at least a different background to bring out their beauty.
9 A trend that I wish would pass away already is.
In general, after more than two decades of mixing everything with everything, we could already let go of the zero-sum handling of names. I know it helps to outline the direction in arranging for potential investors or random swallowers of seasonal novelties, but I feel sorry when someone's living space is reduced to a single slogan, for example, "Scandinavian-style apartment"....
10 I would like to live in... someday.
My own home... As they say - a shoemaker walks without shoes... I define the synonyms of home mentioned in the first answer slightly differently, which is easy to infer from the other answers. For me, it's not so much a specific place that I own, but the sum total of all of life's values that make up this next "shell" of our emanation. However, not to put too fine a point on it... There is a plot of land... After years, a project was hatched... Construction is underway... So much so that it's not just about satisfying livelihood needs, but materializing a certain idea that we try to live in harmony with, and I hope to be able to tell you more about it soon....
Check out other conversations in the series 10 questions to an interior designer
