This project is an example of how sometimes it's enough to simply stay out of the way, help create the right conditions, and then step aside and let nature work at its own pace. Karol Żurawski talks about the humbling project to develop a picturesque area on one of the banks of the Vistula River in Warsaw.
All elements of the project were designed individually to best fit into the landscape
© Karol Żurawski, design studio
Under the name Romantic Beach is a green recreational area on the Vistula River located in Warsaw's Wawer district. The team responsible for the design of the development of this part of the city tried, above all, not to spoil the natural landscape through their interference. Thus, drawing inspiration directly from nature, they reached for shapes and materials that nature herself suggested to them, and supplemented the whole with new plantings - a total of more than 1,500 trees and shrubs.
site development plan
© Karol Żurawski, design studio
Karol Zurawski talks about listening to the site, caring for the environment and measuring themselves against the element of water
Ola Kloc: Let's talk about Warsaw's Romantic Beach....
Karol Żurawski: In fact, it is not a beach, but a clearing on the Vistula River. Naturally, there has never been sand here, unlike the opposite Wilanów shore, where there are beautiful, large beaches. The Wawerski shore is higher, cliffy and green. While we were preparing the concept, the Wawer district dumped a few dump trucks of imported sand there and started calling this space a beach. During the implementation of our project, which is intended to recreate the original character of the place, we left some sand, creating a widened escarpment where you can freely descend into the water with kayaks and where children can play.
Ola: In view of this, what would you prefer to call this space?
Karol: I usually refer to this place as "Recreational areas on the Vistula River."
Ola: It sounds quite technical, however, there is a certain promise behind the name Romantic Beach.
Karol: The name comes from Romantic Street, which is right next door. It's romantic there, it's very pleasant - there's a view of the Vistula River, there are beautiful sunsets that you can enjoy while sitting on the steps that we made. But you can't swim there, because it's dangerous. So that beach in the name is not quite fortuitous.
From the steps you can watch the sunsets and the other side of the Vistula River
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
Ola: In your design you refer to the natural character of the place. What challenges does an architect face when he gives first fiddle to nature?
Karol: I would like to add right away that there were more authors of the project. An important figure was the landscape architect, Lukasz Kowalski, with whom I worked very well and without whom this project would not have succeeded. We both had the attitude that the greatest value of this place is its natural character, the beauty of the landscape, to which people are drawn. Many people used to come there even before the modernization to be in this natural setting with beautiful views. So we defined nature as the greatest value and tried not to spoil it with the project. Make changes, but stay in the background with design ambitions to let nature resound.
All elements were designed to best fit into the landscape
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
As for the challenges... I didn't quite read it in such terms. Rather, we had to listen to the place, look at how nature created it, and carry it forward, as it were. For example, we analyzed what plants were already there and used such for new plantings. We were guided by the idea that our interference should not be visible. We wanted that in thirty years' time, when everything is completely overgrown, there will be no impression that this space was designed by man, but by nature. Similarly, we designed the paths. We tried to make them look as if people had spontaneously trodden them. Likewise the parking lot, which gives the impression that people just drove their cars between the trees. Previously, there was a large parking lot there. We wanted to make even the parking lot sound green.
stepped terraces perpetuated the existing shape and slope of the bank;
the paths were made of water-permeable natural mineral pavement, and they are laid out freely
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
Ola: Maybe this is a naive question, but is this kind of design, in which the architect listens to nature and uses ecological materials, more difficult than building with concrete and steel? For some reason, it is still more common to reach for the latter option.
Karol: This project was not one of the simple ones. We did not use standard solutions in it. Everything was designed by us, we didn't use ready-made products, as is usually done in public spaces or buildings. We created everything in an artisanal way, so that it would fit together and match the character of the place. And it's definitely a challenge in the sense that you have to put a lot more energy and attention, think through literally every screw. Wood is much greener than steel or concrete used commonly. But it is not as durable. Projects like this can only come about if the client is very conscious, and environmental care is high on his list of priorities.
All elements were designed and made from raw materials by skilled craftsmen and contractors
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
Ola: In this case you also had to take into account the element of water, as you were creating on a floodplain. How did you prepare the site for the danger of a flooded river?
Karol: The peculiarity of this site is that the whole area can be flooded by water. When designing, we had to take this element into account and consider how the various elements would behave when high water comes in, which can flow at speeds of up to two meters per second and generate enormous pressure. I can say that to a large extent it is water that has influenced the shape and construction of small architecture. To build the pavilions, for example, we drove wooden piles into the ground to a very great depth, as is done in structures by the sea or by rivers. The piles protrude 2.5 meters above the ground, and reach 6 meters underground, and must be firmly anchored so that the water does not displace them, so that the frictional force of the pile against the ground does not allow the canopies to be displaced. The canopies themselves have spun shapes so that if water covers them, it can flow around them without exerting a pushing force on the side walls. This shape is also due to the fact that the canopies are cantilevered on piles, the canopies' overhang forces from the column are centric, which makes more sense than if the shapes were angular. Among other things, we had to take such things into account.
A beach pavilion with rounded forms - the architects designed the structure so that, if the water level rises, its dismantling is possible without heavy equipment and takes only a few hours
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
Ola: The soft, organic shapes are also in keeping with the vision of closeness to nature that guided you from the beginning.
Karol: The looser shapes also helped it fit more easily between the trees, to adapt to the place.
Ola: Was the choice of CLT also determined by ecological issues?
Karol: We took ecology into account, but also the use of wood itself suited us much more to the natural landscape of the place than any other material.
The soft, streamlined shapes of the small architecture are designed to provide the least resistance to the force of the flowing river
© Karol Zurawski, design studio
Ola: You started working on the project in 2015, it recently reached realization, today it is appreciated, awarded, it was hailed as the best public space in the competition for the Warsaw Mayor's Award. From the perspective of such a long process, how do you assess the implementation?
Karol: The cool thing about this process was that we were selected to work on the project in a closed competition, to which only a few studios were invited. In addition to the price, the quality of the proposal counted in it. The ordering party, which was the Greenery Board, asked us to prepare a preliminary, out-of-the-box concept to assess what it could expect from the designers. This was a better procedure for the designer than a tender in which only the price counted. Another positive point was the cooperation with the Greenery Board, which has a lot of open-minded people, and who really care about making Warsaw's green space develop, to serve the people. Contact with these people was at times very edifying. The process of designing, agreeing on all the elements of the project with the Polish Water, and then carrying out the construction dependent on the changing water level in the river - all this took much more time than we originally planned, but I think it was worth it, because the place is now very popular, many people use this space.
Ola: Thank you for the interview!
