Architects from the ZALEWSKI ARCHITECTURE GROUP studio have designed two modest white apartment buildings at 19 Zlota Street in Katowice, nominated in this year's edition of the Architecture of the Year competition of the Silesian Voivodeship. The lumps of the buildings are meant to be the architects' creative nod to Silesian modernism.
The architects told about their project in an unusual way, keeping a construction diary on... YouTube, see for yourself!
© ZALEWSKI ARCHITECTURE GROUP
Two elongated, five-story buildings are separated by an inner courtyard accessible to residents. The apartment buildings mainly house apartments ranging from 50 to 70 square meters, with the larger ones, with areas of around 100 to 150 square meters, located on the top floors.
The modular layout of the apartments is evident in the geometric composition of the facades of both buildings, shaped by alternating translucent and solid fields (in parts of the stairwells) and windows and loggias in the residential sections. The shaded recessed fields contrast with the white color scheme of the walls, while the opening of the corners and the withdrawal of the top floor from the face of the facade allowed the architects to optically lower the two blocks.
Apartment buildings at 19 Złota Street in Katowice.
Photo: Tomasz Zakrzewski/Archifolio © ZALEWSKI ARCHITECTURE GROUP
In the apartment buildings on Zlota Street, which are adapted to the scale and dimensions of the neighboring buildings, the architects of ZALEWSKI ARCHITECTURE GROUP, through the use of monochromatic colors, minimalist forms and abstract composition of openings, tried to refer to Katowice's modernism and the nearby icon of Silesian architecture - Osiedle Tysiąclecia.
