A conversation with Karolina Slawecka and Pawel Krzeminski about the architectural profession, work with Peter Zumthor and theHerzog & de Meuron studio and their first Polish realization - the atelier of Monika Sosnowska in Warsaw.
In 2017, the Architecture Club studio was founded in Basel. It would be an unnecessary pigeonholing to write that they are Polish architects. They are as Polish as they are Swiss. They abandoned careers in the studios of Peter Zumthor and Herzog & de Meuron to pursue their own visions under their own banner.
Architecture Club is the story of a dream won. They have always wanted to do what they do, where they are, for those with whom they find common ground. They treat architecture as an adventure. A challenge. They derive joy from measuring themselves against problems. Otherwise the work would be boring.
Karolina Slawecka and Pawel Krzeminski graduated in architecture from the Warsaw University of Technology, and from the beginning they tied their professional career to the Herzog & de Meuron studio in Basel. They knew the place, having done a year-long internship there during their studies, and knew that they only wanted to learn from their Swiss masters. They had the opportunity to work on major projects, including the expansion of the Tate Modern in London. Paul was associated with the office for nine years. He liked working on smaller projects the most, because it gave him the opportunity to work directly with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, bypassing the big hierarchical machinery of the studio. When he left, he left an associate position. Karolina worked here for a shorter time - in order to gain experience, she moved to Peter Zumthor's studio for three years. For her own studio, she left her position as a partner in her master's firm.
She was successful, but the desire to follow her own path was stronger. The first completed realization was not in Switzerland, but in Warsaw - the atelier of the well-known artist who realizes spatial forms, Monika Sosnowska.
Pawel Krzeminski and Karolina Slawecka
Photo: © Hélène Binet
Katarzyna Jagodzinska: What is the profession of an architect for you?
KarolinaSlawecka:For me it is not exactly a profession - it is a passion. We enjoy the fact that we always work in dialogue with the client, for whom a particular building is being constructed. These are always interesting meetings. When we design a house for someone, I always feel like living in it myself afterwards.
Pawel Krzeminski: What we do is primitive in the positive sense of the word. We are responding to one of man's primal needs. In our design we try to think elementary - to subtract and simplify, especially in times saturated with excessive information.
Karolina: ...from something ordinary to the search for beauty.
Paul: Whether for an atelier project or for private homes - we design things that are very personal: bathrooms, bedrooms. Sometimes we laugh that it's like an affair. The client has to agree to have an affair with us - the hotter, the better the result. We like to make friends with the client.
Karolina: This is indeed what happened when working with Monika Sosnowska. We started hanging out with each other so much and talking so much that this process led us to a friendship. We also found a common language in the way we work. Monika also works at different scales, on physical models.
Catherine: Monika Sosnowska's studio is the first realization of the new studio. A strong hit, given the person of the principal. How did this collaboration come about?
Karolina: As it happens in life, coincidences not coincidences. I met Monika many years ago, in 2004, when she was exhibiting her work at a fair in Basel. She needed someone to help finish it. I was interning at Herzog & de Meuron at the time. I was very eager to help. We didn't keep in touch after that, but I, of course, followed her developing career, and she knew we were here. When Monica was planning to build a new studio many years later, she contacted me. This was literally a few days after I had informed Peter Zumthor that I was starting my own company... Then we had a phone conversation, during which something surprised and we decided that we would work on an atelier.
Monika Sosnowska's atelier, situation model in 1:200 scale
Photo: Architecture Club
Catherine: Let's get to Monika Sosnowska's atelier in a moment, and for now let's stay on the road to this project. Designing for art, although at a different scale, is not foreign to you. This flows from the experience of working in two architectural studios that are among the most prestigious and important in the world. What was your path to the Herzog & de Meuron and Peter Zumthor studios like?
Paul: It was always a dream of ours. While we were still in college, we said that before we set up our own atelier, we wanted to work for one and for the other.
Karolina: It is precisely for these two.
Paweł: During our first year at the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology, we met an extraordinary lecturer - Piotr Kudelski. In his lectures he showed us Swiss architecture first. One year we went to Basel to see our favorite buildings....
Karolina: ...we approached the office of Herzog & de Meuron, just then the gate opened, Pierre was leaving in a car, Pawel replaced him and said that we wanted to work here....
Paul: Pierre sent us back to Human Resources with a smile. We later sent non-obvious portfolios.
Karolina: We made a cube made of Polish wood covered with silk-screened lettering that said "we want to learn from you." The object appealed, because it turned out that it had been standing on the desk in the studio all this time. However, no one, of course, understood that it was a portfolio. So we made another cube from layers of gray cardboard. On each page was a design, at the end a resume, and the whole thing opened like a color sampler. We got an email offering an interview, and then - a one-year internship. And so it began. Many years later, we recovered that first cube, and when we decided to leave to start our own studio, we symbolically threw it into the Rhine River. [Laughs]
Paul: That was our first job. And as it turned out - my last... These were the beginnings of our collaboration and I didn't think it would last until 2016. We liked each other. We never approached our masters as if they were gods and always had direct contact with them. To this day we still have a very good relationship with Jacques, Pierre and their partners.
Karolina: I, with five years at H&deM behind me, went to Paris in 2011 to attend a lecture by Peter Zumthor. The lecture moved me a lot. At the dinner after the lecture, Peter unexpectedly asked me to sit at his table. We did not know each other at the time. Kilka dni później wysłałam portfolio, a po kilku miesiącach mieszkałam już w Chur i dojeżdżałam do małej górskiej wioski Haldenstein. I'm very glad I had these two experiences, because these are two very different paths. The two offices have completely different approaches and we value them for different things.
Paul: I, to this day, regret that I only had one [laughs].
Monika Sosnowska's Atelier, view from the street - illuminated south facade with reinforced glass
Photo: © Hélène Binet
