"10 Questions to..." is a series of short interviews with architects and female architects, to whom we address the same pool of questions. In today's installment of the mini-interview about the most important buildings, inspiring cities and experiencing them, and the differences between a mock-up and a 3D model, Aga Kobus and Grzegorz Goworek, designers who form Studio Organic, answered.
Aga Kobus and Grzegorz Goworek - a duo of architects who have been creating Studio O. (Studio Organic) in Warsaw since 2006. "We design buildings, interiors and landscapes where people live. Created to experience space to the fullest, to be in undisturbed contact with nature and oneself. We are attentive listeners, empathetic interlocutors, sensitive observers. We interpret other people's lives, desires, dreams, habits and lifestyles into the language of architecture. In the body of the building, the ways of arranging space, the style of interiors, we tenderly describe the story of someone's life." - the designers write about themselves.
1. architecture in three words...?
a. Space for living.
b. Crossing boundaries.
c. Development.
2. the three most important buildings for you...?
a. An old brick factory in the suburbs of Barcelona - La Fábrica Ricardo Bofilla.
b. Bosco Verticale.
c. High Line - architecture, but not a building.
Grzegorz Goworek: For us, architecture is not a building, it is a dialogue between the outside - nature and the inside. If this dialogue is open, it invites nature into the interior and objects like the above are created. In addition, we are close to referring to the context of the place and using the found fabric, giving it new life and value.
3 The most important book about architecture...?
Aga Kobus: We've read a lot of publications about architecture (I've gone back to Gropius' "The Fullness of Architecture" a couple of times), but it's man who creates architecture for other man, and to create it in a way that is conscious and gives something to the viewer, it's worth exploring human nature, not just architecture. For us, valuable books about architecture are books about man. We value the work of Alexander Lowen, among others. For a long time I have felt the luxury of minimalism, in every sphere of life - including architecture, and in this subject an important book for me is Fumio Sasaki's "Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism". Because what we strive for through architecture is to subjugate ourselves, to give ourselves the space through which we will grow.
4 Most inspiring city and why...?
Grzegorz Goworek: We are inspired and delighted by everything we experience. So all the metropolises we have visited come to mind. The most vivid, however, are places that are initially little understood, such as Marrakech or Kyoto. After a while, the exuberance of vegetation, light or smells arouses in us a longing and a need to return. The ubiquitous manifestations of the original culture of, for example, the Berber culture, ornamentation, typography, perfectly in tune with our sense of aesthetics, constantly delight us. We experience through our senses almost like people with synesthesia, who combine colors with tastes, smells, images.
5. architect with whom you would like to design something and why...?
Aga Kobus: I would like to experience the design process of any of the Japanese architects. I don't care about a joint project, but about observing how they work with space, for example Kengo Kuma (I saw his buildings in Tokyo), Shigeru Ban or Nobuo Araki.
6: Hand drawing or computer drawing?
Aga Kobus: Hand-drawing is a note, I take notes using pictures, not words. A computer drawing is a record of the arrangements between me and the client according to set rules, so that other executive branches can map the project in space. I can't imagine drawing a project by hand. It's not the pace of life, of work, to be able to afford it.
7. mockup or 3D model?
Aga Kobus: I have never liked mock-ups - a mock-up is an object - art for art's sake. I don't need a mock-up, I have an imagination. In our studio, the 3D model is the basis for artistic, multidimensional shaping of space, for endless experimentation. From the 3D model we generate visualizations, which are the language of communication with the client. Using this form, we are sure that there will be no understatements and misunderstandings between us and the recipient of the project. A mock-up is unreadable to the final recipient.
8. modernism or postmodernism?
Grzegorz Goworek: In architecture, definitely modernism, but in philosophy, postmodernism (with emerging feminism, psychoanalysis and putting man at the center).
9. working after hours or sports?
Grzegorz Goworek: Definitely physical activity. We have already passed the long stage of working after hours, which directly leads to burnout. The human body is the most perfect "architectural" form. An investment in the well-being of the body and psyche is priceless. Working after hours is a lack of self-respect.
10. architecture or business?
Just life :)
