Despite its long history, parametric design is still a technological curiosity in the world of architecture. However, there are designers who are blazing trails in this matter, and one of them is Grzegorz Kloda of the GK-Atelier studio, an expert in library interiors and, the aforementioned, parametric architecture. His latest project is the interior of the Lower Silesian Public Library in Wroclaw. The Tenement House Under the Golden Palm, which houses the library, is the first monument in Poland to use parametric solutions. How did they work out in the historic space?
Market Square 58 in Wroclaw - this address was already associated by the residents of this city with books since 1875. It was then, in what was then still a baroque tenement house, that Leopold Priebatsch established his bookstore, which operated together with a publishing house. Even then, one of the first telephones in Wroclaw was installed within the old walls. Modernity, however, came to the tenement very quickly, as already in 1907 the Baroque building was replaced by an Art Nouveau edifice, topped with a Neo-Renaissance gable. The tenement took its distinctive name, "Under the Golden Palm," from its carved portal, which was decorated with a gilded representation of an exotic tree.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
The heart of the new department store, designed by Schlesinger & Benedickt (they also created the concept for the St. John's Head tenement), remained the bookstore, which now opened onto the market through a large display window, while those thirsty for reading were greeted by an illuminated signboard made by Czech master blacksmith Jaroslav Vonk. The Priebatsch bookstore operated at Rynek 58 until 1934, when Hans Jochanan Priebatsch, great-grandson of the bookstore's founder, left Breslau for Jerusalem. Even after the war, Roman Jasielski's bookstore operated in the Tenement House under the Golden Palm, and since 1949 the Tadeusz Mikulski Lower Silesian Public Library in Wroclaw. It was its lobby that became the subject of a metamorphosis thanks to the GK-Atelier studio and parametric architecture.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
what is parametric design?
As in other projects that have come out of Grzegorz Kloda's studio (such as the Metroteka in Warsaw's Targówek district and the library in Belzyce), the interiors of the Galeria pod Plafonem use elements designed using parametric technology.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
Parametric technology is a design method based on the use of computer algorithms, which allow architectural elements to be freely shaped while maintaining the functionality and strength of the structure.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
The new interior of the Lower Silesian Public Library
In the case of the Lower Silesian Public Library, the use of this type of design method was of particular importance - the architects had before them the task of transforming a space of historical character, in a building listed in the register of monuments. Importantly, the subject of protection is not only the body of the building and interior details from the early 20th century, but also more contemporary design elements. In the library's lobby, a vault, supported by a centrally located pillar and designed by Maciej Kujawski, was created in the 1970s. On the ceiling in 1974 appeared a plafond painted by Anna Szpakowska-Kujawska, an award-winning artist from Wroclaw.
The interior of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
Inspiration was drawn directly from the soft, organic forms of the aforementioned plafond. Its dynamic lines and symbolic meaning were creatively transferred to the interior layout, furniture and details. This created a new layer of design that pays homage to the historic space while standing out with an innovative approach.
- write the architects.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
two sides of the same coin
The lobby room is divided into several functional zones - the roles they fulfill determined the forms of the elements the designers used. The most important space is, of course, the aforementioned hall with an unusual vault and wall painting. In addition to these, ceramic abstract forms located on one of the walls and resembling clouds also have a decorative function. In this rather distinctive place, it was decided to keep interventions to a minimum - this is where the exhibitions organized by the Gallery under the Plafond take place, so the architects did not want to draw the eye away from the works on display. Thus, the space included only benches designed in parametric technique, organically winding under the sills and around the pillar supporting the vault.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
The other side of the room serves a diametrically opposed function. A reception desk is located in the corner of the lobby. Unlike the exhibition space, the reception area should be the first place visitors go. The designers therefore decided on a strong formal expression for this part of the room, making it the one that will focus the eyes of visitors, especially since the reception counter is not located opposite the entrance.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
One of the most significant challenges was to reconcile two extreme assumptions. The gallery - thanks to its ascetic arrangement - should provide a neutral background for the works on display, allowing art to resound to its fullest. The reception area, on the other hand, which is the heart and business card of the institution, should exude a representative character. The solution was brought by the implementation of parametric technology - thoroughly modern, yet extremely flexible in terms of arrangement and form.
- write the designers.
The reception space was designed as a conglomerate of three types of elements - a side wall and ceiling filled with vegetation, striking neon lighting and wooden panels with forms derived from the parametric method. These were used to create the reception counter, the backdrop behind it and a small bench.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
The checkroom was arranged in a similar way - this one was broken into two spaces by - not differently - a parametric partition wall. A place for wooden, parametric-designed details was also found in the toilets.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
Future technology to help testimonies of the past
The metamorphosis of the lobby of the Lower Silesian Public Library is an example of how parametric design, while growing out of the possibilities of the digital age, allows for the rearrangement of historic interiors. Unlike contemporary interiors, which are often based on the strict logic of the right angle, rooms in historic buildings are often laid out using more unconventional spatial layouts, with detailing also playing no small part. Parametric furniture provides an opportunity to easily adapt the forms of new furnishings to the existing architecture.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
All indications are that the flexibility afforded by parametric design will find its application in further work carried out within the Tenement House under the Golden Palm. Already , the GK-Atelier studio has announced that another 6,000 square meters of the historic interiors of the Tadeusz Mikulski Lower Silesian Public Library await arrangement.
Interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library
Photo: Wojciech Januszewski, Tutek Media © GK-Atelier
Today I can already say with certainty that it was worth it, while the stress, of course, was there, we did a riser together with the library and it turned out that this is a certain precedent, because most likely in Europe no one has designed parametric interiors in a thoroughly historic fabric before. There was no such thing...
- Grzegorz Kłoda concludes.
