The query in the title of the sweeping exhibition ‘The Woman Question, 1550-2025’, now showing at Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art, is a fundamental one. Through this expansive presentation of figurative painting and sculpture by (and of) women, spanning nearly 500 years, we find more questions than answers, as the show opts for a welcome fluidity and incompleteness over any kind of all-encompassing certainty.

The querelle des femmes – a protofeminist slogan of the 1700s – is translated here as ‘the woman question’, but has also historically been understood as the 'dispute' of women, initially indicating a contestation over the nature or even existence of the category 'woman'. The phrase was subsequently taken up in the 19th century to define a struggle for basic rights, with the inquiry becoming one with more revolutionary stakes. But how are we to interpret it today? In the Polish context, as well as in many other democratic countries around the world, hard-earned women’s (as well as LGBTQ+) rights are being rapidly reversed.

The show fittingly opens with 3 Minute Scream, a 1977 video work by Gina Birch, an artist and member of the British punk band The Raincoats. Her low-volume but high-pitched scream reverberates from its perch above the main entrance, forming a furious sonic backdrop that lingers through the show. This initial gesture might be deceiving, though, as what follows feels decidedly more canonical than punk.

In a small side room with a limit of ten visitors at a time, Artemisia Gentileschi’s Susanna and the Elders (1610) is mounted next to Miriam Cahn’s Must Strike Back (2024), temporally uniting a large swath of the exhibition’s historical purview in a direct dialogue across centuries. Gentileschi’s iconic work explores the harassment of a 'virtuous wife' by two older men during her bathtime, while Cahn’s painting more abstractly depicts a femme body in the act of physically fighting a 'spectre of male sexual violence'. The content of this dialogue across time is clear, but the filmed performance Chiara Fumai Reads Valerie Solanas (2013), shown on an old-school television set in the corner of the room, spells out in no uncertain terms the rage expressed in both of the paintings.

The curatorial approach of Alison M Gingeras, despite the impressive transhistorical conversation it enacts and its undeniable aesthetic merits, is a decidedly institutional and scholarly one: the sections of the multi-room exhibition are devised in nine chapters, which sometimes read like teaching units in a Feminist Art History 101 course.

Despite the inclusion of a small portion of contemporary trans and queer positions – like Puppies Puppies’ (aka Jade Guanaro Kuriki-Olivo) 2022 bronze cast statue or Ambera Wellmann’s 2019 painting In Media Res, for example – and relatively few non-white artists, the show largely mirrors a long-held historical take on women’s art, from Linda Nochlin to Griselda Pollock, falling prey to the parameters that necessitate the inclusion of certain kinds of works. As Gingeras concedes in an interview with Frieze: 'There were, of course, limitations due to pragmatic realities… I had to begin with what was historically available and then build the project outward from there.'

Of course, a blockbuster exhibition like this, mounted in one of the country’s biggest art institutions, demands a certain widespread legibility. Towards the end of the show, sections on motherhood and women at war (specifically in Poland and Ukraine, with other current conflicts conspicuously absent) ground us in a lived reality beyond the realm of women’s (self-) portraiture. While the practical parameters that the show’s curator contends with deny it the possibility of being truly groundbreaking, ‘The Woman Question’ provides a vivid cross-section of 500 years of women in art, resisting their erasure by yet another version of the art historical canon.

'The Woman Question, 1550-2025' at Warsaw Museum of Modern Art until 3 May

artmuseum.pl

In the layered Polish city of Poznań (which recently saw the opening of a Holloway Li-designed Puro hotel), Sunday, a café doubling up as a playroom, reconciles two typologies that are distinct yet not entirely estranged. Wrocław-based Cudo Studio proposes a playful, urban interior naturally attuned to both children and adults; a joyful, precise study in spatial design that connects rather than divides.

Sunday, Poznań

‘We wanted a coherent, contemporary space in which every user feels equally important; a warm, welcoming, sensory interior shaped by natural materials and subtle colours that foster both relaxation and play,’ explain Tomasz Borowiak and Aleksander Czerwonka-Jabłoński, co-founders of Cudo Studio. The design feels gentle and assured: a coffee shop that retains its aesthetic clarity while remaining inviting and interactive enough for younger visitors.

At the front, the venue follows a fairly traditional register; at the rear, adjacent to a garden, the atmosphere shifts into something more dynamic. A stately mosaic-clad bar by Paradyż anchors the entrance, with Camengo-upholstered seating tracing the walls to set the flow. A palette of burnt orange, pink and beige softens the wood, stone, felt and natural plaster details.

Key furniture and lighting come from Polish designers – chairs by The Good Living&Co, barstools by NG Design, lighting by Nodi Studio’s Anna Marciniszyn and Chors – each chosen to withstand heavy use without losing visual sensitivity.

Meanwhile, the play area orbits a miniature kitchen, with games and seating echoing the materiality and tactility of the grown-up zone. ‘Children and adults share one space, but in a way that remains comfortable for both,’ add Borowiak and Aleksander Czerwonka-Jabłoński.

Sunday is located at Poznańska 1/35, 60-848 Poznań, Poland.

Life’s simple pleasures set the rhythm at this Swedish-influenced café and restaurant in Kraków’s storied Kazimierz district. From the team behind the city’s Kaffe Bageri Stockholm comes Dala, where their love of coffee and bullar (sweet buns) expands into a full menu of delicious moments. Here, it’s all about celebrating togetherness, like the dalahäst, the traditional Swedish wooden horse symbol of happiness and festivity, from which the venue takes its name and inspiration.

The warm, tactile interior is the work of local studio Znamy się, which drew on Swedish landscapes and traditions as both literal and figurative influences. ‘Each celebration (like summer’s Midsommar festival or winter’s Lucia) is associated with specific aromatic dishes, herbs and floral decorations, which are reflected in the space, creating a multi-sensory narrative about traditions,’ explains Wojciech Nowak, co-founder and architect of the practice.

The scent of chamomile, pine shoots and other herbs fills the venue, especially as guests enter and are greeted by a striking floral arrangement suspended above the central communal table. While the open layout of the main dining room and bar encourages interaction, there are tucked-away corners for lingering, set behind sheer curtains and finished with metal canopies. Colours, textures and forms feel homespun, inspired by the spices that have accompanied Swedish holidays and baking for centuries.

‘Cinnamon, present in the kanelbullar (cinnamon bun) eaten during daily fika, is reflected in the dark wooden shelving with rounded edges and cylindrical backrests reminiscent of cinnamon sticks. Red countertops and finishes add warmth and cosiness to the interior, just like the saffron lussekatter baked during the Lucia celebration,’ adds Nowak. Meanwhile, cardamom – the aroma of semlor from Fettisdagen (Shrove Tuesday) – also plays its part, echoed in the green, airy curtains and in the table lamps with shades shaped like seeds.

Naturally, the menu pays tribute to Scandinavia too, featuring recipes created by the owners, Zuza and Adam. For breakfast, home-baked bread arrives with classic spreads such as cod liver, gravlax or Comté cheese, accompanied by pickled companions. Those with a sweet tooth should head straight for the freshly-baked cardamom or blueberry buns. For the evening serve, pair the strawberry-kissed, summery Midsommar Fizz with the confit duck leg, served with duchess potatoes and truffle paste, or opt for the aromatic squid schnitzel, paired with couscous, trout roe and alioli.

Dala Restaurang is located a Krakowska 35, 31-062 Kraków, Poland.

In 1978, Zofia Rydet embarked on a colossal task: photographing the inside of every household in Poland. The 67 year-old had already produced a major body of work with Little Man – a study on children, published as a book in 1965 – while her series of photomontages, The World of Feeling and Imagination, had been in development since 1975. What became Sociological Record would ultimately take Rydet into the 1990s, culminating in more than 20,000 images, only a fraction of which were ever printed (by the series’ end her efforts were solely focused on making sure there was a record, as opposed to sharing it).

‘Not everyone could have had access to these people,’ says Clare Grafik, Head of Exhibitions at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, where a substantial new exhibition of the work has just opened (through 22 February 2026). ‘They were often in rural areas with a very local life. For her to gain their trust and access their inner most domestic environments, is a real testament to her personality.’ Rydet travelled by bus or relied on friends for lifts, turning up and knocking on doors unannounced. ‘The actual photographing was quite quick,’ Grafik adds on a video call, ‘it was the conversations she would subsequently have with the homeowners, that profoundly affected the way she thought about life and work.’

A month earlier I had been invited to the Zofia Rydet Foundation, inside the home of its founders, Zofia AugustyNska-Martyniak and her mother Maria Sokol-AugustyNska (Rydet was AugustyNska-Martyniak’s great grandfather’s sister, though she usually refers to the photographer as her great grandmother). Sat in the family’s living room with Grafik and her co-curator, lecturer and cultural manager Karol Hordziej, the visit mirrored some version of Rydet’s own circumstances, with talk filling much of our allotted time. At one point AugustyNska-Martyniak recalls casually how, when Rydet died, in Gliwice in 1997, most of the family were interested in inheriting her cameras; she and her mother instead became custodians of the archive, and it moved with them from a residence in Rabka, to the Kraków house where we’re introduced. The Foundation was established in 2011.

Hordziej , a school friend of AugustyNska-Martyniak’s (he remembers, unconscious of their gravity at the time, first seeing Rydet’s pictures on the walls of her home), has been working with the Foundation for a number of years, originally helping to digitalise the archive as a way to preserve, celebrate and extend its function. In London however, the focus is on around 100 physical prints Rydet made in her home darkroom, as well as books and personal letters. A documentary, ‘Endlessly Distant Roads’ is also on show; made by the Polish filmmaker Andrzej Różycki in 1989, in it, a young AugustyNska-Martyniak can be seen walking beside Rydet, carrying the photographer’s camera bag.

‘The Photographers’ Gallery is interested in what happens to archives, how you deal with archives online, and how they then get translated into physical exhibitions,’ continues Grafik. ‘This project became quite important in terms of thinking about that, because obviously the digitalisation of much of the Sociological Record was the way that that work suddenly became disseminated beyond the boundaries of this sort of niche field, but we’re looking at just a tiny part of it. Ultimately the prints tell you something different about what her intention was for the work, versus scans from negatives.’

‘The project was such an ambitious undertaking, particularly for a photographer in the autumn of her career, to suddenly decide that's what she wanted to do,’ she notes. ‘It brings up all sorts of interesting issues to do with photography, archives, identity; there's many layers to it.’ Rydet predominantly worked in black and white, shooting with a wide angle lens and flash, and the exhibition is largely comprised of the busy domestic spaces of the project’s ‘People in Interiors’ sub-series; lace curtains, religious ephemera, floral tablecloths and posters of pop stars all feature. Elsewhere are works from ‘Women on Doorsteps’, ‘Windows’ and ‘Presence’, the latter highlighting the many images of Pope John Paul II Rydet observed on her travels, (notably elected the same year the Sociological Record commenced, the former Archbishop of Kraków had been the first non-Italian pope in over 400 years).

‘She was very free,’ offers Hordziej, who has worked on previous Zofia Rydet exhibitions across Poland and also in Paris. ‘She never married, never had her own family. Maria from the Foundation told me that her male colleagues [as well as joining photo clubs, she became a member of the Union of Polish Art Photographers in 1965] joked that they were kind of jealous, that she could save all her money for traveling and focus on photography. But she also wanted to talk with her photographs, to ordinary people. She really focused on the message – it’s not how it's done but what is it about.’ Attuned to the project’s future significance, during her lifetime Rydet made a point of entering competitions and gifting her work, oftentimes sending it out internationally; some of these respective labels and similar ephemera still exist in a folder at the Foundation.

Five decades on, against a backdrop of camera phones and social media, reality TV and a contemporary interest in what other people’s homes look like (those before us and currently around us), the exhibition brings Rydet’s work into a new context that speaks to her own curiosity, and her desire to share widely what she saw. ‘She was really photographing people – who wouldn't have been photographed much in their lives, maybe never inside their houses – in their kind of essence, in these interiors that had been put together very organically and often practically,’ shares Grafik. ‘Versus today, where things are photographed all the time. They are so rich as images, each one is a little universe.’

Zofia Rydet: Sociological Record is part of the UK/Poland Season 2025, produced with The Photographers’ Gallery in partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Zofia Rydet Foundation. It is on view at The Photographers’ Gallery until 22 February 2026

Framed by sleek white fencing, this Krakow house designed by Polish architecture studio UCEES is a minimalist villa that nods to the layered form of an iceberg. Titled 'The House in White’, the structure is cubic and sculptural, designed to impress the viewer, but not compete with the surrounding architecture.

Discover this Krakow house

‘The House in White’ is located in Wola Justowska, known for being one of the most popular residential districts of Krakow. Playfully known as the city’s Beverly Hills, the neighbourhood balances the urban with green space and a woodland park.

The architects wanted to combine a modern form with environmentally friendly solutions. They looked at the form of the region's typical urban villa as the foundation of their design, adopting a flat roof and a uniform white volume. The building evolved from there, the architects playing with shape and texture, and adding dynamism to the façade.

The primary material used was concrete. The white cement's forms were shaped by 'chiselling away' the archetypal cube's layers. Further concrete details found in sills, overhangs, and cornices bring visual intrigue to the building.

The residence comprises an upper floor featuring a carefully composed, 'concave lens-shaped form', say the architects, and recessed ground-floor terraces. Throughout the whole building, the attention to detail is evident, from the carved concrete surfaces to the façade lines and the flooring of the terraces.

The architects were equally conscious of environmental concerns. When planning the design, UCEES made sure that all existing trees on the plot were preserved. The team also emphasised sustainability through material use, for example, going for TioCem cement, which removes nitrogen oxides from polluted air.

The resulting single-family house is a captivating case study of what happens when brutalist materialities meet contemporary concerns, resulting in an urban villa full of visual intrigue.

ucees.pl

If Google can offer healthcare, Disney can provide cruises, and Shimano can sell fishing reels, maybe it’s not such a strange leap for Pent –Poland-based maker of ultra-luxury fitness products, from dumbbells to rowers – to start making speakers. With the launch of Pent Audio comes three new lines offering different sculptural forms, made on demand and in-house with electronic components sourced from a variety of high-end producers.

Marcin Rączek, Pent’s founder, concedes that there was much discussion internally about this unexpected sidestep – ‘about no longer being a specialist fitness brand in a specialist fitness sector’. The new speakers include the circular Gulia, cylindrical Chiara and sculptural Aurora and are priced between £3,524 and £6,522. Rączek argues that the range aims to compete less with high-end audio brands, and is more of an extension to the fitness market.

The speakers will only be available through the same distribution network of furnishing showrooms and architects as Pent’s fitness equipment. Pent Audio expects hotel gyms, boutique gyms and yachts to form a large part of its market.

‘Wellness is not just about exercise but also atmosphere, about harmonising a space, and sound is an important part of that,’ Rączek argues. ‘We still care about the sound quality, but audio companies have been relatively closed [worlds] that don’t look beyond the [dedicated] audio customer. This is more about a product appealing to the craft and design sought by the luxury customer.’

The speakers – made of solid woods, leathers, steel and, says Rączek, free of plastic parts, in wireless and wired options – are fully customisable to suit a customer’s interior using the brand’s interactive 3D configurator. And, indeed, Pent’s next move will be the launch in 2026 of home theatre systems and associated comfort-first, connected sofas and armchairs.

‘Again, we don’t see Pent as going up against other major furniture manufacturers – B&B Italia, Minotti and so on – but to be part of the same sector while offering something much more specialised,’ says Rączek. ‘So Pent will be fitness, audio and something more in the future.’

But this blurring of fitness and entertainment – predicated on Pent’s idea of fitness equipment being attractive enough not to be hidden away – has limits, Rączek suggests, not least because tech can quickly date and his vision remains to build products that last, which is why many of the brand’s fitness products (the likes of its treadmill, for instance) are non-electrical.

‘Our competitors [in the fitness space] are all about AI right now, but for us, that could only ever be something that was added to our equipment rather than essential to it,’ Rączek says. ‘I think sometimes people just want to train. They want to be alone, not watch their training as they do it. We don’t want to be too modern.’

PentAudio.com, @Pent_Audio

Warsaw hotels tend to be all about the old. The two grand dames, The Hotel Bristol (built in 1901 and now part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection) and The Europejski (built in 1857, now a Raffles hotel), face each other across Krakowskie Przedmieście between rococo churches and the Presidential Palace. How nice, then, that the latest addition to the hotel scene is a new build. Cool and contemporary, Puro Warsaw Old Town (Warszawa Stare Miasto to give it its Polish moniker) channels a pared-back Scandi aesthetic. Free of the weight of Warsaw’s history, it is riding high in this ever-shifting, vibrant capital.

Wallpaper* checks in at: Puro Warszawa Stare Miasto

What’s on your doorstep?

In a word, everything. The hotel is tucked down quiet Canaletta Street, its back looking out onto the neo-classical Grand Theatre, home to the Polish National Ballet. Behind that is the city’s main square, which opens out onto Krakowskie Przedmieście, Warsaw’s grandest avenue, on which stand the Church of the Holy Cross and the Presidential Palace. Shops, bars and restaurants proliferate around here too. Not to be missed is the buzzy Bar Rascal, a popular haunt for lovers of natural wine, of which it offers over 450 labels, many from small, independent, European producers.

Who is behind the design?

The hotel interiors are courtesy of Copenhagen-based design studio GamFratesi. The founders, the Italian-Danish duo, Stine Gam and Enrico Fratesi, are already renowned for their designs, from furniture to lighting, for companies such as Gubi, Louis Poulsen, Bang & Olufsen, Royal Copenhagen and Koyori – many of which are dotted throughout the hotel. It is particularly fitting that a Puro hotel should be the one introducing the Scandinavian pillars of minimalism, functionality and authenticity to Warsaw, as the hotelier at the company’s helm is Norwegian Rune Askevold. Since opening its first property in Wrocław in 2011, the company has grown to include eight hotels across Poland, among them Puro Warsaw, Puro Kazimierz, Puro Gdansk, Puro Łódź and Puro Poznań.

Inside, behind the hotel's unadorned façade, a relaxed informality and calm neutral colour palette immediately banish the stresses of travel. With every detail thought out, the design strikes a timeless note and one of easy comfort. The presence of over 30 brands and artisans from Scandinavia is visible in touches such as the Dinesen wood flooring, the artisanal bricks, lighting from Gubi and other Scandinavian companies, such as Carl Hansen & Son, Eikund and Frederica, Audo Copenhagen, &Tradition, Louis Poulsen and LYFA. Overlayering the custom-designed furniture is a carefully created collection of art by local artists who are already internationally acclaimed, such as Agata Bogacka, Cezary Poniatowski, Cyryl Polaczek and Karolina Bielawska. A further Scandinavian nod comes courtesy of a wonderful relief in wood by Ferdinand Evaldssons, which explores the myth of the mermaid, so relevant to both Warsaw and Copenhagen.

The room to book

Drawing on natural light as much as possible, rooms and suites across the hotel's seven floors have a painterly stillness to them, and their minimalism works as a blank canvas – an encouragement to settle in and make yourself at home. Art is woven throughout, with work by Karolina Bielawska in many of the rooms – her architectural paintings are inspired by the neighbouring Grand Theatre and Opera House. There are yoga mats in the cupboards alongside irons, steamers and soft linen robes and slippers. The Executive Suite comes with a private balcony with views over the Grand Theatre. Bathrooms feature travertine stone, with circular, column-like basins cut from one piece under round mirrors, which echo the soft, curved corners of the hotel. The larger suites come with a stand-alone tub, while rooms are shower-only. All are equipped with the Puro group’s bespoke amenities, a boreal blend of natural, essential oils.

Minibar high?

Guests can choose which type of (paid) minibar they want, from the standard option offering soft drinks, nuts and crisps to the maxi bar, which includes Polish beer and mead. Coffee, which in the suites comes courtesy of a Moccamaster, and tea are complimentary and replenished daily, as is water.

Staying for drinks and dinner?

Forming the heart and hub of the hotel, Mund, whose name is a nod to the Scandinavian word for mouth, offers something for everyone. It comprises not just a restaurant, but also a bakery, a wine bar, and a bistro, all with the same welcoming and relaxed vibe that runs throughout the hotel. Later this year, a rooftop bar will complete the whole. Underlining the Scandinavian spirit of the hotel, food here delivers a taste of the Nordics, with a few Polish favourites.

Breakfast is a long and lazy affair here, with dishes that could set you up for the day. Try the omelette with vegan n’duja or the croissant with avocado, chilli honey, Bursztyn cheese and a poached egg. In the bakery, shelves brim with Danish pastries, Tebirkes, cinnamon rolls and the beloved Polish jagodzianka or blueberry bun, when in season. Unique is the Brunost cheesecake, which uses a Norwegian cheese. Behind it, the wine bar, open from 4pm to 1am, is the place to go if you want oysters with pickled dill stems in elderflower vinegar or a Smørrebrød, a traditional Danish open sandwich on dark rye bread, to accompany a glass of Slovenian pét nat, or a Polish kombucha.

The restaurant has a small but enticing menu at lunchtime, at which pride of place goes to the Fiskesuppe, the Norwegian fish soup filled with cod, salmon, prawns, mussels and fresh dill. There is also an excellent beef tartare, with a black garlic mayonnaise and creamy egg yolk. Polish comfort food comes in the shape of potato dumplings with broad beans, chanterelles and mushroom consommé with truffle. At night, there are some classics added, such as all-time favourites like smoked salmon with fennel, Wiener schnitzel with butter sauce, capers and anchovies and grilled beef entrecote with caramelised shallots. Save room for the roasted rye ice cream with rhubarb confiture.

Where to switch off

The well-equipped gym has been designed with love. Rounded travertine stone water stations await behind weight-lifting machines. Treadmills stand on their own in generous curved niches clad with the tiny artisanal bricks that can be found in other parts of the hotel. There is also a dry sauna, a must in a Scandi-centric hotel.

The verdict

Puro Warsaw Old Town is a valuable addition to the city's hotel scene, offering affordable accommodation in clean-lined surroundings. The many Scandinavian elements throughout the building serve not only to spark interest in that part of the world, but also to draw our eyes to the contrasting Polish details, from the art to the wines. While the hotel is a place to kick off your heels and enjoy downtime, what it offers cannot but stimulate cultural curiosity and, without doubt, an appetite.

Puro Warsaw Old Town is located at Canaletta 4, 00-099 Warsaw, Poland.

In the crowded calendar of international design weeks, country-specific showcases can be hit or miss. At their best, they spotlight creative cultures on the brink of global recognition. At their worst, they read like hastily assembled national portfolios, more diplomatic than design-driven. ‘Romantic Brutalism: A Journey into Polish Craft and Design’, firmly lands in the former category –more provocation than presentation. The exhibition was first unveiled at Milan Design Week 2025 and is now on view in Warsaw until 14 May at the newly restored Gawroński Villa.

Curated by Federica Sala and supported by the newly established Visteria Foundation, the exhibition marks the centenary of Poland’s debut on the international design stage at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. 'Poland [as it is today] was established as a nation in 1918, and the very first thing it did to present itself to the world – to say, “We have a national identity” – was to participate in the 1925 Expo in Paris,' says Sala. 'For the centenary, they revisited that idea: presenting the nation through art and design.'

The show brings together 25 contemporary Polish designers, spanning emerging voices and established talents. 'The goal wasn’t to showcase young designers,' Sala explains, 'but rather to highlight those whose work reflects the essence of Polish design.'

Both the Milan and Warsaw stagings were installed within domestic spaces, which allowed the exhibition to be structured across a sequence of rooms loosely organised by material. 'The idea was to focus on materials commonly used in Polish design,' says Sala, 'glass, ceramics or porcelain, wood, metal, and textiles.'

In the room dedicated to glass, curling, botanical sculptures by Filomena Smola rested atop plinths shaped like disembodied arms and hands emerging from the floor. Elsewhere, in the wood section, finely crafted pieces by Aleksander Oniszh and Anna Bera explored the tactile extremes of the medium: Oniszh’s chair was shaped by mechanical improvisation, while Bera’s oval mirrors revealed the human touch of hand-sculpting. Both were displayed on asymmetrical blocks that nodded to Poland’s brutalist architecture, playfully adorned with childlike scribbles that conjured images of schoolyard graffiti.

Lace, one of Poland’s most iconic traditions, was reinterpreted in unexpected ways. 'The intention was to connect with the past, but also to show how things have changed,' Sala says. 'For example, Kasia Kucharska created rubber lace – a yellow tablecloth in one red room, and black rubber lace flowers in another.' Fashion designer Zofia Chylak – one of the few working in wearables – presented two dramatic pieces made in collaboration with artisans from the town of Bobowa, using traditional bobbin lace techniques. The accessories feature daisy, lily, and chestnut leaf motifs, rooted in folk tradition but unmistakably modern in execution.

Unifying the experience was the scenography by Zuza Paradowska of Paradowski Studio, who imagined each room as a kind of theatrical disruption. Her most striking gesture came at the entrance: the walls and ceilings were covered with hand-dyed paper cut-outs – a nod to Poland’s wycinanki folk art tradition – transforming the threshold into a kaleidoscopic, folkloric portal.

'I hope this exhibition positions Poland as a serious player in the world of art and design,' Sala says. 'It’s not something that’s just emerging – it’s already here.'

'Romantic Brutalism: A Journey into Polish Craft and Design' takes place at Willa Gawrońskich, al. Ujazdowskie 23, Warsaw until 14 May 2025. The exhibition is organised by the Visteria Foundation

We usually expect to find design-forward hotels in cities such as London, New York, or Copenhagen. So when Puro Hotels opened its first property in Wrocław, Poland in 2010, we sat up and took notice. The company has since grown to include seven hotels across Poland (including Puro Warsaw, Puro Kazimierz, Puro Gdansk and Puro Łódź), putting the country on the design map thanks to a vibrant approach that blends the local heritage with a bold, contemporary aesthetic, created by studios such as Conran and Partners and De Salles Flint.

Tour Puro Poznań hotel

Puro Poznań recently emerged from a top-to-toe overhaul, just in time for its tenth anniversary. As with the brand’s other properties, the design, led by London-based studio Holloway Li, has been informed by the hotel’s location, drawing on its home within the city’s historic Old Town.

‘We chose to introduce a natural material palette and focus on a series of new key elements that would have the most impact along a guest’s journey,’ explains project designer Grey Grierson.

The result is undeniably lovely to look at, with these key elements emerging through details such as the striking curved reception desk, elevated on three sculpted limestone plinths. ‘We wanted to create an eye-catching moment as guests enter the hotel,’ notes Grierson. Clad with glossy red tiles, the desk adds a pop of colour to an otherwise subdued colour scheme, while textural details come by way of a hand-tufted rug, its patterns and colours inspired by the nearby public square.

Each space is peppered with regional references. Take the decorative glass in one of the meeting rooms, handmade by local manufacturer Riwal, which echoes Poznań’s art nouveau townhouses. Or the circular cut-out in the partition between the lounge and the reception, which references the early-20th-century locomotives produced in factories in and around the city.

Guest rooms, meanwhile, are kitted out in calming neutral tones, featuring richly textured fabrics, glazed ceramic tiles and carved limestone bedside tables that flow into the curve of the fabric headboards.

Given the hotel’s location (it’s a mere five-minute stroll to the Old Town Square), there’s no excuse not to head out and explore this buzzing city, but if you’re looking for excuses to stay in, then the in-house restaurant might be one. Nifty draws a regular crowd of locals and out-of-towners, who flock here for its contemporary take on regional staples.

During the day, sunlight streams in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, while after dark, soft lighting casts a diffused glow over the leather dining chairs by Norwegian furniture brand Eikund. Long toffee-coloured banquettes and a sculptural artwork by Piotr Łakomy add another layer of interest.

Up next for Puro Hotels will be the launch of its second Warsaw property, designed by Copenhagen-based studio GamFratesi.

Puro Poznań is located at Stawna 12, 61-759 Poznań, Poland, purohotel.pl

A version of this article appears in the January 2025 Next Generation issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, which has just been inaugurated to a design by Thomas Phifer and Partners, is a handsome, refined new building; it is also a case study of the wide, international interest in the country's architecture, as well as a scheme that exemplifies through its story, the difficult post-war history of its city.

In 1998, right after the undisputed success of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Frank Gehry gave an interview to the Polish press in which he expressed his desire to design a new museum in Warsaw – even for free. Gehry's family came from Poland, so it was his dream to build a significant building in the country. He later designed the Camerimage Film Center in Łódź and the Academy of Music in Kraków, but neither was built.

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw: the story

In 2007, a broad, open international competition was announced for the design of the new Museum of Modern Art in the Polish capital. It was to be located on a valuable plot in the city's heart, next to the Palace of Culture and Science. Gehry did not take part, but over a hundred teams from around the world submitted designs. The commission was won by Swiss architect Christian Kerez, who proposed a minimalist architecture, contrasting other, more expressive, participating proposals. The project was developed and reached a fairly advanced stage when it was abandoned in 2012.

In 2014, another competition was announced for the same plot, with very detailed guidelines and requirements for designers. Ultimately, 15 teams submitted works, including Foster + Partners, UNStudio and Henning Larsen. This time, the winner was the New York studio Thomas Phifer and Partners; and its project has eventually come to fruition.

The horizontal, large-scale, almost all-white building strikes a contrast against the glass skyscrapers dominating the skyline of central Warsaw. Right next to the building’s main body, there is a narrow, freestanding tower with a separate entrance to the black auditorium and cinema hall located underground. The ground floor of the main building is completely glazed, opening the museum to the busy pedestrian routes around it and the adjacent, newly renovated square.

This also enables art to be visible from a public space – it will be viewed by hundreds of drivers travelling through the surrounding roads every day. In addition to the temporary galleries, there is a café, a shop, a small auditorium and an educational zone on the ground floor – some functions can be isolated if needed, through the use of curtains.

The upper floors contain mainly exhibition rooms in an enfilade arrangement, separated here and there by relaxation zones finished with local ash wood and large windows framing selected parts of the city. On the top floor are the largest exhibition rooms, some over 6m high, naturally illuminated from above thanks to numerous skylights. The names of individual rooms and floor levels are engraved on the concrete walls.

An administration and archive area sits between the exhibition floors, signalled through horizontal glazing on the façades. The different building sections are connected internally by a monumental central staircase – itself, reminiscent of a scaled minimalist artwork. Various design solutions both inside and outside the museum may evoke similar associations. It is an architecture of synthesis, in which appropriate proportions, divisions and materials are of great importance, supported by precise execution.

At first glance, this new museum may seem like a rather literal interpretation of the neutral 'white cube' gallery typology, favoured by many curators and artists around the world. Only upon closer inspection can one notice the sophisticated play of forms, details and colours here – the last of which, unfolding in a range of shades close to, but not quite, white (which appears only in the main exhibition rooms).

artmuseum.pl

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During Poland’s Communist era, bar mleczny (Polish for milk bar) thrived as traditional cafeterias known for serving hearty, Government-subsidised meals. While the menus have changed with the shifting politics, their name and association with delicious baked goods have inspired a new generation of cafés in neighbouring Ukraine.

Peek inside the serene Milk Bar Warsaw

The Kyiv-based Milk Bar franchise has now debuted in Warsaw reimagined as a modern bar mleczny by Ukrainian design studio Yodezeen. The new outpost has found a home in the city’s Elektrownia Powiśl, a former power plant turned gastronomic and artistic space, softened with the brand’s signature shade of blues and wooden furnishings. ‘We wanted to evoke a sense of timeless charm, as though the Milk Bar had a rich history in this very place,’ says Yodezeen co-founder and creative director Artur Sharf.

To create the layout, the team drew inspiration from American diners, often cited as the US equivalent of the bar mleczny, and prioritised space over the number of covers. Whilst the bones of the Elektrownia Powiśl were left bare – note the dark grey ceiling covered in a labyrinth of piping and tubing – layers of tactile materials such as fabric, leather and sea-blue ceramics bring a homely touch to the industrial setting. ‘The material palette was thoughtfully curated to evoke a sense of warmth and comfort,’ says Artur, ‘We wanted to enhance the overall inviting ambience of the space.’

Aside from the Italian terrazzo flooring, nearly all furnishings were manufactured in Ukraine, including a central communal table crafted from Ukrainian poplar wood, the marble bar counters and the curved glass partitions between the booths, which were coloured and baked to Yodezeen specifications. ‘Our approach centred on collaboration with local factories and artisans in Ukraine to maintain authenticity and to create bespoke pieces tailored to our vision, which revolves around crafting unique spaces that stand apart,’ says Artur.

To deepen the connection to the Ukrainian roots of Milk Bar and the Yodezeen founders, subtle references to Ukraine have been weaved into the design, notably the wooden wall panels decorated with subtle depictions of the country’s independent borders. Furthermore, at the entrance of the Warsaw location, a playful nod to Milk Bar’s heritage welcomes guests with a silhouette of a milk bottle ingrained in the tiled flooring.

Milk Bar Warsaw is located at Dobra 42, @milkbarwarsaw

Inventive architecture can be found in the most unheralded locations. If you are heading west out of the historic Polish city of Krakow, and happen to find yourself in the industrial city of Gliwice, you should check out a building that is disguised as a stack of pipes, with a profile that evokes an ancient Egyptian tomb. 

It was commissioned by Gambit Systems, which distributes the heavy-duty plastic piping of Swiss firm Georg Fischer. The company wanted a distinctive head office and warehouse, strategically located close to several major highways, and this was the brief it set to architecture studio KWK Promes, in the nearby city of Katowice. 

Gambit: ‘The power of logic can sometimes lead to fresh, even surprising solutions’

Robert Konieczny, who founded KWK in 1999, describes himself as a conceptualist, looking for a defining idea at the start of every project. ‘We take a path, stick to it, and reject all unnecessary elements,’ he writes in a just-published monograph comprising 19 of his firm’s buildings. ‘Every step of the design must have an explanation,’ he says. ‘The power of logic can sometimes lead to fresh, even surprising solutions.’ 

Konieczny’s bold approach has produced auto-friendly homes that allow you to drive a non-polluting car inside; a house with a grassy floor that opens up to a garden on every side; and a project in Saudi Arabia in which a glass cylinder frames desert views, and which is protected by a shade that rotates with the sun. In the Czech city of Ostrava, KWK transformed a ruined slaughterhouse into the Plato Contemporary Art Gallery, inserting massive pivoting doors to fill gaps in the masonry and open the interior to public view. It is one of seven finalists up for the 2024 EU mies Prize.

Gambit respects the modest scale of houses that border its industrial zone of warehouses and mineshafts (an area recalling the years when Silesia was a centre of coal production). The building comprises three sections: a double-height storage block linked to a two-storey office/showroom by a low workshop in which orders are prepared for shipment. 

The offices have the profile of a mastaba, a truncated pyramid of mud blocks in which the nobility of ancient Egypt were buried. Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude proposed a huge mastaba of multicoloured oil drums for Abu Dhabi in 1977, and realised the concept in London in 2018. Here, it plays off the pitched slate roofs of neighbouring houses and produces a shape that appears to shift subtly as you move around it.

KWK’s initial concept was to envelope the reinforced concrete building with lengths of the piping that Gambit distributes: a solution that would be simple, fast and cost-effective. The client could supply the elements from its own inventory and use its expertise to assemble them. The result: architecture parlante, a building that advertises the product it sells. 

Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour would have called it a ‘duck’ (a building that expresses its function through its form, a concept they first established in their book Learning from Las Vegas in 1972), in contrast to the painted sheds that most industrial firms settle for. However, KWK quickly realised that the PVC piping, designed for use underground, was too heavy, flammable and vulnerable to UV rays to be acceptable as a cladding material. 

Instead, it invited a metal fabrication company to shape thin, inexpensive aluminium sheeting into sections of tubing, ranging in length from 50-150cm. The shorter sections would cover the end walls, while the longer ones would be welded together and riveted to a frame along the sides and sloping roof. It was hard to achieve the level of precision required for a perfect fit, working on a very tight budget, but the builders rose to the challenge. 

To provide good insulation for the work spaces and unheated storage areas, the side walls include a layer of glass as a waterproof membrane and a thick layer of insulation between the pipes and the concrete. The office block incorporates a ground-floor showroom and upstairs meeting rooms that open onto a central roof terrace. Geothermal wells and a heat pump cover most power needs, even in the frigid winters of Silesia.

By using a commonplace element in such an expressive way, KWK has elevated the humble metal tube in one fell swoop. And, as Konieczny acknowledges, the idea just came to him as he walked through the warehouse with its shelves of stacked pipes. 

‘Robert Konieczny, KWK Promes: Buildings + Ideas’, £50, by Robert Konieczny, edited by Philip Jodidio, is available from Images Publishing

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A version of this article appears in the May 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

A Polish farmhouse set in the rural idyll of the country's green, rolling hills, has been redesigned by BXB studio head Bogusław Barnaś and his team into a contemporary homestead. The generous project, which spans over 500 sq m, consisted of five distinct existing agricultural structures that were slated for demolition, being neglected and in a bad state of repair. The architect stepped in to transform the complex into a modern home made up of a series of interconnected barns that fan out across the verdant site. 

Led by the orientation of the vistas, as well as the sun's path during the day, the architecture team defined how the structures sit and open up towards the landscape. Clad in timber, the five buildings blend comfortably in their natural environment, while at the same time, their clean, contemporary forms clearly cut a distinct, modern figure in the leafy context. ‘Each and every project is a real challenge, [representing] a deep desire to create something unique and breathtaking, it is a great social responsibility to shape the world we all live in,' says Barnaś. 

Barn conversion reimagines Polish farmhouse

The five buildings contain, respectively, a garage (which also acts as a buffer between the residential parts of the complex and the road); the kitchen and family spaces; the children's bedrooms; a studio space; and the master suite and a living space with a wooden deck looking over the surrounding wilderness. Each barn’s wood species and textures have been researched and selected to specifically fit their use – being softer or more hardwearing, lighter or darker, according to the function. 

Aiming to be respectful to its natural environs, the Polish farmhouse's redesign incorporates gestures such as the preservation of trees found on the site, and a volume arrangement and footbridge that negotiates the existing terrain to ensure the house has a minimal impact on the land. Meanwhile, design elements abstractly nod to traditional agricultural structures in the region. ‘We, at BXB studio, think that this kind of openness with regard to heritage and tradition allows us to discover a richness, full of great creativity, and that this kind of creation of space gives our buildings durability and timelessness. We believe that in this way, our buildings are not merely anonymous or without a soul, and that they are something more significant than just a modern building,’ the architects say.

INFORMATION
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Architect Bartosz Haduch and his Krakow-based architecture firm NArchitekTURA have just completed two projects for the Jewish community in Oświęcim – the Polish city where the concentration camp of Auschwitz was located during WW2. One of the two is a sculptural piece located in the city's memorial park. The other is the city's Jewish Centre, an education and exhibition facility that honours and tells the story of the region's Jewish population. Both works were a direct commission from the Auschwitz Jewish Center. 

The memorial sits on the grounds of a temple, which was destroyed a little over 80 years ago. The design, a composition of seemingly randomly placed stone surfaces, symbolises ‘the ruins of the now defunct Great Synagogue (1863-1939) and the paths of life of the multicultural community that were once criss-crossing in this place,' explains Haduch.

The project is built in gray sandstone slabs, which feature irregular cuts and scrapes on their surface – a sourced industrial waste material. The patterns not only offer a striking visual effect, but they also hint at the story the memorial tells. 

‘The criss-crossing cut-in-stone lines take on a symbolic dimension,' says Haduch. ‘Without any clear beginning or end, they seem to be heading towards infinity. This dense network of lines evokes the paths of human life, that sometimes just intersect, and at other times connect to go on together.' Fittingly, the memorial is titled ‘Paths of Life'.

The Jewish Centre, works on which began back in 2014, was completed in stages over the past six years with the final touches added this autumn. Involving the renovation and adaptation of a cluster of historical buildings in the heart of town, the space features a carefully planned exhibition and a series of triangular structures – ‘prisms,' as Haduch describes them – made out of copper and rusty metal that suggest directions for sightseeing and routes through the displays. Drawing on natural materials, the Jewish heritage and a sensitive approach to cultural and historical nuances, the design feels a fitting ‘twin' to the memorial's solution. 

‘Who knows, maybe after a few hundred years time, this place will become a mysterious archeological site?' muses Haduch. ‘After all, throughout centuries, humanity has been learning about ancient times from illustrations and texts immortalized in stone. I often wonder how will be interpreted in the distant future the message hidden in forty pieces of the Memorial Park?'

Information

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‘From The Garden House project was an unusual experience for us,' says KWK Promes founder, Robert Konieczny. The Katowice-based architecture studio is no stranger to generous, contemporary single family residences, having featured in our Best Private House awards category no less than twice to-date – once winning the coveted title with Konieczny Ark, the firm director's own home, in 2017. Yet even with their extensive experience, their latest residential completion, a private villa in the Polish countryside, was pretty unique. 

Following a less conventional operational order in approaching a house commission, the client had first worked on the site's extensive, green garden, before moving on to its architecture. They had bought an expasive, yet fallow piece of land that they decided to re-green. They then called upon KWK to design the house within it. ‘The garden [was] in advanced stages of implementation,' says Konieczny. ‘And only the house was missing.' 

The architects went happily to work. ‘Our client's philosophy and actions are exemplary,' point out the architects. ‘His actions resemble reforestation of the space around the city.'

Konieczny and his team studied the spot assigned to the structure, at the end of a winding path and next to a small manmade lake on site. ‘The curves, which he enjoyed moving around on, inspired us,' says the architect. ‘The ground floor of the house with the daytime part, forms a continuation of these curves and fits in softly with the surroundings.' The plot's landscaping and topographic lines are referenced in the structure's overall shape. 

At some 1997 sq m, the house is sizeable. The ground level follows organic formations in concrete that flows between foliage, gentle slopes and flowers, expanding into three, irregularly shaped ‘arms'. It contains a large open plan living area that hugs courtyards full of greenery, a generous garage, a study, facility rooms and an independent studio. Crisp white floors offset the concrete walls' grey. The exterior curves are traced to dramatic effect inside, creating striking, sweeping lines in the high-ceilinged living spaces. 

Contrasting this, the top level is square, more austere, white and minimalist. A series of bedrooms, some simple en-suite set ups, and some larger ones that include their own breakout spaces and sitting rooms, unfold here, around an open air atrium that punctures the heart of the plan. Large openings here too connect outside and inside, but can be easily closed off with sleek shutters to ensure privacy for the users. 

Taking its cues from its lush, existing garden, this design is sharp and modern, yet remains in dialogue with its context. As a further sign of respect towards the natural environment, it uses alternative sources of energy.

‘Having the garden as our starting point, we created a kind of background architecture, which functions in full symbiosis with nature, becoming part of the ecosystem,' says Konieczny. ‘The house intertwines with the greenery, uses energy from the environment and its renewable sources, but also gives it back to the environment.'

INFORMATION
kwkpromes.pl

The latest restaurant project from Wallpaper*-favourite Buck.Studio channels mod-Portuguese chic by way of a canal-side perch in Wrocław.

Set on the ground floor of a block of luxury apartments, Martim’s Portuguese seafood menu is paired with an interior cloaked in rust reds, deep sea-green and beige cork, the latter handsomely cast onto the front-of-the-house bar and wine cabinets.

Half-height mirrors above the banquettes bounce light streaming in through the full-length windows, whilst a perforated sloping ceiling performs double duty as a sound dampener.

From an open kitchen, head chef Nuno Matos orchestrates petiscos of bacalao nuzzling potatoes, marinated onions and olives, tempura green beans, and seafood cooked in a cataplana, a clip-closed copper pot – an ensemble that’s ably paired with a comprehensive wine list of Portuguese vintages, and an Old World view across the Odra river at the local university.

ADDRESS

Pomorska 1B
Wrocław

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For its latest Wrocław project – a thoroughly unexpected take of an American diner – local studio BUCK has mined the rich look-book of 1970s Americana, in particular its moody Broadway set designs and street life. 

The effect is startling, not least because Biggy’s psychedelic pop art flash is such a contrast to the medieval classicism of Rynek market square just outside. Steel mesh screens in shades of electric pink, red and blue demarcate zones, separating a sit-down section from counter seats lined with geometric tripod stools. Neon signs designed by Łukasz Wojciechowski shimmer with unusually smart quips – ‘Cheesus walks with me’ and ‘Legalise marinara’.

Meanwhile, a vintage video game machine and hip-hop music on the soundtrack keep customers suitably entertained whilst they work their way through Biggy’s craft beers and wait for head chef Paweł Bieganowski to send out fluffy slabs of Detroit-style pizza and burgers encased in a potato roll.

ADDRESS

Kuźnicza 10A
Wrocław

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It’s a little difficult to define what Żyjnia is, though its approximate English translation – ‘lifery’ – provides a hint.

Though self-styled as an urban health resort, it is, in fact, one part nonprofit art gallery and two parts social hangout with a hint of a spa. It’s an odd hybrid, but one that works, thanks mostly to Wrocław-based Buck.Studio’s light hand in dressing the ground floor of the Dizajn BWA Wrocław Gallery with tall green translucent drapes, suspended potted ferns and geraniums, and a judicious scattering of bespoke lentil-shaped seats whose low-slung forms fairly float above the floor.

The scent of aromatic herbs wafts out from behind a floor-to-ceiling glass wall to set the mood for an unexpectedly tranquil urban salon that the public can drift into, rest, and regroup whilst sipping herbal infusions before inspecting the gallery’s offerings, including curator Katarzyna Roj’s ever evolving programme of exhibitions and activities that are centred on design, publishing and media.

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Świdnicka 2/4
Wrocław

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Israeli cuisine is still having its moment, its sunny influence on the global palate enhanced by the likes of the recently opened Nadzieja in Poznań.

Set on the lower ground floor of an early 20th-century office and printing house in the city’s centre, the restaurant is saved from gloominess by slender tall windows framed by handsome dark bricks. That and designer Agnieszka Owsiany’s deft hand with colours and textures.

On that front, visual cues come from Tel Aviv’s horde of Bauhaus architecture which explains the restaurant’s sense of casual restraint characterised by clean white tiles, slender legged furniture constructed of oak and granite, low key marble slabs and chrome white glass lamps made by Chors.

The restaurant really comes into its own in the evenings as soft light bathes the room, casting cosy ambient shadows that pick out the textures of wall hangings made by Owsiany of linen and wool. An appropriately relaxed setting, in other words, for executive chef Michal Ratajczak’s plant-based menu of local organic produce spiked with wild plants. The breakfast challah with summer fruits have been crowd-pleasers, but favourites have, predictably, been the mezzes of grilled vegetables and oven-warm breads paired with brightly hued and spiced dips.

ADDRESS

Zwierzyniecka 3/1
60-813
Poznań
Poland

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In 1986, the Dudek family decided to partition the ground floor of their town square home in Szczucin, a small town in Poland’s south, and open an ice-cream parlour. Their MO was to use only natural, seasonal fruits and herbs harvested from the surrounding areas. 

And now, after 30 years of dishing out handmade ice-cream to two generations of appreciative locals, the family tapped Pigalopus to refresh their eponymous parlour.

Channelling a very grown-up Willy Wonka vibe, the Krakow-based studio has painted the bijou space in cosy shades of mauve and pink. Lacquered steel furniture and arched mobile planters are paired with doily edges that have been magnified into decorative strip panels for a thoroughly modern take on the old-fashioned ice-cream joint. 

Of course, the marquee attraction here remains the Dudek’s small but winning spread, every flavour still made according to closely guarded family recipes, including the bestselling cream and chocolate.

ADDRESS

13 Rynek Street
Szczucin

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Over the last three years or so, the Polish hotel group Puro has been unfurling one finely wrought boutique property after the other in major satellite cities like Gdańsk and Łódź. We like to assume it’s been workshopping and fine-tuning its product, because its long-awaited debut in the capital Warsaw is a certified crowd-pleaser.

Located in a new build by Warsaw-based JEMS Architects on a quiet residential street a few blocks from the Palace of Culture and Science, the 148-room hotel is the work of DeSallesFlint, the British studio seamlessly blending local street art with a mid-Century vibe.

Both rooms and public spaces have been styled like soigné apartments swathed in brushed oak timber, old Warsaw maps, and hand-tufted Golran 1898 rugs. The rooftop bar Loreta sports an eye-catching neon mural by Maurycy Gomulicki, whilst head chef Mateusz Wichrowski orchestrates a seasonal Italian menu of gnudi with spring beetroot leaves and chives oil, and a grilled hanger steak nuzzled with baked spring onions and tarragon mayonnaise.

ADDRESS

Widok 9
00-023 Warsaw

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With stealth and considerable élan, the Puro group is turning out one perfectly conceived boutique hotel at a time, its newest property just landing in the old industrial city of Łódź.

Sandwiched between the grand neo-baroque Poznański Palace and the red-bricked Manufaktura retail complex, the 130-room hotel is the work of ASW Architekci and London-based studio Superfutures.

The décor references the city’s cinematic links and reputation as a creative hotbed – which explains both the bijou in-house cinema, modern kilims and hand-woven wall hangings by local studio Tartaruga in the suites, and photographs and retro film posters scattered through the hotel.

A pre-prandial drink on the rooftop bar accompanied by live DJ acts and a view of Poznański Palace sets the mood for dinner at the Asia-inspired Miska Gastro Bowls downstairs where chef Marcin Małecki sends out imaginative plates like crunchy squid paired with a sauce of Earl Grey and coriander sauce, and a grilled beef entrecote nuzzling Jerusalem artichokes, green beans, and sesame.

ADDRESS

Ogrodowa 16
91-065 Łódź
Poland

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When Agata Wojda left her station at Opasly Tom two years ago, Warsaw’s gossipy gourmets wondered just how the restaurant could survive the absence of the chef whose lyrical style had made such an indelible imprint on both the restaurant and the city’s contemporary dining scene. The answer unfolded in two stages. One was the introduction of a revolving roster of guest chefs. And the second was the recent relocation of the restaurant from its ul. Foksal perch to a new two-level spot in ul. Wierzbowa, a few blocks away.

Here Buck.Studio has worked every trick in its bag to harmonise the various rooms of the 260 sq m warren. The starting point was a base palette of coral, sage, honey and ink blue hues. These are layered with almost gleeful baroque abandon, beginning with corrugated steel upholstered in velvet, and Art Deco accents, and ending in geometric patterned terrazzo floors, swathes of poplar burl, and globular stalactite lamps.

In the semi-open kitchen, Flavia Borawska proves herself a worthy heir to Wojda’s mantle as she harnesses stints at Noma, London’s The Clove Club and Florence’s Cibreo, to turn out delicate modern takes on Polish cuisine such as squash blossom salads, baked Jerusalem artichokes pooled in a cream of sweet onion. 

ADDRESS

Wierzbowa 9 Warsaw

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It’s not exactly a scientific metric, but it’s usually possible to track the gentrification of a neighbourhood by the aesthetics of its restaurants and cafés. Case in point is Jeżyce. Until recently, a fairly poor suburb of Poznan, the area is marked with beautiful pre-war tenement houses. Attracted by the rent and possibilities, tribes of young creatives came sniffing and before you knew it, a buzzy little Mitte-like enclave is taking shape.

The latest restaurant to turn our heads is Yeżyce Kuchnia, a compact eatery set on the ground floor of a modernist building from the 1960s. Encouraged by the light pouring in through two walls of high windows, designers Adam Wiercinski and Agnieszka Owsiany decided on an open plan layout, subtly demarcating spaces through the use of matching coloured furniture and lighting.

Anchoring the space is a long bar and coffee counter, one sheathed in mirrors and the other in glossy black tiles; while customised brass lamps and a globed chandelier float over the oak-top tables and banquette.

All of which forms a suitable slick backdrop for the restaurant’s menu of modern Polish with an European twist – to whit, gzik, a Poznan classic of cottage cheese drizzled with linseed oil and paired with potatoes and chopped onion; and a butternut squash steak hit with black sesame, kale, buckwheat, and figs. 

ADDRESS

Szamarzewskiego 17
60-514
Poznan
Poland

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It’s safe to say that the last thing you would ever expect to find in Krakow – that most venerable and ancient of Polish cities – is a hotel styled with such a resolute mix of European and Chinese art deco.

But the move is a canny one, and aimed squarely at the 220-room Metropolo’s Chinese clientele. Which is not to say that the Warsaw-based architectural studio Tremend has taken the easy way out and loaded the walls with obvious Oriental and period tropes.

Instead, the touches are subtle, beginning with a welcome of Chinese tea at check in, and a flash of Chinese mosaic. Tremend’s light touch continues in the rooms and public spaces, which are furnished in a palette of pale creamy hues that are offset by curvaceous armchairs, rugs daubed with burnt ochre patterns, whimsical Astoria Khotan wallpaper by Muraspec, geometric screen dividers and towering gilded bird cages that have been reimagined as cozy chaises d’amour.

The east-meets-west theme is carried over into executive chef Michał Zgud’s kitchen where Polish standards are contrasted against Chinese flavours, including fluffy omelettes hit with shallots and garlic, and the classic mapo tofu scented with oyster sauce, alongside a separate menu of Chinese teas.

ADDRESS

Orzechowa 11
30-422 Kraków
Poland

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One of Poland’s most conceptual architecture firms has yet again married movement with technology. KWK Promes’ most recent clients were after a new family home that would react to the movement of the sun. The architects’ solution was a static building with one ‘wing’ that pivots to track the sun’s progress across the sky.

Quadrant House is named after the ancient navigational instrument that measured angles according to the stars. The all-white house comprises two stationary rectangular blocks of different sizes, one with a flat roof and one with a gabled roof. These two are at right angles to each other. Between them, a narrow, glazed wing containing the living room or indoor terrace travels on tracks over the lawn. 

‘Depending on the time of year, it regulates the amount of sunlight in the spaces it adjoins', explains KWK Promes’ Robert Konieczny. ‘In the summer giving the desired shade, and in the winter allowing more sunlight inside.' And because the indoor terrace is on the move all day, the grass continues to grow beneath it.

The movement is achieved via silent mechanics, created by Comstal. Konieczny’s 20-strong Katowice-based firm has already worked with Comstal on a number of constructions, including its Safe House, the National Museum in Szczecin, and Konieczny’s Ark, a 2017 Wallpaper* Design Awards winner (in the Best Private House category) complete with drawbridge, which was created for the firm’s owner.

Meanwhile, the terrace’s frameless sliding windows are a result of six months of experimentation by window company Sky-Frame. The Swiss company came up with a bespoke motorised sliding system, meaning the room can be completely open on two sides. The views through all this glazing can be blocked out by the electric blinds. The interiors were created in collaboration with PULVA. 

Konieczny is very interested in exploring kinetic architecture further – and not just in the residential typology. Alongside its many one-off house projects, KWK Promes is turning a slaughterhouse into an art gallery in the Czech city Ostrava. Inside, it too will have moving walls.

INFORMATION

For more information visit the KWK Promes website

In Poland, history and politics are played out in architecture. From the pre-Second World War bullet-marked apartment blocks, and the Communists’ functionalist ideas, to the office high-rises representing those early years of wild capitalism, it’s all there in the built environment.

Warsaw was almost entirely razed during the Second World War, so it’s the brutalist architecture that attracts visitors, says architect Grzegorz Mika, along with the modern avant garde, inter-war period, and the social realism of the 1950s and 1660s. ‘After the war, plans to redevelop the city centre were quite avant garde but in 1949, social realism was introduced and original ideas were abolished', he explains.

Nowadays, shiny corporate towers are still going up in empty plots – because, unlike some Western capitals, Warsaw still has bomb damage – while older areas, like the river bank, and heritage buildings are going through what the locals call ‘revitalisation’

That includes Defilad Square, in front of Stalin’s Palace of Culture and Science. Designed by Russian Lev Rudnev in the 1950s, the art deco complex was loathed for many years by the Poles, but it’s gradually finding favour and its 2,800-seat Congress Hall is now being renovated.

Few big-name internationals have done much in Warsaw, put off, says Mika, by low fees and complex bureaucracy. One exception is Polish-born Daniel Libeskind. His Złota 44 – at 52 storeys Europe’s tallest residential building – completed in 2017. Meanwhile Foster and Partners is working on Varso Tower with local firm HRA. Like Złota 44, it’s near the Palace of Culture. It is due to complete in 2020.

While the city is being developed, many architects bemoan the lack of urban planning and zoning. But among the chaos are gems of good design in the capital and beyond, and these endeavours are now bein supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, which promotes design and architecture. As the institute director Krzysztof Olendzki points out, Polish architects don’t only operate at home. ‘Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Africa – they’re everywhere'.

Sprzeczna 4 apartment building, Warsaw, by BBGK
In the four years since it was established, BBGK has grown to be 50-strong, making it one of the most successful ‘new generation’ firms. Co-founder Wojciech Kotecki is out to improve the image of prefabricated buildings. They had a bad name under socialism because of the poor quality of large-panel housing estates. But BBGK’s eight-storey apartment block Sprzeczna 4 was completed in 2017 from components made in Polish factories.

Quite without anyone noticing it, Kraków’s historic Jewish quarter of Kazimierz is having something of a moment, luring artists and other creative types with an attractive mix of art galleries, old-world workshops and millennial cafés.

Seizing the moment, the 228-room Puro stakes a prime spot in the medieval neighbourhood with a new building featuring architecture by ASW Architekci and slick mod-Euro interiors by Conran + Partners.

Amidst the roll-call of bold-faced furnishings and fixtures by the likes of Fritz Hansen, Gubi, &Tradition and Moroso, local artists proudly fly the Polish flag with Nawer contributing an eye-catching graffiti mural and Mateusz Szczypiński adding two modernist collages to the lobby.

At in-house restaurant Halicka, head chef Miłosz Kowalski serves up Polish standards such as trout, and smoked cottage cheese dumplings. We’re particularly partial to the bitter chocolate halva after a facial in the Prisma spa, the latter stocked with products by local beauty specialist, Alba1913.

ADDRESS

Halicka 14 A
33-332
Kraków

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Located in the heart of the green Polish countryside next to a winding river, the By The Way house designed by KWK Promes is formed of a long concrete pathway that wraps up the house, views and landscape together.

The client requested a very simple plan that reflected his existing apartment where he was very comfortable and content. He was also keen to have a very private place to live, far away from the main road.

However, KWK Promes, the Katowice-based practice behind the Noah's Ark house in south Poland, designed for the firm’s owner Robert Konieczny, is known for casting concrete shapes into landscapes and wanted to challenge the brief further.

Bringing some adventure to the design, the architects, eager to expand the clients' horizons, became inspired by the shape of the winding road that slunk through the landscape from the road to the plot of the house, avoiding cutting down any trees along its way and following the gradually sloping topography of the natural site.

Carrying this idea forward, the road just kept on unrolling, essentially wrapping up the whole house and evolving into the walls, ceilings and floors of the house. The light concrete, inspired by the material of the road, climbs up protecting the house from the western winds.

A ground floor level featuring a gym, guest house and garage unfolds and the road continues to open up a large first floor zone that comprises the main living quarters – all across one level like an apartment as the client originally desired.

This design concept meant that the first floor level was hoisted up into the tree tops, bringing the best view of the landscape to the living space. The interiors are minimal, so to let the view of the verdant landscape dominate, while timber paneling across some interior walls helped to make the concept of the continuous road clearer visually, so the architecture could be understood.

The living room opens up into a balcony space that looks down towards the river, then continues into a pathway, inclining down with the topography of the land.

As seen from the sky, the concept of the house is clear. The light concrete of the road joins to the house and merges with the light membrane roof, then emerges out the other side winding its way to the beach.

INFORMATION
For more information, visit the KWK Promes website

When it first opened in 1857, Warsaw’s Hotel Europejski, a neo-renaissance palace designed by Henryk Marconi, was the grandest of its time.

Enduring – for better or mainly worse – the many political upheavals that followed, the property, now part of the Raffles Hotels collection, has emerged from a painstaking renovation led by architecture firm APA Wojciechowski and Boris Kudlicka of local practice WWAA.

Original details from cornicing to ceiling roses have been restored and updated with contemporary décor. Local craftsmen have etched the city’s skyline into the polished grey marble bathroom walls, which create a backdrop for silver-clad bathtubs; bedheads have been carved in richly grained burl; and Warsaw’s first humidor has been created.

A carefully curated collection of modern and contemporary artwork, by leading Polish artists, such as Tadeusz Kantor and Jarosław Fliciński, runs throughout the 106 rooms, the spa, the lobby an the sleek Lázaro Rosa-Violán-designed Long Bar, where Warsaw honours the Raffles cocktail tradition which started with the Singapore Sling.

ADDRESS

Krakowskie Przedmieście 13

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The completed works of Adam Wysocki’s Studio de Materia, founded in Poznań in 2013, include local project House JRv2 (pictured), a timber and concrete box partly submerged into a sloping site set in leafy parkland. The plan is responsive to the topography of the landscape, and the result is clean, neat and modern. studiodemateria.com

For history buffs of a certain generation, Gdańsk will forever be linked with local hero Lech Walesa’s anti-communism struggles. These days, though, the city is basks in a glow of resurgent fortunes, its pristine Baltic-setting so attractive that the Puro hotel group has opened its fourth property here.

Set in the Old Town, right next to the market square, the 220-room hotel is a new build by local practice KD Kozikowski Design, whose lofty interiors by London-based DeSallesFlint recall the area’s historic grain warehouses and shipyard.

An airy eight-storey atrium leads into soft-pastel spaces furnished with quirky modernist pieces by Vitra, Moroso and Gubi, while the rooftop bar and terrace opens out over the marina and Old Town. But it’s in-house restaurant Dancing Anchor’s Marcin Malecki who steals the show with homey dishes like chicken ballontine stuffed with prawns and sun-dried tomato mousse, and an assiette of crispy pork belly, herbed sausage, potato puree and black pudding. 

INFORMATION 

Website

ADDRESS

Stągiewna 26, 80-750 Gdańsk

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Warsaw is having a bit of a moment and the latest hotspot to swing open its heavy wrought-iron doors is Hotel Indigo, a 60-room property housed in an ornamental 1903 building, once the residence of count Ksawery Branicki. Inside, the Warsaw-based design agency 2kul worked with Henry Reeve, IHG’s director of design and innovation, to create a modern space that sits quietly within its original surroundings. The lobby is dressed with colourful classics including Fritz Hansen armchairs, Tom Dixon tables, low-slung sofas by Paolo Castelli and a rich, carpet designed by Marcel Wanders for Dutch interior brand, Moooi. The soaring open space meanwhile, is filled with a four ton custom-made chandelier comprising 900 bulbs and inspired by a Bocci installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Upstairs, the guest rooms that overlook the interior atrium are appropriately fitted out in muted shades of grey, while a crisp white palette interspersed with royal blues are clean, understated choices for the outer rooms, which feature high ceilings and ornate mouldings. With a state-of-the-art fitness and health centre; a lobby-based Bourbon Lounge Bar and a chic pastel-hued restaurant that serves up Middle Eastern cuisine, you’d be forgiven for never wanting to leave. But located just off Nowy Świat the main artery that connects modern Warsaw to the old town, you’re in the perfect position to nip out and see all of the best sites the city has to offer.

ADDRESS

Smolna 40

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The opening of the Campo Modern Grill in the old Polish city of Wrocław is noteworthy on at least two fronts. First, for its location on the ground floor of the blinding white, bean-shaped curve of the OVO building, designed by Gottesman-Szmelcman Architecture. The other is its menu of charcoal grilled Argentinean steaks, a startling contrast to a traditional cuisine that’s firmly predisposed towards stewed meats and noodles.

The interiors by local studio Buck are visually anchored by a long sculptural wall of polished black pebbles against which is framed cherry wood shelves, black terrazzo floors, oak furniture, and pleasing details of brass and calf leather door handles. From his kitchen hidden behind a 14m long bar, head chef Tomasz Nowak flips great slabs of organic beef – all sourced from the Ojo de Agua farm in Balcarce, a particularly bovine-friendly region in Argentina – that he serves with little more than lashings of chimichurri, and watercress mayonnaise.  

INFORMATION

Website

ADDRESS

Podwale 83
50-414 Wrocław

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Paulina Wielgosz-Konewka, Małgorzata Siekanko and Marta Sękowska-Kulińska, who set up their practice in Poznań in 2010, find inspiration in the work of Peter Zumthor and the ‘thoughtful, simple and logical’ domestic design of Japan. Built work includes this angular, modernist-inspired dwelling in Poznań, while among ongoing projects are a mobile outdoor cinema and an eco farm.
tezarchitekci.pl

These days, there’s little sign that the Polish university town of Wroclaw was, in the 1980s, a byword for fierce anti-Soviet resistance. Instead, the most challenging task facing the day-tripper is just which of Nana’s tempting pastries to order.

Buck Studio have converted a former nondescript cafeteria into a symphony in pink for pastry chef Justyna Kawiak’s new patisserie in the heart of Wroclaw’s medieval old town. The space is conceived around the elongated oval shape of an éclair. The curved walls and arched doorways lined with pink velvet are set off by the soft gleam of brass piping on high stools and light sconces.

It is, however, difficult not to be distracted by the patisserie’s centrepiece: an island counter bejewelled with Kawiak’s pretty collection of salted caramel éclairs, and bijoux pastries festooned with lychees and mangoes, and scented with tonka beans and black sesame. Resistance is futile. 

ADDRESS

Kotlarska 32

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If you’re struck by déjà vu whilst lounging in Wrocław’s newest bistro, it might be due to the fact that local designers BUCK.Studio were inspired by the colourful tiles that are such an evocative feature of western Poland’s largest city, on old staircases and kitchen stoves especially. 

Located on the ground floor of the stylish Puro hotel – itself set in the Four Denominations quarter near the Old Town – Hint is swathed in tiles of vivid blues and greens, the colours often arranged in an almost Morse code-like pattern that nicely sets off the natural oak veneer of the walls, and the battalion of Artek Domus and Gubi Beetle chairs. The communality of the space is reinforced by a large central table stacked with books and magazines which lures an attractive lunch crowd of young twenty-somethings and networking hipsters. 

The best seats in the house are by the windows looking out into the Puro’s rear garden, which links to a picturesque alley running along a bijou canal. All the better to peruse head chef Mateusz Izajasz’s unexpectedly sophisticated menu of zhoozhed up street food, the hearty bites including lobster bagel burgers, Cajun tempura fries, and an indulgent chocolate lava cake paired with popcorn ice cream. 

ADDRESS

Włodkowica 6 50-072

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Food and the creative disciplines have long shared interstices. It's there in the avant-garde short films of Jan Svankmajer (Meat Love, for example); the immersive experiential research and radical dining events of the Center for Genomic Gastronomy (and, to an extent, Bompas & Parr); in mischer'traxler's cast vegetable tableware; Erwin Wurm's expansive collection of gherkins; and in the collected recipes of Eidia's Starving Artists' Cookbook (not to mention our own Artist's Palate series).

Over the past four years, the liminal spaces between food and ceramics have been further explored as part of 'Art Food', an internationally-focused project that aims to integrate education and a diverse range of cultural and working practices, always with the intention of creating idiosyncratic, functional ceramics that be constituted as displays for culinary works of art.

This year's show – staged from 17–21 October – saw a collaboration between the Krakow Academy of Fine Arts and the Pratt Institute in New York. In preparation for the exhibition, the 12 students involved attended a variety of design, anthropological and culinary workshops under the guidance of designer Marek Cecuła (in-part at the Ćmielów Design Studio at the Ćmielów and Chodzie ż Polish Porcelain Factories), immersing themselves in the ceramic design and manufacturing process, as well as exploring the socio-cultural nuances of food as ritual. The results – meticulous, outré and intuitive new pieces of ceramic tableware – were shown at New York's David Weeks Studio and at the Krakow Academy's in-house gallery space.

And most impressive it was. Take Amy Seabolt's slip-cast porcelain table set, tiny bowl/plate hybrids designed for use within a tasting menu, that stack matryoshka-like within each other. (Klaudia Kasprzak's organic, cellular dishes are also meant for multi-course menus, though fit flat into an indented base.) 

Or the 'Mamta' series Aditi Kedia; a childhood-memory-inspired set (the name means 'mother's love' in Hindi) redolent of seashells. Elsewhere, Hannah Kruh-Vort's 'Strata' dishes are designed for serving hors d'oeuvres, but stack together to form fluid little sculptures. More intriguing still is Dorota Ziaja's 'Foodllery' range of table jewellery – bowls, skewers, plates and cups with incorporated rings to allow easy carrying at receptions and cocktail parties; and Paulina Morawa's organic set of dishes inspired by the process of leaves unfurling.

On view from this week, 'Art Food 2016+' is an addendum to last month's show, taking place at the Centre for the Meeting of Cultures in Lubin, Poland. The new event will see the original fair's works on display again, as well as an opening 'molecular gastronomy show' by chef Jean Bos utilising the 'Art Food' ceramics, and a series of family-oriented workshops.

INFORMATION

’Art Food 2016+’ is on view until 30 November

ADDRESS

Centre for the Meeting of Cultures
Plac Teatralny 1, 20-029
Lublin

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Wroclaw-based firm Buck Studio has created a striking design for new bar and bistro Dinette, located in the city's Old Town district. Favouring a lightness of touch and clean, rigorous lines, the architecture studio has elegantly outfitted the space with a svelte palette of materials including black marble and blonde wood, with a dramatic backdrop of malachite green glass adorning the wall behind the main bar. The bar itself has been painstakingly crafted from thousands of individual circular wooden slats crowned with black marble, while the tall, black-topped FINN bar stools were crafted by local manufacturer Fameg specifically for the restaurant.

The bistro, on the ground floor of a former department store, was created for the city’s chic residents with a menu emphasising leisurely breakfasts as well as gutsy seasonal dishes expedited from the restaurant’s open kitchen. While the brunch menu lists usual suspects like peppy shakshukas, hearty English breakfasts and pancakes, we’re partial to the bar menu that offers bite size portions of oysters, foie and chicken hearts on toast to nibble alongside the short but sweet cocktail and wine list. 

ADDRESS

Plac Teatralny 8

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Being the European Capital of Culture for 2016 has not only brought serious renovations and refurbishments to a city which was still, in parts, war-torn but also a bit of futuristic design in the shape of the gleaming OVO Wrocław.

A creation of Paris and Israel-based Gottesman-Szmelcman Architecture, the white, multi-windowed, oval-shaped walls appear rather like a cruise liner, save for the fact that it is on the edge of one of the city’s many leafy parks. Inside, there is more greenery in the courtyard, around which undulating walls encompass office spaces, apartments, a Holmes Place Health Club, a soon-to-open Casino and the very sleek new DoubleTree by Hilton.

Minimalist in feel, the hotel echoes the seamless, white, calm of its exterior. 189 rooms and suites offer luxurious accommodation from under floor heating in the bathrooms to ergonomic chairs at the desks. Crisply clad beds back onto headboards depicting elements of the city. Downstairs, seriously impressive food at OVO (try the veal cheeks, parsnip puree curried onions, roast buckwheat, sauté chard) is not to be missed, but stop first at the stylish Bar for a cocktail.

ADDRESS

Ul. Podwale 82-84

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South Poland's picturesque, green and mountainous landscape was a key inspiration for Katowice based architecture firm KWK Promes' latest residential offering, situated in the rolling hills of Brenna. 

Upon closer inspection, it is not hard to imagine how the visually striking Konieczny's Ark got its name. Created for the firm's owner, Robert Konieczny, the home becomes vulnerable to landslides due to its slopeside location, which can be a frequent occurrence in this part of the Polish mountains. To safeguard the building, the architects created a design that 'floats' above ground, giving the Ark its abstract boat-like aesthetic, while allowing for water and mud to flow underneath freely, without damaging the property.

The same reason led the architects to decide that the best possible garden solution for this house would be not to have one, and let the existing fields become the Ark’s ample backyard instead.

Due to the plot’s location, remote and deep within natural wilderness, a concern for security was addressed by twisting the main volume, so that only one of the home’s corners in fact makes contact with the earth. This is also where the house's main entrance is situated – with the rest of the building being suspended in the air. This entrance is protected by a drawbridge. 

Poured concrete, supplied by a local producer, is the main construction material of the house. The structure becomes stronger with the help of the external walls, which help manage the tensions created by the Ark's 'inverted-roof' shaped base. 

In order to protect the house, the architects created a design that allows the Ark to ’float’ above water or mud. This move also gives the house its boat-like aesthetic

INFORMATION

For further information on Konieczny’s Ark, visit KWK Promes’ website

Located on the edge of the picturesque Warta River 300km west of Warsaw, Poznań is one of Poland’s oldest cities. No surprises then that its architecture, dating back at least a millennium, fields an arresting haul of Renaissance piles and proto-Prussian grandeur. In the midst of this Old World landscape, in central Poznań is ul. Taczaka, a French Renaissance stretch stuffed with bijoux cafés, bars and restaurants. In summer, both tables and crowds spill onto the street. The newest kid on the block, Źródło, is inconspicuously tucked away in the basement of a tenement house. Local architect Adam Wiercinski has invested the small bar with a raw industrial feel that’s entirely in keeping with the gentrified mood of the area, peeling back the surfaces to reveal original brick-work and floors. Textures of rusted metal, graphite hues with flashes of orange, raw MDF and trestle seats and tables made of rebar all add to the feeling of a space in transition. The scarcity of space also required Wiercinski to turn radiator covers into coat racks, while packing the bar’s collection of whiskies from around the world into tight shelves. With the arrival of winter, it all makes for a cosy evening fueled with warming Moscow Mules and Old Fashions, bruschetta and popcorn. 

ADDRESS

ul. Taczaka 15
Poznań

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Daniel Libeskind is feeling on top of the world, or at least Poland anyway. We are sitting on the 50th floor of his newly built residential tower in the centre of Warsaw with the city stretched out to the horizon below us. 'My mother grew up very close to here,' he says looking out of the show apartment's floor-to-ceiling window, 'so how fantastic to come back and be able to do something forward-looking, something optimistic that is for the future of Poland.'

For Libeskind this is a particularly poignant project. Born in 1946 in Łódź, Poland, to Dora and Nachman Libeskind, both Polish Jews and Holocaust survivors, his family moved to New York via Tel Aviv in the 50s when he was just 11 years old. Despite having lived in the US for the majority of his life, Libeskind can still speak, read and write Polish.

Located on Ulica Zlota (Gold Street) and simply known as Zlota 44, Libeskind conceived the swooping fin that wraps the new tower as an eagles' wing, soaring upwards from the ground to its peak - a symbol of Warsaw's resurgence of freedom and its bright future. 'It's a different Poland. This country has been through so much but the spirit of Poland is indomitable; the Polish people don't give up. And it inspired me to build this building here.' Referred to by the locals as 'żagiel' meaning 'sail' in Polish, Zlota had become, as Libeskind tells us, 'an icon, before it was even completed.'

In its shadow is Warsaw's old icon, the austere Palace of Culture and Science, an imposing building that was originally known as the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science but had the dedication revoked during de-Stalinization in the late 50s. While it's still viewed with nostalgia-tinged fondness by some of Warsaw's older residents, many including Libeskind see the Palace as a symbol of the past. 'I know it from childhood as something oppressive, everybody knew it. You didn't have to go to school to know it was built to glorify dictatorship, it was obvious even to kids. So it's good that it's receding. It's a historical artifact now. It'll be there but it's no longer the visiting card to Warsaw.'

At 192 metres-high and with 52 storeys, Zlota is the tallest residential building in Europe and, when complete, the 52nd floor penthouse will offer its buyer the loftiest bed in Europe.

From the outside, the swooping wing-shaped fin that wraps the building's southern and eastern facades is lined with a patchwork of horizontal triple glazing and self-cleaning aluminium panelling designed to follow the arc of the sun path, allowing for maximum daylight to reach neighboring buildings. In contrast, the panels on the western and northern aspects are fitted vertically. 'It's not an office building, it's conceived from the inside out. It's conceived for people to live here. So we didn't want it to be all glass, it's sensitive to the variety of living conditions,' says Libeskind. 'Some apartments are large, some are small. You have to be able to have balance.'

Each unit has its own unique plan and comes in a choice of nine material palettes developed by global design and architecture firm Woods Bagot. 'We wanted to create a compelling story,' says Woods Bagot Principal Jonathan Clarke of the three furnished show apartments in the marketing suite, which are finished with opulent marble bathrooms, walnut-lined walk in wardrobes and walnut floors alongside flashes of exposed concrete. 'The palettes are visually very similar but differ in price, from expensive to the more affordable.' Libeskind adds, 'It's flexible. The interiors will appeal to different people in different ways. It's tailored to you, it's custom made for each apartment and I think that's what people will feel.'

On the street, the ground floor will be lined with retail units that will invite the public to experience the building while encouraging pedestrian circulation in the town centre. However, Zlota's impressive list of amenities  - including a pool, spa, cinema and gym on the 8th floor and a wine tasting room on the ground floor - are reserved for the residents use only.

After a stop-start construction process that began in 2008 but was stalled in 2009 after its original developers ran into financial difficulties during the economic crisis, Zlota was sold to American investors Amstar and Polish developers BBI in August 2014. Slated to be completed by mid-2016, sales have begun in earnest with the completion of the three show apartments open for viewing on the tower's 50th floor.

'We have quite a few clients who will buy apartments in six or ten cities. They've been buying in Berlin but I think they're going to switch to Warsaw because of the increased yield and the growth background,' says Charles Weston Baker, Director at Savills International, the agents who will be spearheading the international sales drive. Buyers are expected to be 75% Polish and 25% international with a particular focus on the some 20 million Poles living abroad, who Weston Baker says will take 'enormous pride' in investing in their home country.

With units on sale for between €240,000 and €1.9 million, the prices set a staggering new standard for luxury real estate in the city, but, with Poland now the sixth largest economy in Europe and with its impressive portfolio of recently completed architectural projects – not to mention a plethora of trendy bars and restaurants – the allure for investors is undeniable. As Weston Baker puts it, 'we've just got to get the story out there.'

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Zlota 44 website

Located in the fashionable area of Śródmieście, within Warsaw’s central district, Autor Rooms was conceived by local creative and graphic agency Mamastudio in a bid to provide tasteful lodgings for visiting friends. ‘We have always had problems finding accommodation for our friends from abroad,’ says the studio’s creative director Michael Pawlik. ‘Se we decided to open our own small hotel.’ Occupying a 19th century residential building, the hotel – designed by Polish architect Mateusz Baumiller – comprises just four rooms and one central living area, and kitchen where guests can enjoy a curated selection of books and vinyl records or simply cook dinner together. Sleek rooms are furnished with an eclectic mix of vintage and contemporary pieces by local designers and studios, that include marble tables and cosy blankets from Beza Projekt and decorative tiles from Purpura.  Artwork meanwhile has been curated by Warsaw-based Starter Gallery and is available for guests to purchase.

ADDRESS

Lwowska 17/7

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The aesthetics of genocide are a troubling landscape for the artist to travel through. Brian Griffin has worked as a photographer for over four decades and his new book, Himmelstrasse, is a stark collection of landscapes with a dark subject at their core. 'It's interesting how things happen,' Griffin says of the project's origins, 'I had an exhibition in Łódź in Poland, and I had to get a train there several times. On the way, I looked out of the window of the compartment and became fascinated by the Polish railway system – they just put lines wherever they were needed in very densely forested country.' Griffin originally planned a book depicting these isolated networks, but soon realised there was a far, far darker history to tell.

Himmelstrasse presents starkly beautiful views of some of the bleakest journeys ever undertaken. These are the rail lines that fed the Nazi concentration camp system, the infrastructure of industrialised genocide that linked the camps of Belzec, Chełmno, Sobibór, Stutthof and Treblinka. 'You never see these places,' Griffin says of the tree-bordered corridors, some of which are still in use, some of which are long overgrown. To this end, Himmelstrasse is intentionally bleak. 'Most photographic books are, you know, very, very nice,' he says, stressing the project's conceptual nature, resulting in a tome 'that's intentionally quite boring'.

Griffin might be underplaying it, but the book is certainly relentless, simply depicting railway lines stretching away to the horizon, beyond which lies a final destination whose horrors continue to haunt us. Even the title, Himmelstrasse, refers to the Nazi's bleakly ironic title for the path to the Sobibór gas chambers, the 'road to heaven'. Given such a context, art and design can do little but just register and record. 'I've tried to surrender my own photographic abilities to the book,' Griffin says, 'I'm usually employed to make people and places interesting. As I walked around these forests I planned it all out, page after page of lines going into the distance.'

The black and white (shot on film stock) and colour imagery (digital) is bound between cover and endpapers rendered in vivid Nazi red. 'The project was a collaboration with Brian from the beginning,' says Aaron Easterbrook of the publishers Browns Editions, the imprint set up by the artist Jonathan Ellery in 2005. 'The book is a conceptual piece, not an archival one, and this horrible Nazi 'joke' lent us the graphic approach – if it was a colour it would have to be hard red,' he explains. The harsh familiarity of the thick black Tannenberg font, the juxtaposition of red and white... the association between cover and content is explicit and unflinching. Easterbrook emphasises the way Himmelstrasse bludgeons rather than cossets and demands to be engaged with and not ignored. This book functions as one memorial amongst many, yet each is vitally important to keep these memories at the forefront of our consciousness.

Bogusław Barnaś worked at Foster + Partners and Make Architects before setting up his studio in Krakow in 2009. His own work splices the forms and crafts-based approach of traditional Polish architecture with an angular, expressive modernity, as in the Artist's House. Barnaś hopes to build the studio's reputation as 'a place where precision, aesthetics, economics and sustainable development go together'.
www.bxbstudio.com

Poland is on a roll. Last year, its outgoing Prime Minister Donald Tusk became the new President of the European Council. A few months ago, the Polish production Ida by Paweł Pawlikowski won the Oscar for the best foreign language film. And even more recently, its Szczecin Philharmonic Hall was granted the most important European architectural distinction - the 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award. 

Architecture has been playing a crucial role in reshaping this central European country. From the Tatra Mountains to the Baltic Sea, hundreds of new developments are currently in construction, triggered by a booming economy (with enviable growth of almost 40 per cent over the last decade) and the ongoing flow of structural funds from the EU. 

After major improvements in sports and transport infrastructure prior to the Euro 2012 football championship, public investment is now concentrated in culture and education. This does not involve just the capital of Warsaw; new academic facilities, museums, theatres and concert halls, created by both local and foreign architects' offices, spring up in almost every big Polish city. Public works are complemented by ambitious private initiatives, including office, retail and residential projects. New designs differ in scale and form, ranging from radical experimentation to subtler, functional schemes. 

Here, we highlight 14 examples of this exciting wave of construction, a revealing sample of the remarkable architecture completed in Poland within the last year or so. And the country's architectural heyday has only just begun. Many more projects (by Polish designers and international stars like Peter Zumthor and MVRDV) are still underway, so watch this space…

Completed in September 2014 and honoured last May with the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award, the new concert hall in the northwestern city of Szczecin by the Barcelona-based duo Barozzi Veiga stands on the site of the former German Konzerthaus, a casualty of the Second World War

Aptly nicknamed 'the iceberg', the new white temple of music cleverly reinterprets the city's Hanseatic architecture and boasts a stunning golden auditorium with 950 seats

Inside, the building's walls appear sculptural, imbued with a kinetic aesthetic that adds emphasis to the already dynamic space

Adjacent to the Philharmonic Hall is the Szczecin National Museum's latest branch, designed by the Polish studio led by Robert Konieczny and scheduled to open this autumn

Hidden under the public square, the new museum is dedicated to the city's recent turbulent history, highlighting the role of underground movements in the collapse of the country's Communist regime

Opened in August 2014, the new multi-purpose complex by local studio Fort is situated on former shipyard grounds in the Baltic port city of Gdańsk

Clad in rusted Corten steel, it resembles an old ship's hull and constitutes a tribute to the social movement of Solidarność, that in the 1980s led to the decay of Soviet domination in central and eastern Europe and, eventually, to the fall of the Berlin Wall

View of the distinctive facade

Completed in September 2014, this new cultural venue pays homage to the city's theatrical tradition, standing on the same site as a wooden, 17th century public playhouse (itself likely modeled on London's Elizabethan Fortune Theatre)

Designed by the Venice-based professor Renato Rizzi, the new building, clad in black brick, features an intriguing set of walkways and courtyards, and a multi-configurational hall for 600 spectators with an impressive opening roof

An internal shot of the theatre shows the sheer-boarded timber walls which provide a beautiful simplicity to the space

The western city of Poznań decided to underline its role as the cradle of Polish statehood by erecting the Interactive Centre of Ostrów Tumski History (ICHOT)

The new museum, created by Polish practice Ad Artis, opened its doors in April 2014. A simple white concrete cube frames views of the nearby cathedral and is connected to the restored sluice-keeper's building via a footbridge

The concept behind the building was to maintain authenticity; therefore, the materiality and form have been reduced, and the colour scheme kept neutral

Officially inaugurated in October 2014, Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews – created by Finnish studio Lahdelma & Mahlamäki, aided by local office Kuryłowicz & Associates – commemorates the ages-long presence of the Jewish community in Poland

The highlight of the five-storey building, covered in copper panels and glass, is its sculptural entrance hall, evoking both the parting of the Red Sea and the population gap brought by the German invasion and Holocaust

The new design for Warsaw's Academy of Fine Arts by local studio JEMS was completed in October 2014. It consists of a meticulously restored historical edifice and a generously glazed new extension, joined by a semi-public courtyard

Located in the direct vicinity of the Vistula river, the new complex is part of a broader programme of waterfront revitalisation in the Polish capital

An internal shot of the gallery shows the refined concrete walls and contemporary finishes

Officially opened in September 2014, the Cosmopolitan Twarda tower, designed by the German-American architect Helmut Jahn, is the latest residential hotspot for aspiring inhabitants of the Polish capital

Situated in the city centre, close to the iconic Palace of Culture and Science, the elegant 44-storey slender high-rise comprises 236 fully equipped apartments offering spectacular views of the urban skyline

Completed in October 2014, the multifunctional complex designed by local studio Maćków Pracownia Projektowa faces a recently renovated main railway station in the southwestern city of Wrocław

The new development features a characteristic 55m-high twisting tower and includes retail outlets, office space, a conference centre and a hotel with 133 rooms

Officially inaugurated in June 2015, the new Silesian Museum building by Riegler Riewe – an Austrian studio based in Graz – stands in the southern industrial city of Katowice

Situated on former coalmine grounds, the new complex comprises restored historical facilities surrounded by a new public park

Most of its functional programme, however, is dispersed across four underground levels, referencing the original use of the site

Inaugurated in October 2014, the latest concert hall by Polish firm Konior Studio serves as a new home to the internationally acclaimed NOSPR orchestra

The monumental structure, clad in brown and red brick, echoes the traditional architecture of the region. The highlight of the complex is its sculptural, 1800 seat main hall, which features exceptional acoustics, courtesy of the renowned Japanese consultancy firm Nagata

Adjacent to the iconic Spodek multi-purpose arena and neighbour to the local museum and concert hall, the new congress centre by Polish studio JEMS solidifies Katowice's transformation into a bona fide culture hub

Completed in March 2015, the new building features impressive black double-skin elevations and an extensive and accessible green roof 

External shot showing the impressive black double-skin facade that encloses the majority of the structure

The recently opened new building by Polish studio Ingarden & Ewý is an extension to Arata Isozaki's venerated Manggha Museum of Japanese Art and Technology

The elegant new four-storey wing, clad in Pietra Serena sandstone and glass, reflects the growing interest of Polish society in Far Eastern cultures and arts

Opened in September 2014, the new Cricoteka, designed by the local consortium of nsMoonStudio and Wizja, is a heritage centre commemorating the 20th century multidisciplinary artist Tadeusz Kantor

The riverside complex features the meticulously restored historical facilities of a former power plant and a surprising suspended addition clad in perforated Corten steel, evoking Kantor's avant-garde art   

Internal shot focusing on the intricate detailing on the steel sheets. Light seeps through these repeated cut outs adding life to the space and creating playful shadows

Based in the western Polish city of Wroclaw, KameleonLab, established in 2007, is the brainchild of co-founders Kuba Wozniczka and Rafal Specylak. Staying true to its name, this young firm adopts a tailor-made approach to every new project. 'Context - physical and otherwise - plays a key role in the design process,' say the architects. Their award-winning work includes the minimal Black Cube House, located in Wroclaw, and the imaginative, timber-clad Tetris House in the small town of Bukowno. More residential and public commissions are in the works. KameleonLab aims to remain small, but perhaps work internationally in a few years. 'For us, great examples are Peter Zumthor and many Japanese architects, who have proved that with small but devoted teams of professionals you can design amazing buildings,' say the pair.
www.kameleonlab.com

With a winning formula that fuses cutting-edge technology and dynamic design-led aesthetics, hip Polish hotel brand Puro, is fast establishing itself as the hospitality group to watch. It’s latest offering – the fourth after Wroclaw, Krakow and Poznan – is located in the coastal city of Gdansk, along the banks of the Motlawa River on the city’s Granary Island- a district decimated during the World War II, but now a prized location after a quiet period of regeneration. Local agency KD Kozikowski Design was charged with the property’s structural architecture, while the interiors –which pay tribute to the area’s industrial past – are the result of London-based partners Desalles Flint; hanging light fittings in the lobby provide visual cues to the cranes and pulleys of the city’s maritime heritage, while natural fibres such as linen and cotton reference the area’s old grain warehouses. The artworks, curated and commissioned by art agency Double Decker, provide ready-made ice breakers for boozy conversations at the hotel’s polished bar and restaurant.

ADDRESS

Stagiewna 26
80-750 Gdansk
Poland

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The ever-popular Dinette bistro in Wroclaw’s strident Sky Tower has been extended to include a deli and bakery. Once again designed by local practice, BUCK.STUDIO, the light-filled informal room is characterized by a large oval dining table, which takes centre stage. A handmade glass lighting installation hangs overhead, while a wooden mosaic sideboard functions as an open kitchen, optimising the cooking action and allowing the aroma of coffee and freshly baked pastries to drift invitingly into the dining room. With a range of breakfast options, snacks and dinettki (small snacks) also on the menu, there is no excuse not to linger- especially when the early morning sun is streaming invitingly through the expansive windows.

INFORMATION

Marcin Pawlowski

ADDRESS 

Sky Tower
Powstancow Slaskich 95
Wroclaw
Poland

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