MIKLUŠOVÁ, T. Nové sociální bydlení v Sielcích: Rekonstrukce avantgardní budovy Szpiegowo ve Varšavě [online]. Brno: Vysoké učení technické v Brně. Fakulta architektury. 2024.
The design based on the in-depth site visits, queries and urban analysis, is a strong proposal worth sharing in public, especially with the municipality of Warsaw, currently seeking solutions for the adaptation of Szpiegowo building. Tereza has demonstrated a great diligence, professionalism, social awareness, architectural creativity and aesthetic sense. The whole project has been solved on a very detailed level, including both - research and design phase, with an excellent, elaborated outcome, conducted with an understanding of local spatial and social context. The work with the student proceeded in a good atmosphere of openness, collaboration and critical discussion. The comments of the tutors were being addressed in the process, while student also dared to have autonomous opinions. Not only the analytical and design abilities are worth mentioning but also very strong graphic skills and aesthetic sense which resulted in a comprehensive and beautiful project representation. It’s heartening to work with a student who proposes socially valuable and inclusive solutions and is able to turn it into an architecturally interesting project. The author is characterized by a great modesty in her work attitude which is also visible in the design. Her adaptative design proposals show that the successful architecture does not need huge gestures and iconic modification to be valuable and necessary. Rather than flashy and screaming ego-design, I appreciate the enormous analytical work and meticulous design, which role is to serve the inhabitants of the city and preserve an important architectural heritage rather than to excessively stand out.
| Kritérium | Známka | Body | Slovní hodnocení |
|---|---|---|---|
| Přístup studenta ke zpracování | A | Tereza has chosen to work on the adaptation of the late modernist building which used to serve as a residence of the soviet embassy's diplomats. After the full-scale russian invasion against Ukraine, it has been claimed back by the City of Warsaw. The municipality is currently searching for new concepts for its adaptation so the subject is currently topical in Warsaw. The student conducted an in-depth site analysis which led to the specific and context-rooted new solution for the building, which includes the housing and studios for young creatives from film industry, as the campus is located nearby. She has also recognized the local problem of housing shortage, being a pressing issue affecting young people, including students. Moreover, the Student performed the architectural and historical queries that helped her to understand the context of the Polish 70s and 80s, including big scale prefabricated estates and such rare experimental projects. She has analyzed the current municipal housing strategies and included its goals in the design proposal. She has compared the issue of housing exclusion in the 70s/80s with the current one. The building which has been a luxury, targeted at a narrow, privileged group back then, has been transformed into an open complex, serving as a public space for the neighbors and affordable housing for the young. The urban analysis has been conducted with a great sensitivity to the context, taking into account the public realm, existing boundaries and limitations, need of opennes, character of the infrastructure and buildings. It has been presented with explanatory and graphically appealing illustrations. The architectural design consisting of the existing structures adaptation (residential building, pavilion and its surrounding) was possible thanks to the Student’s analysis of the archival plans and its critical verification with own measures taken during the visit in Warsaw. Student has proposed a great scope of the apartment and common space typologies, introducing necessary modifications in the layout. Students has successfully developed the idea of building material reuse, researching the substance accessible on the site, including ceramic tiles, wooden cladding, stone. She has prepared an inventory of materials and has incorporated it on many levels of the project - landscape design, building external shell and interior. The color palette of the reused substance has been consciously emphasized in the design, resulting in a very elegant overall outcome, including the color of the window frames. She has proposed common functions like sauna or screening room, referring to the coliving tradition of the former diplomats’ residence. Back in the 70s, such amenities in the complex were symbols of luxury and exclusivity, but embedded in the contemporary context of affordable housing for young people, they take on a different, socially important meaning. |
On an urban level, the proposal is a well-balanced sum of small transformations preserving the existing volumes. Through those upgrades, the project focuses on securing a domestic and landscaped interior for future inhabitants. Secured but not isolated, the courtyard is cut by a public path, while its former entrance is modified to become a pergola allowing for the loss of it’s defensive character. However, by keeping the low volumetry of the pavillions, the proposed relationship with the Jan III Sobieski street is questionable. Not only those pavillions do not provide acoustic isolation to the housing volumes behind, they do not strengthen the street’s facade nor provide the density such a central location could sustain. The proposed architectural adaptive reuse of the existing buildings is convincing and attractive. While the volumetry and the architecture are preserved, the project redistributes a new mixture of housing-related programs within the buildings. Throughout attractive ground floors and on the rooftops the auther located community spaces, with different housing typologies in between. The western pavillions are fairly remodelled and reprogrammed, but remain out of scale in the contemporary context of the Jan III Sobieski street. The apartment layouts are correctly designed. The general strategy of keeping the existing structures to avoid unnecessary demolitions despite the low floor heights is a fair and convicing one. The choice of populating it with non-classical familly housing to avoid the need of parking spaces is understandable but raises a couple of issues. How can you justly define who can or cannot live in „housing for creatives”. While mixing different economical standards within one building is a good practice, one can wonder if mixing two-people bedrooms and a one-person bedrooms within one shared student flat is a good idea. The proposed technical and constructional solutions are convincing and detailed. The existing architecture of Piotr Sembrat and Jerzy Kuźmienko is not only preserved, repaired but also thermally insulated and even updated with a couple of contemporary details. The author correctly identified the elements suitable for material reuse. Both the project and its graphical representation are formally well elaborated, complete, aesthetically pleasant and consistent. The use of a color code would improve the visibility of the plans, allowing to distinguish the existing from the added elements. Very good research and project, thought through and drawn with a personal architectural sensibility. One could encourage more boldness in the forthcomming designs. Definitively recommend for defense.
eVSKP id 159486