2022 was a difficult year for many reasons. On the one hand, the proximity of war beyond our eastern border, on the other, raging inflation, on the third, the increasingly advanced specter of a climate catastrophe, and on the fourth, the ongoing pandemic, to which we have probably already gotten used. In such circumstances, I appreciate all the projects that have been implemented even more. I am very grateful for the opportunity to act in difficult and demanding times and for the support of people I have met.
#architecturematters
This year, three issues of the printed “Architecture Snob” premiered. This is our joint success – the entire editorial office and the people who accepted the invitation to talks and shared their knowledge and thoughts. Thank you all very much! I am glad that I meet more and more enthusiasts on my way, with whom I share the belief that #architecturematters! And what architecture has the power to transform reality for the better? Empathetic, available, responsible, and balanced.
I am also glad that the premieres of subsequent issues become an opportunity to meet together and exchange experiences. This year we met at the Palace of Culture and Science, the Zamoyski Palace, and the HOP office building.
#2. Love Issue
Its warehouse was closed on the eve of the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The fact of the invasion by Russia has been noted only in the introductory text. And although at first glance the articles contained in “Architecture Snob” might seem inadequate to the situation, in fact in the magazine we talked about values that are extremely needed. The heroine of the issue was Professor Ewa Kuryłowicz, who talked about empathy as the most important skill that architects should have. In this issue, we see the need to design public spaces in relation to possible crises and changes, but above all the basic needs of users.
In this issue: Ewa Kuryłowicz, Dorota Sibińska, Filip Domaszczyński, Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Tomasz Konior, Dominik Koroś, Marie-Hélène Fabre, Didier Faustino, Ivan Blasi, Szymon Wojciechowski, Wojciech Kolęda, Piotr Grochowski, WXCA, Hannelore Caenepeel, Anna Domin, Anna Ostrowska, Paweł Świerczek, Krystyna Łuczak-Surówka, Zuzanna Skalska, Anna Vonhausen, Katarzyna Księżopolska, Maciej Szupica, Raf Skowroński, Aleksander Krajewski, Anna Diduch, Bartek Barczyk, Aga Gruszka.
#3. Distance
The third issue of “Architecture Snob” was published on October 7, and its watchword was distance. In my interpretation, it is the ability to stop in a world that is constantly rushing and flooding us with negative stimuli. A momentary withdrawal helps not only in caring for personal well-being but also in finding solutions to the problems we face every day and in the architecture world.
This is the first edition to have two collector’s covers. On one there is an architect living in Tenerife, Fernando Menis, the author of m.in. the award-winning Jordanki Cultural and Congress Center in Toruń. On the other, we will find the designers behind the Berlin studio Deadline Architects, i.e. Britta Jürgens and Matthew Griffin – people involved in design, urban activism, and art. All three in the interviews opening the magazine look at Poland from a distance. Despite the differences in the vision of architecture, he has a common goal – responsibility. According to the protagonists and the heroine of the issue, designing should focus on finding solutions to the ongoing housing crisis and climate catastrophe.
In the issue: Fernando Menis, Britta Jürgens, Matthew Griffin, Jordi Badia, Thomas Phifer, Grzegorz Jarzyna, Szymon Wojciechowski, Leslie Scanlon, Marta Sękulska-Wrońska, Karolina Janczy, Szczepan Wroński, Marcin Wojdak, Oskar Zięta, Gosia Baczyńska, Anna Tępińska- Marcinek, Mikołaj Sokołowski, Marie-Pascal Bernard, Joanna Rzepka, Agnieszka Kalinowska-Sołtys, Paweł Olszczyński.
#4. Education
This is the leitmotif of the fourth issue of “Architecture Snob”, which was released just before Christmas, on December 23, and is still available in Empik stores. We look at the topic from different angles, and the people invited to the interviews point out the role of empathetic, sustainable, and universal design, which is in the interest of the entire society.
The issue opens with an interview with the people who founded the Warsaw architectural studio XYstudio in 2004: Filip Domaszczyński, Marta Nowosielska, and Dorota Sibińska. The trio of designers specializes in public buildings, mainly care, and educational institutions, and has been setting new design standards for the youngest for years. He is also interested in nursing homes, for example for people in the crisis of homelessness – including the famous house in Jankowice, the implementation of which not only won many awards but also opened discourse on the need for empathetic design for social groups that marginalized.
In this issue: XYstudio, Jems Architekci, Edyta Sadowska, Architects, Magda Garncarek, Ivan Blasi, Marta Peris, José Toral, Ewa P. Porębska, Szymon Wojciechowski, Katarzyna Jaroszyńska, Adam Pulwicki, Karolina Janczy, Robert Majkut, Anna Wręga, Kaja Nosal , Anna Konowrocka, Aldona Chudzicka, Anna Domin, Kajetan Kopala, Tomasz Wasilewski, Jurek Owsiak, Joanna Jurga.
Thanks
Publishing a paper magazine is not easy. Quality conversations with inspiring people require preparation and time, for which I would like to thank all the heroes and heroes of the magazine that we managed to realize this year.
From the very beginning of “Architecture Snob”, I also try to make the periodical – as an object – circular. As the only publishing house in 2022, we were qualified for the report “Responsible Business in Poland. Good Practices. Drukarnia Akapit is responsible for printing, which creates quality publications using ecological paper and printing techniques that reduce the carbon footprint.
We are entering the New Year with ambitious plans, we want to publish four issues of the Architecture Snob magazine, and two special issues – entirely dedicated to two design offices. The first special issue will be devoted to the APA Wojciechowski Architekci studio, and the premiere is scheduled for February 28.
With wishes for a good 2023
Marcin Szczelina
Editor-in-Chief