Architects must use every opportunity to show themselves with projects that bring positive values for people – says Jurek Owsiak, president of the Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy foundation (the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity). We talked with him about the direction in which Polish architecture is headed and about finding ways to generate change and help.

 

Marcin Szczelina: When I googled ‘Jurek Owsiak – architecture’, I saw tabloid headlines about your 100 square meters apartment. Don’t you have the impression that when we talk about architecture in the popular discourse, we often seek sensation or scandal? We marginalize what should be the key to the discussion. 

JUREK OWSIAK: Not anymore, although in the past it was emotional news. I showed my apartment myself, and having such a place a few years ago aroused great emotions in people. I walked with the camera around these hundred square meters. When I sometimes glance at Polish series, their heroes live in incomparably larger, huge spaces – I would love to live in them myself, because I appreciate them very much. My observations are positive – we have changed our attitude. Yesterday, a message about Polska Zagroda, a Polish native concept shown around the world, popped up on Facebook. I watched the video about it – I think it is awesome. 

So what has changed in Poles’ attitude? 

Young people are brave, they take loans and more and more often build large houses, not 100-meter flats, like mine. These are often solids in the Scandinavian structure. Polish reality finally broke the model of small windows, focusing on the big ones. People know that they have solar roofs at their disposal, on which you don’t have to put anything. There is also no need to create columns, stairs and the entire infrastructure of a cliche single-family houses. They have been sticking to the same concept for years. Suddenly, I watch Polska Zagroda, where there is an idea for everything, buttoned up to the last button. For many years I made stained glass myself, working in the workshop of Mrs. Teresa Maria Reklewska. She taught us how the church is located and how the glass in it will receive light. It turned out that many of the stained glass windows were accidental. Someone created them, and then, only after the fact, thought about the light, and it is extremely important, because the blue color reacts differently in the morning and differently at sunset – it concentrates, dilutes or draws colors. While designing, you need to pay attention to these aspects. And the sensational aspect of architecture arises when we attribute square meters to feelings. To me, it is great that someone else lives in a larger space than I am.

How do we create these larger spaces? 

To get settled, you can apply the baroque craftsmanship and do what you love the most, which is to bet on trinkets. Nowadays, people have access to everything – tasteful, fantastic items – and even if they don’t want to buy original Italian furniture, they will find something similar, but made here. Access to nice things and well-composed architecture has become commonplace. I’m surprised there are still ugly buildings today. It takes talent to design something unsightly. I am delighted with how Warsaw has changed – you can see that a certain architectural concept is adhered to here. When three buildings stand next to each other, they must harmonize with each other. I don’t mean restoration, because here you have to stick to certain rules that are not subject to discussion. More and more often I see a combination of brick and glass and the already mentioned large windows, which until now, as a nation, we were afraid of.

In your opinion, has Poland changed architecturally? 

From my point of view – yes and a lot. Of course, I still pass by the so-called. houses accumulators in the shape of building blocks. They are difficult to remodel, the easiest would be to demolish them and build anew. More and more often, however, I see well-designed housing estates in which even the arrangement of windows is a well-thought-out concept. Not everyone has to like it, but in the context of a housing unit – it looks great. A week ago I needed a reset so spent time with friends in San Remo and we drove around the area. We often said, evaluating the architecture – it is old, uninteresting, but the broom of history has not disturbed it. Because we were able to rebuild Warsaw from scratch, we did not start badly. For example, Krucza Street is not at all socialist realist, as it used to be said. This is beautiful American modernism. I am amazed at how beautifully it was conducted. Plac Konstytucji, now a monument, with all its monumentality, is undoubtedly socialist realist. I have my favorite areas of Warsaw – I love, for example, to go to Towarowa Street in the evening, just to look at it. And once it was the ugliest street in Warsaw for me. The new buildings blend in beautifully with the space. The blocks of housing units and their aesthetics are setting in well. 

Architects discuss among themselves but the debate does not penetrate the public awareness too much. 

I disagree, I think it breaks through. In my opinion, there is no better time for Polish architecture than the last 15 years. Today I was driving with my friend around Warsaw. I told him to google Polska Zagroda and he is just getting acquainted with this project. I said to him – look, it doesn’t have to be a monstrous studio that can afford experiments. Perhaps in this case, a few people from the same generation ready to take risks, sat for three months to create a great project. They don’t have to do it for the money because they earned it somewhere else. When it comes to visibility, it was completely different before the war. The name of the architect was on the façade of the building. I regret that we moved away from this, but on the other hand, I understand, because you could meet accusations that this is surreptitious advertising. I often watch popular TV programs from around the world, how people design houses ecologically, but also in a completely unusual way. My first thinking about architecture in this way started with Frank Lloyd Wright, who built Fallingwater, a waterfall villa in the 1930s. When you think about this building, you can say – this is how it is built nowadays: The body fits beautifully into the surrounding space. 

The motto of our magazine is #architecturematters. Why does architecture matter? 

Mainly because you’re looking at it. If the park is aesthetically designed, people will want to sit in it. Already in antiquity, proportions that are good to look at were invented. When I was learning how to work with stained glass, Mrs. Teresa keep saying to keep the rhythm with large windows. This is important because we like to be among well-harmonized facilities. Out of ten people who will be surrounded by a given architecture, six will say – I know it exists, two – it works for me, one – I like it very much, and one – it inspires me. This reminds me of when I first went to Woodstock in 1994. There must have been half a million people there. Among them was also me – a person who was so inspired that later organized an even bigger festival himself. That’s what it’s all about – an architect designs, a painter paints, a sculptor sculpts, a singer sings, and everyone inspires. That’s what architecture is for. Fortunately, where people are conscious, good construction thrives. They can maintain consistency – in Santorini no one will come up with the idea of ​​​​creating a pink tenement house, because the color code of the island is white and blue, and in Stockholm no one will build a skyscraper. Organized arrangements  have soothing properties. Sure, there are people who are insensitive to art, so by extension also to the art of architecture, but it influences me incredibly. I often explain to people that when there are constructions, we might get a little irritated by them, but once the facility is built, a sidewalk will be built too, trees will be planted. Architecture is very present in the life of every person. 

If you had the power of changing something in Warsaw, what would it be? 

The area around Górnośląska Street, near the Sejm, is a beautiful area. Myśliwiecka goes down, and there is a footbridge next to Agrykola, which was built about half a century ago. I remember riding it by trolleybus to school at Plac Zawiszy. It was made of steel structures that remind me of the Eiffel Tower. It was nice, and then it was clad with corrugated iron, which disfigured the building for 40 years. And it just got taken off! I don’t know if it’s because of the refurbishment, but that’s how it should stay. We do not have enough beautiful footbridges. I dream that there would be a lot of them in Warsaw, we can be inspired by, for example, Los Angeles – the bridges there are beautiful film locations. We do not have many good connections between the two sides of the Vistula River, which makes the passages by the water sometimes deserted. I would also revive Marszałkowska Street, which is dying in front of our eyes. I would forbid placing a bank next to a bank, there should be shops among them, preferably bookstores. Financial institutions are dead on weekends, so the whole neighborhood is dead. The main streets of the city should be living promenades, and fees in commercial premises should be adapted to the capabilities of entrepreneurs. 

Is there a building in Warsaw that particularly concerns you?  

In my opinion, the worst building that has been built recently is the rebuilt town hall opposite the building of the Grand Theatre. Please knock your finger on its façade – the sound is similar to knocking on cardboard. Something has been done that has no legitimacy. The head of this town hall is for me a negation of a nice line. This building, in my opinion, has no artistic or architectural value. In its place, there should be a building in the cubist style – with good proportions and a smart façade. The theater could be beautifully reflected in the glass. Such clear, surprising cuts are good. If there was a painting by Picasso next to the Battle of Grunwald – a historical painting by Jan Matejko, I would appreciate such juxtaposition. I’m afraid that the rebuilding of the Saxon Palace will be the same case as the mentioned town hall. There is no other such Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the world as it is in Warsaw. Its composition is beautiful. If we want to build something around it, it should be an example of an ecological building, heated only by natural energy, with a closed water circuit and lots of plants, one of the walls could be completely covered with it. All good ideas should fit there, it would have a great educational value. I know that people complain about Five Corners Square, and it reminds me of charming corners of such agglomerations as New York or Melbourne – a combination of good, nice stone with a few trees. Remember, this is not a park. There wasn’t a single tree there before, and the new ones are well integrated into the space. I turn my head and my eyesight is delighted in every direction.

Five Corners Square has become a very lively and socially antagonizing topic. Don’t you have the impression that people now want to co-decide more about the public spaces? 

Yes, and they have every right to do so. For example, I live in Ursynów. I met with the mayor and congratulated him on his work, because you can practically never leave the area – there is a lot of greenery here, and everything is very well organized. The mayor regularly asks residents what ideas they have for the development of Ursynów. I believe that every person should have the right to express their opinion and needs. I have not followed the discussions on Five Corners Square in detail, but I know that nowadays all urban projects of this type are open to the public. There was definitely time for the concept and consultations. 

A few years ago I was thinking about how to mobilize the architectural community to join the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity and came up with the action “Architects play for Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity”. Within a few years, we managed to collect 300 000 PLN, which is still only a drop in the ocean of needs. How important is the aspect of education in the process of developing sensitivity towards other people’s needs? 

You have to learn all the time and let yourself be educated. Empathy is something that Poles lack the most today, especially in key areas such as healthcare. We come to the doctor already stressed – something hurts, itches or pinches – and on the other side of the desk we often encounter such an approach that we feel even more unpleasant. You may not have empathy or you may have it. In the second case, you pass it on to other people. Of course, you can learn politeness – my generation was taught to give up your seat to an elderly person, which was beyond question. It becomes an unconditional reflex. I would certainly add consistency to the aforementioned education and empathy. We, the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, were told many times that three times is a charm, we were asked what will happen if something we planned fails. However, we do things from the heart, so when something doesn’t work out, we can say – we didn’t run away. However, things are going well – we did not buy one heart-lung machine, as we assumed, but seven. This is a consequence of the use of airtime – the visibility we get as an organization.  

How can we find ways to create even more change?

Architects must use every opportunity to show themselves with projects that bring positive values ​​to people. We used to have a construction company that refurbished our bathrooms in hospitals. The company no longer exists today, but probably five rooms in the Children’s Health Center that it built – they are still there. The traces of architects are even more lasting. It’s worse when someone has a theory and only talks about it, without real action. You must always be there where something is currently happening. For example, at the final of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, there is room for teaching people how to create space well. It is worth designing an interesting tent, encouraging people to come and see that you can think about architecture differently and better. It creates a sense of togetherness, united in action. Education through books is not effective. Today we talked about Warsaw – probably many people will say that Five Corners Square is as ugly as night. So let’s talk about what to do to make it different. Cheers to the architects – I think they are doing a good and necessary job. In my opinion, as a country, we are moving in the right direction architecturally. This is clearly visible in Warsaw – greener and cleaner than ever.