Published by Wysoki Zamek in 2023, the investigative journalism book *Konieczny. Na styk* by Piotr Kozanecki and Bartosz Paturej is available as an audiobook—why is it worth checking out?
The book “Konieczny. Na styk” is available as an audiobook
© KWK Promes
The authors are outsiders to the architectural bubble—they chose to tell the architect’s story primarily through his buildings (though there’s no shortage of biographical details!), without forgetting the perspective of his clients—the people who live and work every day in the buildings designed by Konieczny. It is, therefore, a story about a man, the process of creating architecture, and the experience of it. A story about people, written in a very “human” way.
Dom Bezpieczny
© Robert Konieczny’s private archive
Thus, as we learn about the history of Szczecin’s Center for Dialogue: Turning Points or the award-winning Atrial House, we also discover the man behind them. At the same time, the authors did not limit themselves to a one-dimensional portrait drawn from the architect’s perspective, his assumptions, and his opinions about his own works. On the contrary, they did a tremendous job interviewing clients of KWK Promes, people who live in buildings designed by Konieczny, his employees, and government officials. It’s worth noting that their opinions aren’t always positive (though positive ones do prevail), which is a huge strength of the book
— wrote Błażej Ciarkowski in A&B 1/2024.
The “Przełomy” Dialogue Center in Szczecin
© Robert Konieczny’s private archive | photo: Juliusz Sokołowski
Although the book is read by Piotr Kozanecki, one of its authors, the audio version includes additional material—in the final chapter, Robert Konieczny himself discusses the behind-the-scenes story of the Mies van der Rohe Award finals, in which the Plato Gallery in Ostrava was among the five finalists.
Construction of the PLATO Contemporary Art Gallery
© KWK Promes archives | photo: Juliusz Sokołowski
The audiobook is available on Audioteka, Empik, Storytel, Virtualo, and BookBeat.
