MaÅgosia Tomczak - redaktorka naczelna A&B

Malgorzata TOMCZAK

HOUSES: investor + architect

It's hard to talk about a single-family home today without feeling anxious and torn. The dream of having one's own home collides with a growing awareness of the climate, urban and social crisis. We are increasingly asking ourselves whether building a house in the city is still a right or already a privilege beyond our reach.

In some cities - those thinking about sustainable urbanism - building single-family homes is simply banned. They are not being built in the centers, their growth is restricted in local plans, and the slogans urban sprawl, carnage, atomization are increasingly appearing in the public debate alongside. Magdalena Milert (@pieing) writes about this for us.

Yet single-family homes are still being built. Often different than they used to be - more modest, more conscious, more environmentally friendly. Built with more thought, not as architectural manifestos, but as an attempt to reconcile the dream with reality. These are houses that don't want to dominate, rather they try to coexist, to fit in.

We are interested in something else in this issue: the relationship between architect and builder. We recall high-profile houses from a few years ago and talk about them with investors. About the soul of the house, friendship and life in these houses. These are the projects of Piotr Brzoza, Ultra Architects, jojko+nawrocki. Because a house is not just a design, drawings and a lump. It is months of conversations, trials, doubts, joint decisions. This is where everything becomes personal. Moving a wall, choosing a material, giving up a particular design element - each time it's a compromise between dream and reality; each decision - a piece of shared responsibility. It doesn't always work out. But when it succeeds, it shows in the walls and the cohesion of the space.

They - quiet, restrained, unobvious - are the protagonists of this issue. Houses that fit into the context and seek agreement with their surroundings.