Art complements architecture

30 of June '22

QUADRANTOW1Y HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

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Promoting artistic creativity has always been an important part of building PULVA's brand identity. But there are not enough people and institutions with this approach in our country. We live in a world deprived of sensitivity and openness to art, to its real, non-material value," says interior designer Adam Pulwicki, owner and chief designer of the well-known Poznan studio and a multifaceted man: a passionate alpine climber, yogi, music lover, violinist. Studious and authentic at the same time. Consistent and coherent in his ascetic aesthetics.

Adam Pulwicki

Interviewed by Arletta Liro / OKK! PR

PULVA studio received in 2020 the European Property Awards in the Interior Design Private Residence category for the interior design of the already legendary - in the world of contemporary architecture - Quadrant House by your studio and KWK Promes and Robert Konieczny. A year later, the same interiors brought the PULVA studio the Golden Leonardo statuette in the private homes and apartments category during the 3rd edition of the Art in Architecture festival. What does this award mean to you?

Adam Pulwicki: Every award makes me happy, and this one in particular, because it concerns a very important aspect of life for me, which is contact with art. Through it, we come into contact with both the artist's emotions, which he included in the work, and the emotions it arouses in us. Art introduces an energy that complements the space, and also affects the residents who live with it every day.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

The Art in Architecture award is all the more valuable to me because it draws attention to the importance of painting, sculpture or photography as no less important an element of private and public spaces than architecture. Since the beginning of my activity in the profession of interior designer, I have remained faithful to the assumption of conscious construction of spatial context. When creating aesthetic needs, I try to take full advantage of the possibilities of defining sensitivity through beauty.

What role do you think the Art in Architecture competition plays?

A.P: First of all, educational. Promoting artistic creativity has always been an important element in building the identity of the PULVA brand. But there are not enough people and institutions with this approach in our country.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

We live in a world devoid of sensitivity and openness to art, to its real, non-material value. That's why the activities of the Art in Architecture festival, which provides inspiration for architecture and interior designers and investors, are so important. It provides an incentive for users of space to open up to beauty as the essence of art in their daily contact with it. It points out opportunities and supports those for whom art is fundamental to life, namely the artists themselves.

The Quadrant House - with its white, minimalist exterior and gigantic glazing and almost monochromatic, ascetic interiors associated with contemporary gallery space - is home to large-format paintings by Poznan artist Katarzyna Zygadlewicz andsculptures, led by a dynamic composition in the living area, by Warsaw-based artist Tomasz Górnicki. How did such an unprecedented synergy of the art of architecture with the art of interior design and sculpture and painting come about here?

One day the phone rang - We bought a plot of land and are building a house! - announced a familiar investor for whom I had previously created the interiors of two apartments. We concluded our first meeting by determining the outlines of the functional program, after which our studio prepared a preliminary design of the interior layout. However, we needed an architect. At that time there was already a buzz about Robert Konieczny.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

I mentioned to the investors that he was doing great things, while pointing out that these were very bold projects. The investor, when I showed him Konieczny's realizations, fell in awe, and the architect agreed to cooperate. During the design process, Robert and I exchanged information on the functional layout, then construction began, which took a long time. The result, however, was a unique house that arouses emotions, often extreme ones. However, no one can deny it, firstly, its character, and secondly, the fact that it was realized exactly according to the design, which is not the rule.

At what point did you incorporate art into the design process?

The level of consciousness represented by the investors is obviously related to the need to have art objects in the surroundings. Already in the heat of the first discussions on functional issues, we agreed that there would be no TV in the living room, in its seating area with a large sofa. So naturally, the wall opposite the sofa was defined as intended for large-format painting.

QUADRANT HOME, photo by Joel Hauck

But the element most important in this space is the sculpture. When I started working on this project, I knew there was someone like Tomek Górnicki, but I was not intimately familiar with both the artist and his works. Then, by chance, I bumped into him, and immediately the term "sculpture" came up in the context of the designed interiors. The owners, at about the same time, were at a fashion show where Tomek's performance was taking place, starring a large skull, which made a big impression on them. So they gladly agreed to work with the artist. Nomen omen, the owner some two years after moving in bought the work back from the artist - the sculptural skull now stands in front of the house. When the finishing work was nearing completion I tipped off that I had seen some new paintings in the studio of the painter, Kasia Zygadlewicz.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

The motif of her painting in these interiors is so interesting, even phenomenal, that six paintings came to Warsaw from Poznan at the time, on a "fitting" basis. Four of Kasia's paintings, which are still there today, were selected practically at once, during that first presentation! This kind of "synchronicity" in relations with artists such as Katarzyna Zygadlewicz, Tomasz Górnicki, Maciej Mańkowski, Szymon Brodziak or Kaja Wielowiejska, whom I recently discovered, or Michal Wróbel, with whom I am starting to work, happens to me very often. It's as if there is some extra energy behind us, binding us together (laughs). Of course, I very much appreciate and enjoy reaching out to the classics, such as Roman Opałka or Stanisław Fijałkowski.

For the artists who work with you, it's a dream circumstance, while PULVA's clients invest capital profitably thanks to you!

In my conversations with investors, I don't use this type of argument. From my perspective, the non-material values that art brings are crucial. On the other hand, situations of spontaneous matching of works to the context of the interior, which happen frequently and beyond any calculation, give clients a sense of fairness.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

I never suggest one or another art object solely as an investment, although all the artists I mentioned are well established in the art market. I myself derive total pleasure from it, so I treat this activity as a bonus that the work of a designer offers. By introducing art into the interiors created by the PULVA studio, I also bring joy to myself, although mostly to my clients, and it pleases me greatly when I see it on their faces.

Do the artists you are friends with create "to order", for a specific project, so to speak?

I have such a unique relationship with them, as I mentioned, that already when a new theme is born I put consciously specified works in the visualization. The client is informed that in the interior, in addition to responding to their functional needs, there is a specific color scheme, or graphic qualities, or a specific energy. We are currently trying on another project, in which I have incorporated photography - the works of Kacper Kowalski, whom I adore, who specializes in photos taken from the bird's eye view. He creates magical, abstract images - simply beautiful! When we put artworks in visualization, we do it responsibly. It is the most natural process for us. I'll sum up this thread by recalling a situation with clients for whom I recently designed an apartment in Poznan.

QUADRANT HOUSE, photo by Joel Hauck

Dear all, I suggested, when the finishing work was well under way, if you'll allow me, I'll take a look at a painter friend's studio and see what she's created recently - maybe you'd like to see some paintings? I went and said: take two, I'm 99 percent sure you'll like them. And what happens? I enter the apartment with the paintings under my arm, I put one of them on the wall and... it turns out, which I hadn't noticed before, that there is a birch grove outside the window - it's early spring, so the dominant colors are white, black, intense yellow and soft green, and exactly the same colors are in the painting! This has not been arranged. The investors, of course, bought both canvases.

The realizations of the PULVA studio give the impression of being "forged" from the proverbial single block - all your work, as well as the image, is characterized by unheard-of consistency. Also, the characteristic harmony of art and architecture leaves no one indifferent....

For me, the presence of art complements the work of architecture related primarily to areas of pure functionality, that is, the energy of our basic needs. We want to have a nice bathroom, but it serves primarily to take care of hygiene. I see a paradox in this: we often can't decide whether we're going to commit ourselves wholeheartedly and "write a PhD" on the subject of a toilet bowl, or whether we'll simply decide that we need it to live and quickly choose the best quality and style among those available. Although we could continue "researching" for another two months - there are so many solutions available on the market today. Art, on the other hand, remains something that most feel is an unnecessary addition to existence. We live without it and function most normally....

QUADRANT HOME, photo by Joel Hauck

Theoretically...Although, indeed, we do not need art at all for biological functioning.

Well, exactly. But when we invite it home, we find that we get a dose of incredible energy. It builds sensitivity, it stimulates us or calms us, it carries on a dialogue with us. This is priceless. In my opinion, more important than a rain shower designed by a world-famous designer and equipped with ultra-modern technology. It may turn out in the end that it is the painting that does a better job, holistically speaking, than the latest, incredibly expensive hot tub.

I have long had a thought about the number of things we accumulate and which of them are actually necessary to meet the basic needs of physically functioning in the world. A beautiful thought was expressed by my friend Maja Ankiersztajn, an architect and lecturer at the Poznan University of Technology, "A couch or chair will probably be thrown away by future generations or will simply wear out. Art, on the other hand, has the property that it lasts over time and gains value with the passage of time." Maja, owns many paintings, but the most beloved ones she inherited from her grandparents. She can't imagine home without them. There is something magical about them.