The statistics are inexorable - for years there has been talk of a decline in reading. At the same time, an important part of the modern lifestyle is communication, mobility, moving from place to place. The Targówek Public Library in Warsaw connected the dots and came up with the idea of creating a space where you can stock up on new titles between transfers. The setting for Metroteka was prepared by Grzegorz Kłoda of the GK-Atelier studio, who has been designing libraries for more than a dozen years. Will the new formula bring the paper medium back into favor?
The idea for Metroteka could be heard about in the early months of 2024. The plan was to create a library point at the Kondratowicza subway station in Warsaw's Bródno district. Two underground premises were adapted for this purpose, to be furnished by Grzegorz Kloda, founder of the GK-Atelier studio, which specializes in designing library interiors. Tomorrow, on September 4, 2025, not without a slip, every person changing trains at the Targówek station will be able to grab a new read on the way. What kind of interior will he find himself welcoming to the metroteka?
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of the City of Warsaw
white on black
The walls of the Metroteka have been painted black. This does not mean that the interior is dark, because it is definitely dominated by white, with green just behind it in the stakes. White here is mainly furniture, which tightly fills every free space. They appear primarily in the form of bookshelves, closely clinging to the walls, climbing from the floors to the ceiling. Their organic shapes swirl and undulate in both library rooms, spans of shelves, passageways, pillars and corner fragments lean towards the center of the room, as if trying to hide at all costs that its geometry belongs to a rectilinear order.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
The furnishings - poufs, sofas, desks and armchairs- are shaped in a similar way. This unusual effect was achieved thanks to an unusual technique used by the architect.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
a digital formula for good architecture
Grzegorz Kłoda is an expert on library interiors. In the Library on the Level you can stroll through the bookcases, the Bioteka in Lublin has set trends in environmental education, and the Library in Kraśnik has been nominated for the SARP 2024 Year Award. Recently in his projects the architect uses parametric technologies, which allow him to create realizations even further from the stereotypes about libraries. What is parametric architecture?
The parametricism we're talking about refers more to the impact of digital tools on how we think, and therefore how we design, rather than what style. A design that is far parametric can be at once like a Zaha Hadid masterpiece and a Palladian villa. Parametric design in this way, as opposed to the standard use of the computer as an advanced drafting tool, uses digital tools to create processes, algorithms that lead us to design solutions.
- said Marcin Strzała, Lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology.
Metrotechnology in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
building in the shapes of nature
What does it look like in practice? To realize what possibilities parametric architecture offers, it is worth returning to the memory of such iconic projects as the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry in Bilbao, the headquarters of the BEEAH Group, built in the United Arab Emirates according to the concept of Zaha Hadid Architects, or the National Museum of Qatar in Doha, designed by Jean Nouvel. However, as Polish realizations show, parametrism is also applicable to projects of much smaller scale. In an interview with AiB, Grzegorz Kloda explained the possibilities offered by parametric design as follows:
Parametricism is distinguished from the traditional approach in design primarily by its unlimited possibilities in terms of form and shape. When we look at the architecture around us, both ancient and modern, we see that it is built mostly by flat surfaces, right angles and perfectly horizontal and vertical lines. These are shapes that are generally not found in nature. The forms we can design with parametric technology are more organic, closer to those that nature itself could create
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of the City of Warsaw
library in slices
In the case of Grzegorz Kloda's latest concepts, one can probably already speak of a distinctive style, probably a consequence of the use of parametric technology. In his recent projects and realizations, parametric "slices" appeared both in white, as exemplified by the facade and small architecture in the design of the Library in Belzec, andin a more natural edition, as seen in the interiors of the Lower Silesian Public Library in the Tenement House Under the Golden Palm at Wrocław's Market Square, which gained parametric furniture made of wood, adapted to the historic character of the interior.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
hydroponics for the reader
The futuristic concept of a library accessible during a subway ride explains the decision of Grzegorz Kloda, who just used elements in white to furnish Metroteka. Visions of the future also not infrequently assume the coexistence of technology and nature. The latter appears in Metroteka in several places. Readers and readers will find greenery in pots arranged on parametric shelves, climbing on pillars, and, above all, growing on puzzling consoles by one of the library walls.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
It's a hydroponic cultivation, that is, one in which plants derive nutrients not from the soil, but from nutrient-enriched water. There are four hydroponic shelves in Metroteka, operating with technology from Polish start-up Luna Scientific. Herbs grow in them, which not only visually enliven this futuristic interior, but also stimulate the sense of smell.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
Metroteka in Bródno
Although there's talk of futuristic design and cutting-edge technology, Metroteka is first and foremost, whose job is to make traditional books accessible. Those on its waving shelves will be about 16,000, gathered in two book collections - for the elderly and the younger. The latter will also have a separate space dedicated to them, where a family of plush Pandas will accompany them while they read (the black-and-white coloring of these animals may not be coincidental). Visitors can also enjoy coffee or chocolate at Metroteka, or rent a board game. As in the case of books, loans and returns will be possible both in the "traditional" way and using the self-check method. In practice, this means scanning the RFID codes implemented in the books using a special station, and returning them to the book machine located above the Kondratowicza subway station.
Metroteka in Warsaw
© Public Library in the Targówek District of Warsaw.
The first male and female readers will be welcomed by Metroteka on Thursday, September 4, 2025 at 10 a.m. Every weekday it will be open between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., providing access to the collection in a convenient and modern way. Will you take advantage?
