Zuzanna Polak on interior design, intuition, travel and maturing into a profession

Ola Skorupa

27 of November '25

...

Zuzanna Polak -
podcast #31 of the series "Foundations"

The episode and the entire series are also available on Soundcloud and Spotify:

For many architecture students, the beginning of the road is childhood drawing, first sketches, art competitions. In the case of Zuzanna Polak - a student of interior design at Bialystok Technical University - this story looks similar, although her path was much less obvious. Despite her artistic predispositions, she was lost in high school in a flurry of obligations, extensions and the pressure of matriculation. It wasn't until she decided to go to the Polytechnic that she opened up a space where she could combine her sensibility with the technical side of design.

PB Faculty of Architecture

a path to college that was not obvious

Zuzanna comes from Mazury, a small town. In her environment, the natural direction of migration was rather north - Gdansk, Olsztyn. Bialystok did not seem a typical choice. Yet it was there that she found a direction that combines "artistic with technical," as she puts it. At the same time, she beat her thoughts for a long time: maybe graphic design? maybe ASP? maybe regular architecture? In the end she chose interior design - even though... she had a higher score on the entrance exam for graphic design. This moment was a breakthrough for her: for the first time she felt that decisions do not have to be made "according to what falls out," but according to intuition.

Recruitment for the direction includes a baccalaureate degree and an entrance drawing - two works on a large format, interpreted according to one's own idea. And although Susanna never took drawing courses, she passed brilliantly.

Skills can always be developed," she stresses. And she adds: this is not an exam where you have to be technically perfect. The most important thing is imagination and courage.

Norway - a sketch of a hut

studies that change the way you look at the world

The first year is traditional drawing, composition, color theory - intensive study of the basics. Only later come the programs: AutoCAD, Archicad, SketchUp, Photoshop.

College is not a school. Here no one will tell you: learn point by point. You decide how you develop," he says.

It was this responsibility for her own development that proved to be the biggest change for her. Over time, she began to notice things she hadn't seen before: proportions, rhythms, light. With each new job, she felt more that this was her place.

travel - the best teacher of design

The most remarkable part of her story is how strongly her travels shape the way she designs. Among other places, Susanna has been to Norway - in the far north, near Nordkapp - where she understood how powerfully climate and landscape influence architecture. She talks about fjords, sharp rocks, houses elevated on stilts above the rocky ground, peat roofs that blend buildings into the landscape and huge glazing facing the sea.

Light works differently there. And the buildings respond to it as if they were part of nature," he says.

Norway

Spain, on the other hand, showed her architecture in different colors, in a different rhythm, in a completely different socio-cultural context. It is these contrasts - Norway versus southern Europe, rock versus sand, horizontality versus verticality - that teach her the most.

For as she points out: Architecture always grows out of place. Without understanding the context, there is no good design.

Although her trips so far have not been programmatic, she is seriously considering Erasmus - especially internships. She sees it as an opportunity to experience architecture from the perspective of a student, not a tourist.
And that changes everything.

Norway

the most important thing? Giving yourself time

Zuzanna stresses that studying architecture is demanding - deadlines, nights without sleep, projects that evolve until the last minute. But at the same time they give great satisfaction.