Catherine: Have you always treated these studios as a stop on the way to your own? Didn't the thinking come up at some point: But it's cool here, we're staying?
Karolina: Of course.
Paul: Karolina quickly became a partner in the firm. I was an associate, we did very interesting projects in two excellent offices.
Karolina: Accepting these positions also showed that we wanted to continue working with them. These were ambivalent feelings. On the one hand, we really liked what we were doing. We had very good positions, good relationships....
Paul: It was difficult, because the beauty of the architecture they create is very appealing. But we always wanted to create our own.
Karolina: That was stronger.
Paul: It's a unique experience to work for them, but I felt like I was driving a car and someone was helping me hold the wheel. And now the steering wheel is in our hands. It is many times more difficult, but it is the fun we dreamed of.
Karolina: While we hesitated for a very long time about leaving, we never regretted it afterwards. Although we are now doing smaller projects, not on such a scale, the satisfaction is incomparably greater.
Paul: We will be doing larger projects soon. We want to grow the company gradually, from small projects, where we keep an eye on every detail, to XXL scale.
Monica Sosnowska's atelier, a six-meter box made of solid oak houses a toilet, kitchen, shelves for materials and storage
Photo: © Hélène Binet
Catherine: To what extent is working in such a studio simply following orders, and to what extent can you realize your ideas?
Paul: These are author's studios, signed with the names of the creators. Everyone who works for them helps realize their vision. There is a hierarchy, but there is also room to be creative. We have always tried to give as much from ourselves as possible. At one point, Jacques and Pierre, in search of fresh ideas, entrusted us with the task of inventing public spaces in the Tate Modern extension. They planted us in another building, away from the team officially working on the project, and gave us a lot of freedom. The experiment worked, we joined the Tate team for two years, and the realized "voids" and assorted staircases look exactly like the ones on our models. On smaller projects, I loved to race with Jacques and Pierre as to who would come up with concepts first. It was often the fruit of a dynamic dialogue.
Karolina: We always had the ambition to come up with something that would surprise them. There are thirty people in Zumthor's studio. Peter is present at every stage. I was aware that a lot of the things I come up with, they like and move on. But it was clear to me that this is his architecture. Maybe ultimately that's why, if you want to decide about certain things yourself, you have to leave at some point. One wants to be an author.
Paul: Coming up with concepts is exciting. At Architecture Club, in parallel with projects, we conduct various studies, come up with typologies, test them on models. Sometimes they evolve into a project for a specific client, sometimes they remain in the study phase, waiting for their time.
Monika Sosnowska's atelier - morning light on the north façade, concrete walls of the atelier equipped with a system of threads allowing the artist to work on large models and display her works - the glass of the north façade reflects the garden and a fragment of the neighbor's demolition brick wall
photo: © Hélène Binet
Catherine: Do many people treat a stay at an established studio as a learning stage and a stop on the way to setting up their own office?
Karolina: This is natural. Most people work for someone after college, and then there is a moment when you have to choose: either a person wants to devote himself to working for someone, or start something of his own.
Katarzyna: The studio was established in Switzerland, not in Poland. Weren't you tempted to return to your country? Your portfolio is impressive, there would certainly be no shortage of clients.
Karolina: We have been here eleven years, we have friends here, Basel is already our home.
Paul: But we also don't think about the world from the perspective of divisions and belonging to something. We know this city, we are comfortable working on Swiss projects, and there is a high quality of construction workmanship here.
Karolina: The bureaucracy is easier here, but it's also more difficult for us because, after all, we're not from here, there's a language barrier. It's a challenge for us, and we want to prove that we can do it too.
Paul: We want to build, it doesn't matter where.
Monika Sosnowska's atelier, projection of studio and outbuilding
pic: Architecture Club
Katarzyna: A Polish woman came for the first project.
Karolina: Akurat yes. We are happy that we could do this first project in Warsaw. Of course, we want to do more of them.
Pawel: Our next projects - the second and third - are also in Poland. A house with five gardens in the Vistula River prairie is under construction. We also did a renovation of a 1930s apartment in Warsaw.
Katarzyna: What did this change look like from the practical side - giving notice and then simply registering your own company?
Paul: The hardest thing is to make a decision. The formalities are simple.
Catherine: The studio has been in operation for less than three years.
Pawel: We had a slow start-up. Karolina was still working at the University of Lausanne at the time. Working on the atelier was a long design process. When one party wasn't sure about something, we always had meetings, lasting until we found the perfect solution. No one wanted to compromise. We wanted to be in control of every detail. And it worked out.
Monika Sosnowska's atelier: "Along the way we had ideas for a mezzanine, moving elements, but in the end we settled on simplicity. [...] Because, after all, the most important things in an artist's atelier are her works and herself." Karolina Slawecka
Photo: © Hélène Binet
Katarzyna: Tell us more about the differences between practicing architecture in Switzerland and Poland?
Karolina: The biggest differences are procedural. The offices here are very efficient and helpful. Although the Swiss are overly meticulous and many times we had to correct drawings. There is also the issue of direct democracy. Here, any neighbor can raise an objection, which has to be addressed, otherwise it can halt the project. Every building permit has to be published, poles have to be set up on the plot branding the new volume, and we have to wait for reactions....
Paul: Now we are working on a project in the historic part of Basel, which is under the protection of the conservation officer. After we present the project to the preservationist, we meet with all the neighbors to inform them about what the developer is planning and how it affects their plots.
Karolina: It seems that the right of every citizen to have a say is good for the public, although many public projects have been stopped in this way. This happened recently with the Basel oceanarium, for example.
Paul: With public projects there is a vote, so not only architects, but also all citizens have their say. I just hope that another competition for an oceanarium will be announced and that we can enter it.
Karolina: I am invariably delighted that architecture is discussed here on a daily basis. I'm glad that in Poland, too, there is more and more talk about building culture. When it comes to legal or construction issues, we don't see significant differences.
Monika Sosnowska's atelier, interior of the studio overlooking the 3×3 m entrance gates
Photo: © Hélène Binet
Catherine: What is the status of an architect in Switzerland?
Karolina: I think it's a valued profession. People are interested in architecture, they know the buildings, the architects.
Catherine: You mentioned that there is a lot of competition in Switzerland when it comes to architectural studios. Have many of them been founded by foreigners?
Karolina: The competition is huge. There are several studios whose founders are not Swiss, but they often have local partners. When you have your own office, language is also important. You not only have to speak German, but also understand their dialect, which is not easy.
Paul: But our main language is drawing!
Karolina: That's true. Tak myślę teraz, że jeśli rzeczywiście, jak mówiłeś na początku, klient i architekt nawiązują pewien romans, to na pewno architekci, którzy zakładają pracownię, muszą być jak rodzina.
Paul: It must be boundless trust, because there are easier and more difficult moments, greater and lesser pressures. We have such trust in ourselves.
Karolina: It also has to be the ability to work together.
Paul: Do you think we know how to work together?
Karolina: We often argue, discuss until one convinces the other. The idea must be one - it can't be a compromise. It doesn't happen so often that you have such a bond and ease of working with someone. We value that. We don't know anyone here with whom we have such a flow.
Paul: We work a lot on emotions. When we feel something is wrong, that's when we don't do it. But we also try to be pragmatic. For larger themes or less creative parts of the process, we work with local companies that oversee the execution process.
Monica Sosnowska's atelier, longitudinal section
pic: Architecture Club
