At the intersection of Inspektowa and Płyćwiańska streets in Warsaw's Mokotów district, surrounded by single-family houses from the 1960s, stood a new building designed by the 77STUDIO, inspired by the capital's modernist icons — Villa under Ski jumping hill.
The building is formed by three staggered floors
photo: Yassen Hristov
Let's start by breaking down the name itself — although this is an office building, which we'll say more about in a moment, the architects called it a villa, because, as they emphasize, the shape refers to the historic villa-like buildings in this part of the city. The second part of the name refers to the Skocznia (Ski jumping hill) Estate, located near the Warsaw escarpment, where a ski jumping hill operated since the late 1950s.
The idea behind the project was to create architecture that would enter into a dialogue with the neighborhood's surroundings and history, explains Paweł Naduk, owner of 77 STUDIO architektury. — We made an attempt to extend the building traditions characteristic of Mokotow, and in the estate itself to restore the spirit of villa architecture with features characteristic of this part of the city, the architect adds.
The rhythm of the building is determined by horizontal lines, both on a macro and micro scale — the building is formed by three floors shifted in relation to each other, the walls of which, depending on the function of the interiors, are fully glazed, completely closed or, according to the rhythm of narrow horizontal panels on the facade — hidden behind an openwork composition.
elements of the building are a contemporary quote from Romuald Gutt's own house
Photo: Yassen Hristov
The building's cascading form and gray cement brick on the facade are a contemporary quote from Romuald Gutt's own house, as he enriched the simple form with a facade created from alternating horizontal strips of gray bricks. This three-dimensional effect was achieved by the architects of 77STUDIO in a slightly different way — in selected parts of the facade they slightly protruded the bricks or pulled them out completely. This solution was inspired by the pre-war Warsaw Moskwa cinema designed by Kazimierz Marczewski and Stefan Putowski.
We "transplanted" from the modernist block of the Mokotow cinema, created in the brick facade, the characteristic perforations and structural brick details — says Paweł Naduk.
The walls, depending on the function of the interiors, are fully glazed, completely closed or hidden behind an openwork composition
Photo: Yassen Hristov
The villa, the designers explain, was adapted immediately after construction to house the OTO Film studio. The somewhat austere interior is kept in shades of gray occasionally interspersed with original accessories.
In times of unification and globalization often brutally affecting architecture as well, we believe that the attempt to refer to the identity of a place, the search for genius loci is a particularly important task for us — concludes the architect.
