The architects wanted to restore the apartment in the tenement to its former glory. To do this, they not only had to come up with an appropriate color palette for it, but actually built it from scratch. Apartments in old buildings tempt with their former beauty, but at the same time they hide many surprises - not necessarily good ones.
Diana Żurek and Gutek Girek of the IN studio created an open interior, in which they separated several zones. The individual rooms intermingle, creating a cohesive whole. The apartment shows clear influences of retro style, which harmonizes with the existing architecture of the apartment in a tenement house.
Basia Hyjek: What was the main inspiration for this project?
Diana Zurek: We were inspired primarily by modernist, simple language in a strongly modern and boldly colored form. We wanted to reflect the atmosphere of a pre-war tenement as much as possible, but without resorting to direct borrowing, imitation. The idea was rather to make references, sometimes very non-literal, but adapted to the high ceilings and old windows.
In a way, her dream was to recreate the atmosphere of the old tenement, which we worked out together, adding a lot of modern touches, iconic furniture and references, which created a more contemporary, yet timeless interior
© IN
Basia: What were the investor's expectations and needs?
Diana: The investor wanted to create an interior that was more functional than the original layout we found. This required us to rearrange the space by demolishing and erecting new partition walls, often incomplete, to make the interior fluid and open. In a way, her dream was to recreate the atmosphere of the old tenement, which we worked out together, adding many modern touches, iconic furniture and references, which created a more contemporary, yet timeless interior.
Basia: Where did you get the idea for such a combination of colors, patterns and materials?
Diana: We owe a lot to the openness of the owner, who gave us a lot of trust, so we were able to introduce a modernist, intense color scheme to the interior, which climbs geometrically on the walls. We wanted the interior to be warm, but have raw elements, hence the large amount of wooden surfaces and stone details in sunny tones. We also used a variety of patterns, tectonics appearing on wood or tiles, and all connected by weaves of Viennese braid and linen textiles.
We also used a variety of patterns, tectonics appearing on wood or tiles
© IN
Basia: What gave you the most satisfaction in creating this project, and what was the biggest challenge?
Diana: The challenge was the fact that the townhouse needed a major renovation, new installations, but above all a new clever functional layout. One that would create zones in the interior, but not divide the space, make the whole thing an open space with separate private zons.
