© Juliusz Sokołowski

c.Juliusz Sokołowski

Text description provided by the architects. The building at Sprzeczna 4 street aspires to continue the restoration of the beautiful Praga district and to become a recognisable element not only in the immediate vicinity, but also on a larger scale. The building is supposed to be a starting point for the restoration of the whole urban block. And it can be claimed that the key to restore an urban block is the frontage.

© Juliusz Sokołowski

c.Juliusz Sokołowski

Sprzeczna 4 is a manifest of prefabrication. This prototypical, demonstration building ordered in our office was designed to disenchant prefabrication – a technology compromised in Poland in the communism era by the large-panel housing estates. The building was deliberately erected on a plot of land that apparently does not fit the stereotype of prefabrication: tiny, rambling and located in a compact 19th century frontage development.

Prefabrication Scheme

Consciously, at times unreasonably, all the available prefabrication technologies were applied: exposed coloured concrete, impression and reliefs, electrical installations integrated into the walls, heating ceilings and many more. The result is a building assembled from numerous large-size elements produced in a factory. The facility folded from large-size elements is not finished and it does not incorporate any accessories or decorations. It is a sincere story about what a building is, what it is made of and how it works.

© Juliusz Sokołowski

c.Juliusz Sokołowski