South Poland's picturesque, green and mountainous landscape was a key inspiration for Katowice based architecture firm KWK Promes' latest residential offering, situated in the rolling hills of Brenna.
Upon closer inspection, it is not hard to imagine how the visually striking Konieczny's Ark got its name. Created for the firm's owner, Robert Konieczny, the home becomes vulnerable to landslides due to its slopeside location, which can be a frequent occurrence in this part of the Polish mountains. To safeguard the building, the architects created a design that 'floats' above ground, giving the Ark its abstract boat-like aesthetic, while allowing for water and mud to flow underneath freely, without damaging the property.
The same reason led the architects to decide that the best possible garden solution for this house would be not to have one, and let the existing fields become the Ark’s ample backyard instead.
Due to the plot’s location, remote and deep within natural wilderness, a concern for security was addressed by twisting the main volume, so that only one of the home’s corners in fact makes contact with the earth. This is also where the house's main entrance is situated – with the rest of the building being suspended in the air. This entrance is protected by a drawbridge.
Poured concrete, supplied by a local producer, is the main construction material of the house. The structure becomes stronger with the help of the external walls, which help manage the tensions created by the Ark's 'inverted-roof' shaped base.
Due to its hillside location, the home is vulnerable to landslides, which can be a frequent occurrence in the Polish mountains
In order to protect the house, the architects created a design that allows the Ark to ’float’ above water or mud. This move also gives the house its boat-like aesthetic
Security was another concern, since the house's location is pretty remote. This was addressed by allowing only one of the home’s corners to make contact with the ground
The home's minimalist interior features poured concrete, supplied from a local producer
Most of the building juts out over the hill, suspended in mid air. Its only entrance is protected by a ten metre sliding wall and a drawbridge
INFORMATION
For further information on Konieczny’s Ark, visit KWK Promes’ website
-
A celestial New York exhibition showcases Roman and Williams’ mastery of lightingLauded design studio Roman and Williams is exhibiting 100 variations of its lighting ‘family tree’ inside a historic Tribeca space
-
‘He immortalised the birth of the supermodel’: inside Dior’s career-spanning retrospective of photographer Peter LindberghOlivier Flaviano, curator and head of Paris’ La Galerie Dior, talks us through a new Peter Lindbergh retrospective, which celebrates the seminal German photographer’s longtime relationship with the French house
-
Take a bite: Laila Gohar and The Luxury Collection’s ‘Cakes & Candles’ are a sweet treat for the sensesLaila Gohar’s six cake-inspired candles draw on The Luxury Collection’s hotels around the world – where guests can enjoy matching edible confections
-
The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw reinterprets the ‘white box’ in PolandThe Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw opens its minimalist doors to a design by Thomas Phifer and Partners
-
Remembering Alexandros Tombazis (1939-2024), and the Metabolist architecture of this 1970s eco-pioneerBack in September 2010 (W*138), we explored the legacy and history of Greek architect Alexandros Tombazis, who this month celebrates his 80th birthday.
-
All hail the power of concrete architecture‘Concrete Architecture’ surveys more than a century’s worth of the world’s most influential buildings using the material, from brutalist memorials to sculptural apartment blocks
-
Three Object Apartment embraces raw concrete honesty in the heart of AthensThree Object Apartment by DeMachinas is a raw concrete home in Athens, which confidently celebrates its modernist bones
-
Gambit elevates the metal tube in this Polish HQ's 'surprising solution’A Katowice-based architecture studio creates Gambit, a whimsical head office for a Polish plastic piping distributor
-
Giovanni Michelucci’s dramatic concrete church in the Italian DolomitesGiovanni Michelucci’s concrete Church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the Italian Dolomites is a reverently uplifting memorial to the victims of a local disaster
-
The finest brutalist architecture in the worldFor some of the world's finest brutalist architecture in London and beyond, scroll below. Can’t get enough of brutalism? Neither can we.
-
The Wonder Cabinet fosters creativity in BethlehemThe Wonder Cabinet in Bethlehem, Palestine is a not-for-profit production and cultural hub for creativity in the region
