zmianatematu in Łódź, Poland by xm3

Article source: xm3

Restaurant: „zmianatematu.”, Piotrkowska 144, Łódź

Idea:
The city of Łódź located in the centre of Poland is one of three biggest cities in the country. Before the II World War a highly prospering city with lots of industries, now is troubled with poverty and social problems. Although it has high aspirations to be a cultural oriented city of artist and students. Aiming to be a design, fashion and film capital of the country, it acquires the concern from many great architects and artists who are willing to create concept designs for a delayed rebirth of the city i.e.: Daniel Libeskind, Frank Ghery, David Lynch to name a few.

• Architect: xm3
• Name of Project: zmianatematu
• Location: Łódź, Poland
• Project team: Maciej Kurkowski, Julian Nieciecki, Mateusz Wójcicki
• Client: Eudezet S.C.
• Photographs: Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Night View (Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki)

• Total Area: 104 m2
• Usable Area: 62 m2
• Volume:369 m3
• Design: 2010
• Construction: 2011
• Visualizations: xm3

Render (Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki)

The restaurant is located in the very centre of Łódź – on the most important street in the city – Piotrkowska. The street – once a symbol of wealth of the one of the richest cities in this region of Europe is now an axis of mostly poor and degenerated district with monumental architecture from before the II World War.

Render (Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki)

With a very small budget we created an outstanding space to host the artistic and culture parties for the creative youth of the city. The owners of the restaurant want to propose a space for happenings, art-exhibitions, and various art-oriented venues.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

As young architects from the Capital City Warsaw with the local Łódź art-oriented youth investors we tried to aim at city’s condition and aspirations and create a reminiscent of the cutting-edge environment which has a connection with the city identity. The city’s name translates literally as “a Boat”. Inspired by a Boston BanQ restaurant we tried to create a blobish form similar to the boat roof form which eats in the old monument-building’s space.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

The building itself dates to the end of XIX century. The elevation is a typical Neo-classical style. During the years the ground floor has changed function several times. Now being empty and unfinished the inside offered us the space to take and adjust. We decided to leave it as raw as it was possible. The proposal was to make the floor from the epoxy mass, leave the walls in raw roughcast and take the electrical installation out and leave it on the walls covered in steel, black tubes.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

The only element added is this alien form, a “hub” that creeps to the volume from the inside of the building, which then creates the bar and divides the space in to several functional areas.

We can also see another division. This what is new and touches with the recently renovated external elevation of the building (the outside classical world) is new and white. The internal: dividing and construction walls as well as ceiling are in raw roughcast.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

The “hub” itself is cnc cut plywood. It is designed by sectioning the form, generated by adjusting to the space and to all installations hidden by it. The sectioning and preparing for fabrication was done in Rhino/Grasshopper software.  During the prototyping phase we decided to do some additional furniture for the restaurant  as the mock-up for the real structure.

The furniture designed for the interior are the coffee tables, made of sectioned grid plywood and the bench which morphs from the bar counter.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Grupa xm³
xm³ group – (pronounced: „x cubic metres”) is a group of various young collaborating designers, between years 2010 and 2011. The idea of xm³ was to create a co-working group of creatives, active on fields of: Architecture, Interior Design, Industrial Design, Graphics and Visualization. The form of the collective is open and aims for collaboration with everyone, who is keen to use its experience and bring in it his potential, which is a part of their individuality.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Beginnings of the Group are the talks and actions between two architecture students: Michał Olszewski and Mateusz Wójcicki. During its activity Grupa xm³ was the field of collaboration between: Ania Dobek, Marcin Brzeski, Maciej Kurkowski, Julian Nieciecki, Maciej Olczak, Michał Olszewski oraz Mateusz Wójcicki. At the start, with a name „x/y m³”, the Group collaborated with Marek Rytych Architecture Office, during competitions such as: “Plac Trzech Krzyży” in Warsaw and “Sinfonia Varsovia” in Warsaw. During these projects the main core of the team emerged. It consisted of: Maciej Kurkowski, Julian Nieciecki, Maciej Olczak and Mateusz Wójcicki.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

The most important successes of the Group are: The Honourable Mention in the competition for “Plac Trzech Krzyży” in Warsaw (together with Marek Rytych Architecture Office), II-nd prize in the urban competition in Łódź: „Wielkomiejska Piotrkowska” and II-nd prize (no 1^st announced) for the renovation of the Piotrkowska St. In Łódź: „Piotrkowska Obiecana”.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Maciej Kurkowski (1986)
Right now during his engineering diploma on WAPW Warsaw.

From the first year of studies he gathered experience by working with many Warsaw-based architectural offices, doing concept and execution designs. This was before he co-operated with Grupa xm3 between 2010-2011. Now his designs are characterised by a strong context of the space and attention for detail. He’s main field is public space design.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Julian Nieciecki (1989)
He is a student of the engineer studies at the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology. Now in South Korea during a student exchange at Kyungpook National University in Daegu.

He collaborated with architectural offices in award winning competition as well as designed industrial forms that were put into the mass production. He co-operated with Grupa xm3 between 2010-2011.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Mateusz Wójcicki (1985)
He finished his engineering diploma at the Faculty of Architecture on Warsaw University of Technology in 2009. Right now he is preparing his master diploma on the same Faculty, with a speciality: “Architecture for Society of Knowledge”. In the past he studied also on the Faculty of Physics (Warsaw University) and on the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology (Warsaw University of Technology).

Render (Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki)

Since his first years of studies he collaborated with lots of architectural offices in award winning architectural competitions. He co-operated with Grupa xm3 between 2010-2011. After the closing of the Group he further explores the paths of computer generated forms, industrial design and public space design.

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Images Courtesy Paulina Sasinowska (smileUPyourself), Mateusz Wójcicki

Tags: Łódź, Poland

Category: Restaurant

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