Its owners wanted to live in a house that would loosely refer to the architecture of the Świdermajer region. The Świdermajer inspiration can be seen in the details decorating the building. The 77 Studio of Architecture took care of the dream form of the house. This is how a single-family house in Falenica with the contemporary name “Świdernojer” was created. It does not directly replicate the aforementioned style, but recreates the atmosphere of traditional buildings on the Otwock line.
The house belongs to a couple with family roots in Zakopane. After moving to Warsaw, the young couple were looking for a quiet place to live near the capital – their own enclave to live away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The choice fell on Falenica, a former holiday resort located in the buffer zone of the Mazowiecki Landscape Park, now a villa estate in the Wawer district.
They were captivated by the history of this multicultural town (before World War II inhabited mostly by Jews) and the identity of the place, whose hallmarks were the Świdermajers built here at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This atmosphere reminded them of their native Podhale, where tradition is similarly important.
The plot they chose was densely overgrown with trees. The investors were keen to save as many birch and pine trees as possible. They did not want a manicured garden with trimmed grass. The space around the house had to be natural. This required a skilful integration of the building into the existing ecosystem of the plot, with its existing trees.
This is a unique area, defined by the Otwock Line. It is one of the few places in Poland with such a clear local architectural identity.However, the entry and entrance to the plot we found and its small width made it impossible to create a functional building in a form similar to the classic Świdermajer,” says the author of the project, arch. Paweł Naduk, owner of 77 Studio of Architecture.
This prompted the studio to look for other ways of referring to the local historical architecture.
We proposed our own contemporary interpretation of this style.Our idea was to recreate not so much the form of the Świdermajer, but the climate and spatial characteristics of traditional buildings with contemporary means of expression – without duplication or imitation,” adds the architect.
At the same time, it was important to fit the house into the layout of the plot and to compose the building with the newly built houses in the neighbourhood. This is how the idea of the ‘Świdernojer’ was born, a completely new, original project, which at the same time is a counterpoint to the neo-Widermaier houses, which are being built more and more frequently in the area.
The result is a two-storey building with a ground plan in the shape of two interlocking rectangles. Light, decorative loggias, wooden structures creating a chiaroscuro, different directions of planking on the façade and other distinctive Świdermajer details were incorporated into the designed building in a new form.
To avoid over-decoration, we decided to keep the design to a minimum. Hence the finishes in the form of simple bracing, trusses or perforations in the shape of small squares,” adds Paweł Naduk.
The building, in its as spare detail and atmosphere as possible, is intended to refer not only to Świdermajer, but also to draw directly on the inspirations of its creator, Michał Elwira Andriolli, i.e. elements with roots in the folk, wooden architecture of the regions of the Russian partition.
Hence, not only the spruce facades, but also the characteristic perforations, garden furniture and appropriate plants around the house. The whole is intended to create a friendly space in a contemporary, rustic ‘slow’ atmosphere,” says the architect.
In contrast, the lack of a roof finial, characteristic of Swiss architecture, is an attempt to explore the boundaries between borrowed and free references. The strict, orderly structure of the cubes of which the building is composed contrasts with the soft lines of the surrounding trees, symbolically differentiating man’s interference with nature. Openwork structures have been introduced to add lightness and spaciousness to the masses, including on the main terrace, in analogy to the openwork porches of a century ago.
This has increased the interface between the house and its surroundings and created additional outdoor spaces. On warm days, these become a natural extension of the living area. The benches, seats, tables and flowers in pots placed in these areas create an idyllic atmosphere in front of the house.
This impression is enhanced by the fragrant spruce wood elements of the house. The pleasant smell of a coniferous forest, emitted by the spruce resin, is particularly noticeable in summer, ” says Daniel, the owner of the house. – And since the wood for the construction of the house was specially imported from the Podhale region, we feel that part of it is now with us.
The villa is surrounded by greenery on all sides, with tall trees almost touching the walls of the building. Due to the strong tree canopy, the architect designed large glazings that fully illuminate the rooms with natural light and make the boundary between inside and outside blur. The naturally patinated wood on the house façade and fence make the building mass disappear among the trees, blending into the nature of the nearby landscape park.
Świdermajers. Where does their name come from?
The style owes its name “Świdermajer” to the poet Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, who combined the well-known Biedermeier style with the name of the Świder river in his poem “A Trip to the Świder”.
“There’s a villa town,
it’s called Świder menacingly,
the river of the same name
shinesbehind the villas in the back (…)
(…) These villas, according to the mayor,
are in the ‘Świdermajer’ style.
Neo-Swidermajer
A contemporary, free styling of the new buildings in the Świdermajer style. Neo-Swidermajers differ from their predecessors in their use of modern building materials, so they can serve its inhabitants all year round. What they have in common is their genius loci. References to Świdermajer architecture in the new buildings appear through the use of wood, openwork details, the presence of verandas, giving the buildings proportions and masses similar to the Świdermajer style.
design: Paweł Naduk 77 Studio architektury
photography: Piotr Krajewski
see also: Single-family house | Elevation | Wood | Minimalism | Featured | whiteMAD on Instagram
