This is an alternative to a dorm room. The student flat is 20 sq m in size and fulfils all the functions one would expect from a space for the first years of adult life. Its interior was designed by Szymon Hanczar, Kinga Dżugan and Natalia Machoń of Hanczar Studio.
The small space required the architects to take a rational approach and make pragmatic choices. They designed a space that draws on Bauhaus motifs in its details.
The studio was created as a result of post-war accommodation densification. At the time, four flats were made from two on the first floor. The smallest of these was 20 square metres.
Although the building was constructed in the 1930s, there are hardly any traces of modernist ideas in it – the curved wall corners in the staircase, the balustrades with horizontal divisions. It certainly lost a lot of its original character during the subsequent post-war reconstructions and renovations. However, this was enough for us to pick up and carry on the modernist theme,” says Szymon Hanczar.
Fans of architecture will easily spot references to the Bauhaus, modernism and the designs of Le Corbusier. In the interior, there is a reference to terrazzo in the form of ceramic tiles with a characteristic pattern. This material can be seen on the floor in the kitchen, bathroom and entrance area. The small kitchenette and bathroom are illuminated by foxgloves. Solutions such as the curved edges, the elimination of superfluous walls, continuity and repetition of materials and colours are also Bauhaus. The third element is multifunctionality – the built-in wall, the extra chairs used as bedside tables, the kilim as decoration and wall covering.
The architects have consciously separated the kitchen from the main room. The elongated kitchen space is reminiscent of simple and practical Frankfurt kitchens. The fridge and washing machine are hidden in the cabinets here, the wooden plywood worktop flows seamlessly into the worktop wall, the fluorescent light under the upper cabinets illuminates the worktop. In contrast to the subdued, white-grey room, colour also appears in the kitchen. The intense red of the fronts of the lower cabinets sneaks through the door frame into the bathroom, where it covers the door and crawls onto the bar on which the shower curtain hangs.
The student flat has a small bathroom, which has been enlivened with strong colours.
Here, every centimetre of space counted. We looked for the smallest possible fittings and cut out anything that could be used, such as the recess above the washbasin, one side of which is occupied by a semi-circular mirror-fronted cabinet and the other can be used as an open shelf, for example for larger bottles of cosmetics. The experience from our previous micro-projects, such as the holiday flat in Sokołowsko, came in very useful here, ” emphasises Szymon Hanczar.
The largest piece of furniture in the interior is the bed. This is also a conscious choice by the architects, who analysed research carried out on a target group (20-25 years old) who were looking for their first rental flat. It turned out that a comfortable bed, rather than a sofa bed, was of great importance to them.
The wall above the bed is decorated with a hand-woven, colourful kilim.
We chose this particular kilim because its colours fit perfectly into the colour palette created by Le Corbusier. In the kitchen and bathroom, on the other hand, we have the primary colours that the Bauhaus designers were so fond of using. We wanted to go a step further and, following their example, use red, blue and yellow for the central heating system in the room, but after giving it some thought, we left the living area, where we work and rest, in calming white, ” says Szymon Hanczar aboutthe choice of colours.
The Bauhaus is also evoked by a colourful poster on the wall and the second-hand-bought Cesca chairs designed by Marcel Breuer.
We knew from the start that we had to be practical in this project, that the small space could not be recklessly wasted. On the other hand, however, we were tempted by strong colour, which we also like to use in our projects. Drawing on Bauhaus, modernist inspirations allowed us to combine these two approaches and create a space that is radically functional, yet not devoid of character. We hope that thanks to this, its future residents, even though in a tiny space, will find it pleasant to live here,” concludes the designer.
design: Szymon Hanczar, Kinga Dżugan, Natalia Machoń(hanczar.studio)
photography: Meluzyna Studio
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