Philosophy of Happy Living from Kunc Architects Studio

There are different paths to happiness. Different forms and approaches: we know that the environment in which we live influences and changes our lives. It makes it happier. Architect Michal Kunc presents how architecture makes people happier. His architecture is about seeking comfort and happiness in life.

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Emotions are not a weakness!

Your architectural work deliberately engages with emotions, atmosphere, and mood. Isn't that subjective and somewhat elusive?
Michal Kunc: On the contrary, emotion is what distinguishes the work of my studio from others. I do not consider moods, emotions, or the atmosphere of the moment as something that weakens architecture and its significance. It gives it strength and depth. Therefore, in our work, we intentionally create such emotions with the client. We want our houses to evoke emotions, feelings, and moods. The purpose is to make them comfortable to live in.

You have been promoting the concept of "live as if on a good vacation" for several years. But on the other hand, every vacation comes to an end, and our returns "back to reality" can be quite harsh…
M. Kunc: We have been working with the concept of living as if on a good vacation for almost ten years. During that time, we have designed and realized dozens of buildings, and I dare say that we know how to work with mood and emotion. Be careful, this is not some marketing slogan that you stick on the poster of a development project, but a deeply thought-out concept that my colleagues and I have spent thousands of hours considering.

Well, let's be specific: how do you design a house full of emotions, or as you also call it, a "home as if on a great vacation"? Can you elaborate?
M. Kunc: The basis of our considerations is the philosophy we have come to not only during our travels around the world but primarily through designing for very specific people and families. There is no typical Czech or any other client who would have some quantifiable idea. That’s how developers build: for a customer they don’t know. In the Kunc Studio, we design family houses as in a boutique. Imagine that you go to a tailor because you have already worn several suits in previous years: first nothing special, then decent ready-to-wear, and eventually something like ready-to-measure… But then comes the moment when you realize that your desire for peace and privacy, your encounters with good friends, your family… that you need something more for all of that.


An architect?
M. Kunc: … of course, I should now say that you need an architect. But what our studio profiles itself with is something more than just architecture. To fulfill emotions, you need a partner, an interlocutor with whom you share your innermost feelings over several years. Every house takes two, three years to build… and during that time, the architect is not just someone who provides you with plans, material sheets, or visualizations. It is someone who walks with you on your personal journey: they must understand it, know where you are heading, what relationships are important to you, and what should be reflected in the future house.

How does this process take place? How do we move from abstract emotions to a three-dimensional house?
M. Kunc: Very few people love enclosed spaces. We usually feel best in open spaces that connect to the exterior. That’s why we design "living in the garden", exploring relationships… the specific place and uniqueness of the given person, the future resident of the house. From that, the house grows naturally and organically. We put a lot of positive energy into the process together. I’ll give you another analogy: when you bake a cake, you mix various ingredients, let it bake for a certain time at a specified temperature, and it should work… It should, but it may not. You need to give the whole process a soul. Just like the one your grandmother gave it when she baked a sponge cake. You understand the difference between "mix the ingredients and bake" and "grandma’s summer sponge cake." Those are our houses. They have a soul and speak their own language.


Your personal experiences are probably reflected in your thoughts as well. The first house of fulfilled wishes stands in Prague - Modřany, and as far as I know, you dedicated enormous effort to it. How would you describe this building?
M. Kunc: For more than ten years, we have been designing houses, usually in Central Bohemia, and we meet various clients. Step by step, we have "polished" our concept of a happy living house. And then one day we decided to present our first own house. We transformed the best of our philosophy of living, our projects, realizations, but also from travels around the world and understanding the topic of living for the modern person into it. The result is a summary of thoughts and procedures that helps create the concept of the "ideal house": an affordable, modern, comfortable house that respects the individuality of each family while also carrying elements of our AKA handwriting. That is our philosophy of living and the so-called happy house.

How would you describe this philosophy and your "happy house"?
M. Kunc: First, you must find a place that you like, that physically and internally attracts you. You say to yourself: I would like to live here, to have a family here… Here is where I would like to live happily. For happy living, the most important part is the architect's work, who feels this sense and can embody it, and even enhance it so that one looks forward to every advance. From the first talks and sketches through the construction process to the finale that represents the handing over of the keys and moving into one's new happy home.

Many clients, however, need to live, not just talk about feelings. The architect's role, after all, is to design the space and lead the realization through the challenges of building approval to a successful completion…
M. Kunc: Of course, that’s another way to look at living, and most clients may see it that way. But we at AKA are like a boutique: we want to work for those clients who share the same values with us. Where the empathy of the architect is the starting point of the common work. We can listen to the client and lead our joint debates on wishes and needs to the fulfilled dream of a happy life in the tranquility of one's own garden and house.

Modesty and Vision

We keep circling around empathy, listening… Try to state the main characteristics of a family house according to AKA…
M. Kunc: I do not shy away from the answer, I am just describing the journey and thoughts that are "behind" our concept. That imaginary engine that ultimately drives our architecture. But to be quite specific: our houses are "subtly beautiful". Their richness is not in expensive or atypical materials… it lies in the inner atmosphere of comfort. Then there is definitely living outside - thanks to large glazed areas we can see a piece of the garden from every room. Another characteristic is the small northern terrace with access from the kitchen. On it, during breakfast, you will find peace and refuge not only from the heat. A house born from dreams and wishes makes no distinction between the interior and exterior; it is one flowing space full of emotions, one story, one landscape for living, actually for life. The house must not restrict; I must be able to see out of it, which is why views into the greenery and large covered summer terraces connected to the living space are key. We also use large glazed areas that allow living "from fence to fence".

I understand that: essentially, it is a concept of a bungalow in the shape of an L…
M. Kunc: You cannot say it so strictly. Our houses live together with you; each house is like a story. Composed of many materials and their interactions: it is so beautiful to combine natural materials, surface mosaics, wood with brick, stone, glass, color. Add light and touches of nature. It is important to live throughout the entire property so that the house does not limit you, so that it is a kind of glazed shelter, allowing you to experience the place, the garden as a whole.

Architecture that is not only practical but also beautiful

How can the result of your work be described? Is it simply enough to say: this is the "house of happiness"?
M. Kunc: Every house tells the story of the lifestyle of its inhabitants. They are stories in and around it. They take place, transition within the moods and feelings of their inhabitants, keeping us warm and safe, creating a refuge, our home.
A beautiful house evokes emotions in us, attracts us, we imagine that this is how we could and would like to live. Then during the creation and designing, we develop a personal relationship with the house; it is no longer just a "house," it is a partner, a personality with its own soul. A house that protects us. And we are happy there.

How did you envision the ideal house with the Modřany house, which is the essence of your ideas and a "manifesto" of your creative work?
M. Kunc: At the end of each day, I will be able to return to my beautiful, cozy home. It will welcome me and share and reflect all my moods and emotions. I have had a busy workday in the city, with its hustle and bustle, excitement, little stresses, many meetings… In the evening, everything slowly winds down, and I return a bit tired, disturbed by too many stimuli and situations, and I look forward to that calm place that will welcome me and give me space to settle down. In the evening, my wife and I sit together and look through the large glazed windows across the terrace into the garden. The twilight comes, calmly and peacefully, and I regain contact with my true self and return to myself. That is the foundation of a contented life for me. A place where I belong.


You describe a certain model of a hurried, urban life and, in contrast, a certain detachment, a barrier between the external and internal world. How is all of this reflected in architecture?
M. Kunc: Myself, what I truly am, my moods, feelings, reflections, all in an environment designed for me, is then like a being. The house is my partner. In such an environment, I can recharge, regain energy and calm, become satisfied and happy again. In a deeper sense, I have returned home. I think that I have not built a house, that is, architecture, but I have created a beautiful home for myself. A house as poetry.

Thank you for the interview.