Interview with Robert Konieczny

You probably start every conversation this way, but could you reveal to us what is hidden behind the abbreviation KWK Promes?
(laughter) Yes, everyone, especially in Silesia, where they think it stands for 'kopalnie weglu kamiennego' (coal mines), but in reality, the meaning is different. It’s the first letters of the founders' last names: Konieczny-Wolnik-Konieczny. At the time when my ex-wife Marlena and I founded the studio, I was named Konieczny and she was Wolnik-Konieczny.

And what about the second word 'Promes'?
That Promes was even earlier than KWK. For a while, our company was named Promes and later KWK was added. And why Promes? Once, I founded a rock band where I played the guitar. Our biggest hit was basically the band’s name. So when I founded the studio, I needed to come up with something simpler, completely opposite: 'Stunning projects, not a name'. The band’s name was quite funny back then, but I’d rather not translate it.
So the name PROMES means: P-project, RO-robert, M-marlena, E-elvira, S-stanislav.

You founded the KWK Promes studio at the age of thirty in your hometown of Katowice, where you are still based. Did you have any experience from an architectural studio in 1999, or did you jump straight into your own designing?
I studied for quite a long time. Ten years. And why so long? Because I was participating in competitions at the same time. While studying, I was also working in the studios of Studniarek and Pilinkiewicz. I have no idea why this studio isn’t known as it deserves to be. I learned a lot there, as they originally studied architecture in the Netherlands at the Berlage Institute. When they returned to Poland, I was their only employee. Two founders and me. (laughter) The work in the studio was fantastic because we worked on projects but also talked a lot about architecture. That was the most important school for me. I learned a lot there.

So better than university?
(laughter) Yes, much better than university. It was a bit of work and a bit of school. I worked with them for three years. At the same time, I participated in competitions, and some awards led us to win a scholarship from the Batory Foundation and we traveled to America for our honeymoon. We spent five to six weeks working on projects there, the head of that institute was a person who collaborated with Rem Koolhaas. These experiences were very enriching because you received amazing feedback from interesting leaders. So our experiences developed a little from the leaders at work, we learned something during competitions, and a lot then by ourselves.

Regarding the history of Katowice, which is a bit smaller than Brno, where you will have an exhibition today. In recent years, it has overshadowed several Polish metropolises with its contemporary architecture. It seems to be an open city where many foreign architects, as well as European stars, are building. What is the reason for this?
I was just lucky to be born and live in a city rich in the latest architecture. This means that you walk down the street, observe buildings, and may not even realize that you are seeing good things. It definitely plays a role that I have been influenced by this architecture in some way. I find Gliwice University to be a good school, teaching the logic of thinking in architecture, teaching in a rather 'craft' way, but when you want to let loose a bit, you have to detach yourself from that school. You have to move forward and competitions allowed me to do just that. They opened the way for me to think differently about architecture. To do something of your own, you must draw from various sources to find your own way.
However, I still have Silesian logic somewhere in my head. A project must be logical and comprehensible, but that does not mean it always has to be very rational.

Not only is contemporary architectural creation interesting in Katowice, but quality buildings have thrived here even before World War I, and the post-war scene has much to offer as well. Do you have a particular favorite building in Katowice?
My favorite building in Katowice is definitely the sports arena Spodek (M. Gintow, M. Krasiński, 1959-71). It is good architecture and construction, but mainly it is excellent as a whole. It is a 'blast' (in the Polish sense, the word 'odlot' describes joy and euphoria in creating a work, the effort to push further than an ordinary 'blast'), which fits perfectly with Spodek. It seems to me that even though many interesting things have been created, Spodek is still number one for me.

An excellent building; it looks like a UFO.
Especially the construction, how they built it. Incredible. They even halted it because they were afraid it would collapse with the roof. They didn't want to build it for more than a year.

Now finally to your own work. You kicked off your career with a series of iconic family homes for enlightened wealthy clients in Poland. From the beginning, the standard was set at the highest European level. How difficult was it to find clients in Poland who demanded such a standard? Here, wealthy clients were building neo-baroque palaces, which you in Poland call “gargamels."
Initially, the first clients didn't want such projects at all. They just wanted to build a family house. They had various wishes with lots of canopies and dormers. However, I thought to myself, I will do it my way. That’s how it was with the Triangular House and the Broken House. We simply stuck to our concept.
We always discovered some idea, some logical argument that justified the final form. I don’t know if I have any persuasive ability. When I believe in what I am doing, I am able to convince others about it (laughter). I manage to persuade clients, even though they often initially want something completely different. Gradually, more enlightened clients appeared with additional projects.

At the school in Gliwice, you weren’t an exemplary student, yet now you teach architecture at the University of Katowice. What quality do you emphasize most to your students? What do you consider most essential in designing? Is it the Logic of Space and Tailored Spaces?
I used to teach, but I don’t anymore. And why? It was a private school, and I had a tendency not to let those students advance. (laughter) The projects they brought were awful. Then one day the dean called me and said, "But Mr. Robert, we live off these people! They need to advance" (laughter). To that, I replied, "That’s a misunderstanding; they can’t finish this school because they will make terrible things." I didn’t like it. So I don’t teach.  

So currently, you are not teaching anywhere and are fully focused on your own work?
Talent is the absolute foundation for doing this profession, but that is still just the beginning because you then need to learn the field, which requires hard work. Hard work is fundamental, which means having the desire and eagerness to constantly learn and enrich yourself with various knowledge, learning new things, developing, and creating new connections. I always told my students to do what they are absolutely convinced of. Also, not to do things that someone commands them to do if they do not want to do it. That makes no sense because architecture is not just a service where a client comes and says what you should do. It is okay to listen, but you must reshape that in your own way. The space you design must be positively complemented. You are not just building for one person, but for everyone who will have to look at it. And at WST (Katowice School of Technology), there were some who understood that and even later worked for me. But the rest were some astronauts whom I didn’t want to let advance. (laughter)

Do you have any advice for young and starting architects on how to get into a broader European awareness before their fortieth birthday?
Really good architects need to have ambition in addition to talent and hard work. One of the characteristics of good and the best architects is the desire to create innovative things, which represents continuous searching. On one hand, it means being able to create a good project properly inscribed into the environment. That is fundamental. But at the same time, it is always necessary to look for new ideas that move architecture a little forward. This means that if something was already done before in some way, your ambition should be to do it a bit your way. To not repeat what someone else did, but to design in a way that others would want to imitate.
Yesterday, we had a discussion in the studio because we are designing an experimental house in Germany. Other studios are invited to this project, but we are the only ones from Poland. They are already two weeks past the deadline and we still have a problem with how to present it. In the end, we discovered something, and we are not sure if it is right. One colleague said she didn’t know if to continue because she hadn't seen anything like it before. For me, that ultimately became an argument to hold onto that idea. We don’t want to lean towards what we’ve already seen somewhere. Let’s take the risk even if we end up creating something bad. The design sounds logical and can be explained. It just looks a bit weird, which people will get used to over time. (laughter)
My advice is to keep experimenting. Of course, without compromising functionality or disrupting context. We are still combining and inventing something different, which others notice.

So by creating something differently, in the end, people notice that things are not quite right.
Yes, exactly, something isn’t right.

And the work becomes more known.
I always tell students: You have the internet. You can draw from it, browse it, and choose from countless catalogs, but it is better if you try to do it your way. But not like, put a paper on it and copy it. That makes no sense. To get into any publication, you must do it your way and not repeat what someone before you created. For example, in the competition in Ostrava, we combined elements to create something different. In the end, we got third place, although I take it more as a loss. Winning is only if you get first prize. We discovered a way to use brick in a completely new modern way. I could elaborate on this, which I don’t have time for now, but we can continue the conversation after the lecture.