In a 19th-century tenement block in the oldest part of Gdańsk is a small apartment that once stood sadly unloved. Its original features had been ripped out during the postwar communist era or buried under layers of clumsy modern interventions. That is until its new owner, a young film-school graduate, asked architect Karolina Rochman to help coax the apartment into giving up its secrets.
Her approach to the brief was an idiosyncratic mix of the cerebral and the prosaic. She explains how in the post-Soviet era, ‘apartments were divided into smaller ones, often in an ill-considered way, with several families accommodated in a single unit. Not all residents felt the need to take care of the buildings.’
As well as restoring its former splendour, Karolina was determined to tell the full story of this home, including the times when it had not been treated well. ‘These values are extremely important: truth and authenticity. That’s why I found it necessary to show all the historical layers of this space, from the time of the building’s construction, but also from the communist era and the 1990s,’ she explains. ‘The most difficult thing in every project is to find its spirit. Here, it was very much hidden.’
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Equally tricky, though, was a practical concern: storage. ‘Regardless of the size of the apartment, we usually need a similar amount of stuff,’ says Karolina. ‘But when we provide it all with dedicated places, the space itself isn’t so important.’ That’s why, despite its modest dimensions, this home still manages to have two bedrooms, a living room and a wardrobe/utility room, without the building undergoing undue alterations.
Karolina christened the project ‘Day two, the ochre day’, after a painting by the Polish artist Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. Her own approach to colour in interiors is similar to an artist working on a canvas.
Bathed in ochre tones, from a vivid yellow (on the doors and wooden furniture of the kitchenette) to golden brown on the living- room furniture and wall decorations, this home pays homage to its artistic inspiration, as well as Karolina’s own creativity.
‘I view colour in terms of hue, saturation and value,’ she says. ‘Using these categories, you can emphasise certain elements of the interior, strengthen the sense of what is unnatural, give objects unreal shapes or lend the whole space a magical dimension.’
She concedes that some might find this property’s new palette challenging, but her client is delighted. ‘I was given great trust, developing the story of this home with its new resident. Her character and creativity have left their mark on the apartment.’ karolinarochman.design
