Polish Architecture for Hermits
Before the pandemic trapped us in our homes, hermitages and secluded retreats fascinated us as places where one can really ‘be alone with oneself’. Even if our perception of them is currently changing, their architecture cannot be underestimated.
The isolation forced upon us by the global pandemic has taken a toll on many of us. Some are suffering from the torment of isolation at home, separated from people and the world. Meanwhile, there are many buildings in Poland which were designed for reclusive people, created so they could isolate themselves from others and spend time alone.
A short time ago, they were very popular – they delighted people because they provided respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Now that the pandemic has turned us into hermits in our own homes, will these places of seclusion no longer be necessary?
Alone in a hermitage
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Camaldolese hermitage in the Camaldolese monastery complex in Wigry (Eremus Insula Vigrensis), photo: Andrzej Sidor / Forum
The masters of life in seclusion are the Camaldolese monks, who live according to rules developed in the early 11th century by St Romuald. These prescribe poverty, obedience, prayer, work, silence and – seclusion. Monks following a hermitic way of life first arrived in Poland in the early 17th century. It was then that one of the two Camaldolese monasteries still operating in Poland today – in the Bielany district of Kraków – was founded. It was organised as a complex of small houses (hermitages) in which each monk spends his life praying under strict conditions. The second Camaldolese monastery still operating in Poland is the Hermitage of the Five Martyred Brothers on Owl Hill in Bieniszew, near Konin.
In the 17th century, the Camaldolese order built several monasteries in Poland, which presently perform various functions – they belong to other monastic groups and are sometimes open to the public, since they are highly valued historical monuments. These include the Golden Forest Hermitage in Rytwiany (Eremus Silva Aurea) and the monastery in Wigry (Eremus Insula Vigrensis) – where accommodation is offered to visitors and it’s possible to gain first-hand experience of the lifestyle of the monks who live there according to very strict rules.
The Hermitage of Blessed Salomea
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Hermitage of Blessed Salomea in Grodzisk, near Ojców, photo: Jerzy Pawleta / Forum
The younger sister of Bolesław the Chaste, from the Piast dynasty, became the wife of a Hungarian prince when she was only eight years old and was widowed two decades later. She then joined the Poor Clares, where she spent the rest of her life. In the mid-13th century, Bolesław the Chaste, who had become the ruler of the Cracow district, gave the Poor Clares a piece of land located near present-day Ojców National Park. To this day, a complex of buildings has been preserved in a location called Grodzisko – a church surrounded by a wall and sculptures, prayer grottos, and a small, simple building where, according to legend, Princess Salomea lived. A stone bed on which she is said to have slept in her secluded home testifies to the harsh conditions in which she lived.
Until the end of the 19th century, throughout the period when Grodzisko belonged to the convent of the Poor Clares, many people in search of isolation and contemplation spent time in the hermitage of Blessed Salomea. Today, Grodzisko is a valuable historical monument open to the public.
The skete in Odrynki
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Skit of Saints Antoni & Teodozjusz Pieczerski in Odrynki, photo: M. Lasyk / Reporter / East News
The skete (a hermitage for Orthodox monks) in the village of Odrynki is the only building of its kind in Poland. Although it was built very recently (in 2009), its location is connected with an Orthodox monastery that existed here from the 17th to the 19th century. The creator and first inhabitant of the skete was Father Gabriel, the former superior of the Orthodox monastery in Supraśl. Since his death in 2018, two other hermits have already used the skete.
Although the skete is maintained by a monastic community of hermits, the area around it can be visited and the monks are willing to tell visitors about its history and significance. A visit to Odrynki is not only a spiritual experience, but also an aesthetic one – the skete is very picturesquely situated in meadows of the Narew Valley.
A hotel for singles
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Training centre of the National Labor Inspectorate in Wrocław, former hotel for single people and childless married couples, designed by Hans Scharoun, photo: Mieczysław Michalak / AG
In 1929, the WUWA exhibition (Wohnungs-und Werkraumausstellung Workplace and House Exhibition) opened in Wrocław. It was organised by the Deutsche Werkbund group, which aimed to reform architecture and design according to the changing needs and realities of the 20th century. Part of the WUWA exhibition was an experimental housing estate consisting of buildings embodying progress, modernity and the spirit of the future.
One of the buildings was a hotel for single people and childless married couples, designed by the German modernist architect Hans Scharoun. The dynamic shape of the building, located on the edge of a park, makes reference to a ship (modernists were often inspired by ships). Originally designed for white-collar workers and civil servants, the hotel offered small but independent two-storey flats equipped with a bathroom and a kitchenette, where the tight space was used maximally, like in a cabin on a ship. Hans Scharoun, also responsible for the interior arrangement, designed wardrobes and furniture for the flats. These, unfortunately, haven’t survived, but the building itself still fills its original function – it now houses the training centre of the National Labour Inspectorate.
The Bookworm Cabin
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Bookworm Cabin, photo courtesy of Bookworm Cabin / Slowhop / https: //slowhop.com
It’s not only during pandemics that reading books is best done alone. In 2018, Bartłomiej Kraciuk and Marta Puchalska-Kraciuk built the Bookworm Cabin for this intimate activity. Tucked away in a forest near Ostrołęka, the tiny house offers all the most important conveniences: a bed, bathroom, kitchenette and fireplace. But above all, it contains a huge bookcase. Anyone who needs an escape from the hubbub of the city and dreams of spending time immersed in a literary world can rent the Bookworm Cabin and relax in an armchair, in bed or on the terrace, book in hand, surrounded only by the rustling of trees.
A house on water
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
House on the water moored at Bydgoszcz Harbor, Młyńska Island, photo: Tymon Markowski / AG
On some rivers and canals in Bydgoszcz, Wrocław and Warsaw, it’s possible to see unusual floating vessels – houses on water. Living on a river gives people an unusual opportunity to be right in the centre of a city but removed from the hustle and bustle, and to commune with nature without leaving the urban space. A floating house is usually quite small, so it can also serve very well as a kind of urban hermitage. And last but not least, you can unmoor it from the dock at any time and sail away to another place without even leaving your home.
A few years ago, a Polish-English firm called Floatinghouse presented a prototype of a floating house designed by Paweł Dąbrowski, a Polish architect. The glazed, futuristic structure was built from prefabricated elements of durable and moisture-resistant epoxy laminate. The light, aesthetic, energy-efficient structure could become an alternative to traditional single-family homes. However, although there is no shortage of lakes and rivers in Poland, living on water is still not very popular.
Micro flats
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
Warszawska 96 micro-apartments, visualisation, Lublin, photo: developer's press materials / www.warszawska96
‘Micro flats’ – this is the term used to describe small flats ranging from about 12 to 30 square metres, built with students in mind or as a kind of investment that pays itself off, for example through short-term rental. About a decade ago, developers in Poland started constructing buildings filled only with micro flats – such buildings already exist in Wrocław, Warsaw and Lublin. Micro flats are sometimes interestingly designed, with modern shapes that fit well into the city’s public space and ergonomically arranged interiors. They’ve faced criticism, however, for while such microscopic flats might be suitable as temporary accommodation for university students, they are increasingly becoming residences for people who simply cannot afford a larger flat.
Keret House
Picture display
standardowy [760 px]
External view of the Keret House, photo: Bartek Warzecha / Polish Modern Art Foundation
Squeezed into a narrow gap between a historic tenement house and a block of flats in Warsaw’s Wola district, there’s an extremely narrow house that is not only a feat of design agility, but also an art installation. Keret House measures 92cm in its narrowest space, and in its widest – 152cm. It has three levels, containing everything necessary for everyday life. Above all, there’s a space in which to work – because the house was built as an artistic residence for the Israeli writer Etgar Keret, who spent several weeks here. Other writers have stayed in the narrow house after him, and a small space is also used for various artistic activities.
Keret House was designed by the architect Jakub Szczęsny, thanks to whom this unusual building became a small but fully functional place to live. Opened on 20th October 2012, the house quickly gained worldwide fame – it was hailed as ‘the narrowest house in the world’ and was added to the prestigious Iconic Houses list (which, apart from Keret House, includes only two other buildings in Poland – the villa of Leopold Kindermann in Łódź and the home of Zofia and Oskar Hansen in Szumin).
Originally written in Polish, May 2020, translated by Scotia Gilroy, Nov 2020
[{"nid":"5688","uuid":"6aa9e079-0240-4dcb-9929-0d1cf55e03a5","type":"article","langcode":"en","field_event_date":"","title":"Challenges for Polish Prose in the Nineties","field_introduction":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary\r\n","field_summary":"Content: Depict the world, oneself and the form | The Mimetic Challenge: seeking the truth, destroying and creating myths | Seeking the Truth about the World | Destruction of the Heroic Emigrant Myth | Destruction of the Polish Patriot Myth | Destruction of the Flawless Democracy Myth | Creation of Myths | Biographical challenge | Challenges of genre | Summary","topics_data":"a:2:{i:0;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259609\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:26:\u0022#language \u0026amp; literature\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:27:\u0022\/topics\/language-literature\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}i:1;a:3:{s:3:\u0022tid\u0022;s:5:\u002259644\u0022;s:4:\u0022name\u0022;s:8:\u0022#culture\u0022;s:4:\u0022path\u0022;a:2:{s:5:\u0022alias\u0022;s:14:\u0022\/topic\/culture\u0022;s:8:\u0022langcode\u0022;s:2:\u0022en\u0022;}}}","field_cover_display":"default","image_title":"","image_alt":"","image_360_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/360_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ZsoNNVXJ","image_260_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/260_auto_cover\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=pLlgriOu","image_560_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/560_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=0n3ZgoL3","image_860_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/860_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=ELffe8-z","image_1160_auto":"\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1160_auto\/public\/2018-04\/jozef_mroszczak_forum.jpg?itok=XazO3DM5","field_video_media":"","field_media_video_file":"","field_media_video_embed":"","field_gallery_pictures":"","field_duration":"","cover_height":"991","cover_width":"1000","cover_ratio_percent":"99.1","path":"en\/node\/5688","path_node":"\/en\/node\/5688"}]