Alice in the Saxon Garden
In 2014, Szczęsny designed the architectural setting for an exhibition organised by Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw. This outdoor installation used a sound work created by artist Włodzimierz Jan Zakrzewski, inspired by Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland. The architect created a space which also engaged the other senses, and thus expanded the way of perceiving the work. In this manner, he proved once again that architecture is not only a ‘package’ of some walls and a roof. It can provide a sensual experience; it can also tackle the problems of the modern world. It’s enough to look at things in a broader context rather than a purely material one.
In 2016, Szczęsny opened SZCZ, his own design studio, which operates in various design related fields – from accesory, clothing and furniture design to exhibition, interior and building architecture.
It's difficult to unequivocally classify Jakub Szczęsny's projects. Many of them are considered functional street furniture; others are closer to artistic installations. However, all of them help to rediscover the city and integrate people; they evoke positive emotions, and add to a local identity. In 2018, Szczęsny created a minimalist playground in Astana (today Nur-Sultan) – the capital of Kazakhstan. The playground was part of a bigger project, which was aimed at revitalising neglected public spaces near housing estates. Jakub Szczęsny, in cooperation with the LECHSTARTER program, created the SPACE installation – a multi-functional zone designed to stimulate local communities. The pavilion-like structure, based on 3×3 metre ‘pixels’ provided three different types of modules, including a tall, tower-like trellis/pergola and a textile, roof-covered space. These were then erected in three Polish cities. Each organisation chose its own configuration of the modules, depending on the location and activities they had planned for the following two years.
That same year, Szczęsny built the Taburete Tower (2019) as part of the Concéntrico – International Festival of Architecture and Design in Logroño, Spain. The construction was a modern and functional take on the tradition of enclosing street axes of small Spanish towns with shrines. After the festival, the tower was dismantled into 70 heavy-duty stools made out of gurjan wood and given to the townspeople. This way, all the effort that went into assembling the installation was not lost and the project played into the organisers' manifesto that ‘Design is for everyone’.
Another community building project is a canopy-pergola built in Autumn 2020 on the roof of the Bauhaus Liebling Haus – The White City Center in Tel Aviv. Here, the architectural structure is a pretext, but also a meeting place for events and various activities. At the end of 2020, an Implant is to be put into operation in Warsaw. The unusual building, created as a temporary facility on a downtown plot intended for another investment, will consist of nearly 300 containers. It will occupy an area of 5000 square meters and will accommodate restaurants, shops, galleries, as well as numerous spaces for organising meetings and cultural events. Jakub Szczęsny wants this large-scale project to serve not only commercial or entertainment purposes, but also to become a space for various activities, accessible to all city users. The three-level block will be covered with greenery, which will also change the image of the city’s business district, currently dominated by glass skyscrapers.