Bakpak Architects' 'pottery courtyard' concept in Poland incorporates local heritage

The area around Rzeszow, a nearly seven-century-old city in Poland, is known for its pottery. A new building reflects that, according to ArchDaily.

Two firms, Bakpak Architects and EovaStudio, won a multifunction building design competition with their entry, The Pottery Courtyard.

The building’s interior is smooth, curved, layered, and open, which makes it look like it was crafted on a potter’s wheel. The exterior, however, is rigid and angular, matching the local urban development.

The Pottery Courtyard is proposed to be seven stories tall with three stories underground. The basement will be for commercial space. A hotel will use the first three floors, and the rest of the area will be used for housing, a social club and a restaurant, according to the Bakpak website.

“The process of creating pottery influenced the decision of the shape of the building on the outside and inside thanks to the possibility of cutting, carving and turning on the potter’s wheel,” Bakpak wrote. “Thus arose the idea for a project at work with clay. We want a building carved in the ground with a huge surprise inside.”