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    Eclectic Warsaw apartment interior designed as “elaborate puzzle”

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    Walnut burl and terrazzo accents are combined with chunky statement furniture in this apartment in Warsaw, which Polish studio Mistovia has renovated for an art director and her pet dachshund.

    Located in the city’s Praga Północ neighbourhood, the 45-square-metre flat is set within a 1950s estate designed by Polish architects Jerzy Gieysztor and Jerzy Kumelowski.
    The Warsaw apartment was renovated by MistoviaMistovia devised an eclectic material and colour palette when updating the interior, which the studio describes as an “elaborate puzzle” of contrasting patterns.
    “The apartment is based on several dominant ‘cubes’,” said Mistovia founder Marcin Czopek. “Each of them has a different function, accentuated by various patterns through the use of veneer or colour.”
    Panels of swirly grey wood veneer feature in the living spaceThe living room is defined by a wall panelled in swirly grey wood veneer– originally designed by Memphis Group founder Ettore Sottsass for Alpi in the 1980s – while the bathroom is obscured behind a wall of glass blocks.

    The kitchen is now connected to the lounge to create one open-plan space, filled with statement pieces including a misshapen vase and the molten-looking Plopp stool by Polish designer Oskar Zieta, set against the backdrop of floor-to-ceiling walnut-burl cabinets.
    A tortoiseshell cabinet defines the bathroomTerrazzo was used to form chunky black-and-white legs for the kitchen’s window-side breakfast bar as well as an entire burnt-orange table in the dining area.
    “A muted base – bright, uniform micro cement flooring and walls with a delicate texture – allowed for the use of geometric forms, rich in interesting structures and bold patterns,” Czopek said.

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    Designed for an art director and her dog, the apartment features a similarly striking bathroom.
    Here, gridded monochrome tiles and glass-brick walls are paired with a statement standalone sink, featuring squat cobalt-blue legs that support a tortoiseshell cabinet crowned by a triptych mirror.
    The single bedroom includes purple and marble accentsA purple wardrobe complements the rectilinear marble headboard in the apartment’s singular bedroom, adding to the boxy geometry of the home.
    Also in Warsaw, Polish studio Projekt Praga incorporated mid-century elements and pops of colour into a dumpling restaurant while local firm Noke Architects referenced the high waters of Venice in a bar complete with sea-green floors and skirting tiles.
    The photography is by Oni Studio. 

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      Venice floodwaters inform two-tone interior of Warsaw bar Va Bene Cicchetti

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      Sea green floors and skirting tiles are contrasted against the all-red interior of this bar in Warsaw, Poland, which local studio Noke Architects has designed to recall the high waters of Venice.

      Billed as Poland’s first cicchetti bar – an Italian bar selling drinks alongside small plates of food – Va Bene Cicchetti is located in a huge Socialist Realist housing estate from the 1950s called the Marszałkowska Housing District.
      Va Bene Cicchetti is a bar in WarsawCustomers enter the bar via an arched doorway lined with antique mirrors. Inside, they are met by a huge red travertine counter with a large drinks cooler, which is hollowed out of the stone and filled with ice and bottles of prosecco.
      Most of the interior is rendered in warm hues of red and gold in a nod to the colours of the Venetian flag.
      But the floor, and everything up to about 20 centimetres in height, is finished in sea green to suggest the high waters of the Veneto region, locally known as acqua alta.

      Its interior was informed by Venice’s floodwatersSeveral times a year, when the tide in the Adriatic Sea rises, these floodwaters will cover streets and piazzas in Venice in a layer of water.
      To recreate this “flood effect” inside the interior of Va Bene Cicchetti, Noke Architects coloured the floors and skirting tiles, as well as the base of table legs, chairs and plinths in a watery shade of turquoise.
      Tables resemble Venice’s red-and-white striped mooring poles”We wanted the place to be unambiguously associated with Venice but we also wanted for this reference to be fresh and unique,” said Piotr Maciaszek, who co-founded Noke Architects alongside Aleksandra Hyz and Karol Pasternak.
      “We took inspiration from the colours of the Venetian flag, which dominate all finishings, and incorporated the acqua alta motif in the interior as an element of surprise.”
      Turquoise skirting tiles run along the perimeter of the roomThe scheme is completed with glass lamps that resemble rippling water and bespoke furniture pieces including tables that pay homage to the red-and-white striped mooring posts found in Venice’s canals.
      Taking over an entire wall of the bar is an intricate mosaic made from reclaimed materials including glass panes from the Murano glass factory in Venice and fragments of wine bottles from Va Bene Cicchetti’s sister restaurant Va Bene.

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      The mural depicts the bar’s owners and their dog Koko enjoying wine and food at a table in Venice.
      “Veneto is where the famous Murano glass and antique mirrors are manufactured,” Maciaszek explained.
      “The region is famous for its ceramics and wine. We came up with the idea to use mini pieces of Venice as the building blocks of our artwork. Mosaic was the perfect solution for this.”
      The bar is centred on a red travertine counterThe bar’s basement level is completely saturated in the same greeny-blue hue as the floors upstairs to create the impression of being underwater.
      Bathrooms, meanwhile, are finished in black and white stripes and topped with a red ceiling in a reference to the uniforms worn by Venetian gondoliers.
      An intricate mosaic covers an entire wall of the barPolish illustrator and graphic designer Ola Niepsuj was responsible for creating the bar’s visual identity, which depicts the Lion of Saint Mark – a winged lion that represents the patron saint of Venice and is found on buildings across the city.
      At Va Bene Cicchetti, this motif can be found in the form of door handles and the neon light above the entrance.
      The bar’s basement level is covered in sea green tilesElsewhere in Poland, local practice Paradowski Studio recently channelled the glamour of Kraków’s interwar cafes and the clean functionalism of its mid-century modern cinemas for a hotel renovation.
      The Puro Stare Miasto hotel is located next to Kraków’s historic old town and spans 138 rooms alongside an extensive open-plan reception, lobby space and restaurant.
      The photography is by Piotr Maciaszek.

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      Projekt Praga incorporates mid-century references into Polish dumpling restaurant

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      Polish architecture firm Projekt Praga has blended modern and mid-century features inside the Syrena Irena bistro in Warsaw, which serves traditional pierogi dumplings.

      Syrena Irena is located in an early 1950s building in the centre of the city that originally functioned as a hotel cafe.
      Syrena Irena is a pierogi restaurant in WarsawAside from handmade boiled pierogi, the restaurant’s “cheerful and honest” menu contains classic Polish dishes from the 50s and 60s such as sour rye soup and herring in flax and hemp oil, which have been updated for modern tastes.
      To add to the homely and casual atmosphere, Projekt Praga created an interior with a self-service set-up that uses mid-century design references to pay homage to both the building’s architecture and the bistro’s nostalgic menu.
      Wooden stools by Buck Studio surround the restaurant’s tablesThese include terrazzo-style tabletops, mosaic tiles, neon signs, milky glass sconces from Polish lighting brand Aqform and wooden stools with triangular seats by Wroclaw-based Buck Studio.

      In particular, Projekt Praga said it chose details, shapes and materials associated with the “prudent design” of Poland’s communist era.
      Spherical glass sconces by Aqform decorate the wallsThe terrazzo-style tabletops with their simple black bases were custom made, as were most of the metal elements in the space.
      Bar counters were powder-coated in bold colours to complement the building’s original 1950s wall mouldings and arches.
      The interior’s colour scheme mixes blue and coral tonesA large window at the front of the restaurant allows passersby to observe the chefs at work – kneading, stuffing and folding the pierogi.
      In the afternoon, sun shines through the windows and illuminates the dining room, while neon lights bring the space to life in the evening.

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      The colour scheme mixes aquatic blue with pink, peach and coral tones in line with the restaurant’s mermaid-themed branding, which was developed by Polish graphic design agency Mamastudio and illustrator Ola Sadownik.
      Both this and the restaurant’s name, Syrena Irena, are a nod to Syrenka Warszawska – the mermaid that acts as a symbol for the city of Warsaw and can be found in its coat of arms, as well as on monuments and buildings throughout the capital.
      Black tables with terrazzo-style tops were custom made for the space”The alternating personality of Syrena Irena gave us a chance to use geometrical forms and colours,” explained Projekt Praga.
      “The classical aesthetic of the existing space was balanced by less profound features like wall drawings, railings imitating a mermaid scale pattern and distinctive neon signs,” the studio added.
      “Despite this duality in the bistro’s persona, varied details like neon signs, lettering and murals all come together harmoniously.”
      A monochrome rendition of a Herbert James Draper painting decorates the wallsAt Mamastudio’s suggestion, Projekt Praga used a monochrome print of Ulysses and the Sirens – an oil painting created by English artist Herbert James Draper in 1909 – to cover two of the walls.
      The restaurant’s illuminated signeage was designed in collaboration with local artisan Jacek Hanak, who is responsible for reviving many of the city’s old neon lights.
      Neon signs were made in collaboration with Jacek Hanak. Photo is by Zuza Kozerska”We were influenced by the aesthetics of the jazzy Warsaw of the 1960s when this part of town was a vibrant destination for night owls and barflies,” said Mamastudio of the restaurant’s branding.
      “There were bright neon signs, music was everywhere, colourful artsy types and thrilling energy. With that, we decided that the mermaid logo should bear resemblance to a retro cut-out. The typography is expressive and slightly clumsy on purpose.”
      Other dumpling restaurants featured on Dezeen include a bao restaurant in Valencia that was designed to resemble a sunset and a small Chinese eatery in New York, where stainless steel, brass and polycarbonate are combined to create a futuristic interior.
      The photography is by PION studio unless otherwise stated.

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      K916 and K907 are a pair of pared-back holiday apartments in Warsaw

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      Boxy timber volumes tuck away the beds and bathrooms of these minimal holiday apartments designed by Thisispaper Studio, which lie at the heart of the Polish capital. The two flats – named K916 and K907 – are set within an old print warehouse in Warsaw’s Praga district that was originally built in 1903, but has […] More

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      Mateusz Baumiller converts warehouse into homely offices for Clay.Warsaw

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      Polish architect Mateusz Baumiller has merged deep-pink walls, velvet furnishings and wooden fixtures to soften the industrial shell of this creative office in Warsaw. Housed in a former military warehouse from the 1930s and founded by three creative production companies – Analog/Digital, Menu and Photoby – Clay.Warsaw serves as a workplace, studio, shoot location and […] More