Origami House
- location: Toruń / Poland
- architects: Przemo Łukasik, Łukasz Zagała
- associate architects: Katarzyna Chobot, Katarzyna Kruszenko
- construction: Figura Team
- contractor: Bartłomiej Zgórzyński
- investor: private
- usable floor area: 26,6 sqm
- total area: 44,05 sqm
- design: 2013
- realization: 2020
- photographs: Juliusz Sokołowski
- awards:
- award in category “export work” in Architecture of the Year of Silesian Voivodeship 2021
- nomination in European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award 2022
The house-installation inspired by the art of origami is the result of the developer’s fascination with Japanese culture.
The seemingly simple building with its geometric form creates a complex arrangement of steel structure covered with graphite polyurethane coating. This made it possible to achieve the effect of a visually light, paper-like form taken from the Japanese art of creating spatial forms from paper.
Inside, a relaxation space was created – including a guest room if required, as well as a place for momentary retreat and reflection. The calming effect of the interior is reinforced by the whitewashed plywood finish, a material associated with fusuma wood-paper wall architecture.
The building also incidentally becomes an installation, a garden sculpture viewed from the developer’s actual house.
The design process itself was demanding, as every element of the project was developed in 3D. The steel structure of the building was also a challenge for the designer, but also for the contractor, as it required a high degree of accuracy and none of the elements were repetitive.
The interior consists of two spaces: the upper floor, which acts as a bedroom with a bathroom, and the lower ground floor, which is a room with a kitchenette.
A fireplace is set in the middle of the ground floor, around which family and friends gather. Looking at the building from the road and the forest, it appears completely enclosed (no windows). Large panes of glass direct the view from Origami House to the garden, which is lined with white gravel, a reference to Japanese rock gardens. The building is also crowned by a large skylight, which forms another triangular plane of the building’s composition.
