curatorial custody, 2013–2017

The Hansens’ House in Szumin is a spatial manifesto of the theory of Open Form formulated by Oskar Hansen, Polish member of Team 10, in 1959. Together with his wife, Zofia Hansen, the designer promoted understanding of architecture as a ‘passe-partout’ exposing every-day events, open to the participation of its users in the process of design and easily adaptable to their changing needs. The summer residence, whose construction commenced in 1968, fully expressed these ideas and became one of very few Hansens’ works that were made in accordance with their vision.

Spacio-temporal architecture of the house seemlessly blends the interior with the exterior, providing its visitors with a variety of sensual impressions. Constructed as a framework for life, it comes to life with the presence of people. The unique atmosphere of the house stems from traces of activities and passion of its inhabitants, such as didactic instruments used for learning the fundamentals of composition, a steel structure from the 1977 Venice Art Biennale covered in grapevine and a wooden dovecote built in the garden.

photo: Jakub Certowicz / Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2015

Since 2014, the house has been under the care of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. I was the first curator of the house, responsible for coordinating its architectural inventory, researching the history of the house, and setting the direction of its public program, maintenance and renovation. During my work, the house became the first Polish member of the Iconic Houses Network and a branch of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. After my departure from the museum in the end of 2017, the house was listed as a national monument and is currently undergoing renovation under the watchful eye of its new curator, Tomasz Fudala.

Selected publications:

(with A. Wielocha) Preserving Open Form: The Oskar and Zofia Hansen House in Szumin – between architecture and contemporary art, Studies in Conservation, vol. 61, Supplement 2 – LA Congress Preprints: Saving the Now, 2016, pp. 248–254

Domy Hansenów / Hansen Homes in Dom jako Forma Otwarta, in Szumin Hansenów / The House as Open Form: The Hansens’ Summer Residence in Szumin, Karakter, Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej w Warszawie, 2014, pp. 32–46

Visiting the Hansens in Oskar Hansen – Opening Modernism: On Open Form Architecture, Art and Didactics, ed. A. Kędziorek, Ł. Ronduda, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2014, pp. 115–117, 167–168, 231–247