Robert Konieczny: KWK Promes
Robert Konieczny, founder and principal of KWK Promes, in Poland, specialises in projects renowned for ingenious concepts and unique design. His works examine closely the nature and interpretations of spatial journeys for the viewer or those who inhabit the space, be it for residential works, public buildings, or international cultural festivals and exhibitions, such as the Venice Biennale. The firm’s work especially with kinetic architecture fuses seamless design principles with inventive concepts, namely movable structures that both catch light and create a uniquely experiential environment. A leader in industry innovation, Konieczny and KWK Promes was awarded the World Architecture Festival Award for the best building in 2016.
“Our designs are shaped by logic. Inside these pages we showcase a unique and detailed précis that narrates the story of the concepts behind our buildings.” — Robert Konieczny
“The ideas expressed by Robert Konieczny are quite radical and surprising—his forms are unexpected, and often closed or heavy at first sight. Though the Polish context, in terms of climate, history, and sociology may imply such solutions, KWK has laid out a series of concepts that could readily be applied to other places, surely generating other types of buildings. This is not a style so much as it is an intellectual construct.” — Philip Jodidio
Robert Konieczny is a graduate of Architecture at Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland. In 1996 he received a certificate from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He established KWK Promes architecture studio in 1999. Konieczny is a foreign member of French Académie d'Architecture since 2019. His designs have been nominated twelve times for the European Award of Mies van der Rohe Foundation (for Aatrial House, OUTrial house, Safe House, Autofamily House, Living-Garden House in Katowice, Living-Garden House in Izbica, Przełomy Dialogue Center and Unikato Housing). Konieczny's practice has often been cited as one of the most exciting architectural studios in the world.