Natalia Torbiarczyk

Natalia, please introduce yourself:

My friends call me Krysia, but my real name is Natalia. Since February of this year I have graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Wroclaw University of Technology. The main topic of my current interests in exploration and design are areas at the edge of the city and countryside. If not in front of the computer, you can usually find me walking around with a small analog camera in hand or sitting in my favorite movie theater. Every day I am inspired by noticing the little things of daily life.

Animation: Natalia Torbiarczyk

#1 When scrolling through your Instagram-Feed @krysiowe2, I came across the project “theatre of way” that fascinated me a lot, can you tell us something about it?

Theatre of the way was a project made during an academic course, more specifically during a course focused on the design of public architecture. A major element in the development of the idea was its location. The theatre was designed between a street with historic buildings and a large square. I was concerned that everyone should start their experience from the moment they enter the building. The viewer entering the theatre is supposed to feel a discomfort when passing through the dark entrance area. The mystery and darkness are meant to arouse his or her interest and emotions.

The whole performance is based on the idea of spectator-actor. There is no room for requisites or unnecessary decorative elements.

The climax of each play is the exit from the theatre directly across the stage. This ending allows the audience to follow the path of the actors and feel a tangible sense of the play. The truthfulness and intimacy of the performances make some of the typical requisites of all theatres change their function. The curtain usually separates the stage from the audience - the fictional world from the real world. Here it plays the role of separating the audience and the scene understood as the real world from the outside, the fictional world. The aim of these operations is to search for the truth about the human being in individual reactions to specific impulses. The play is transformed from a role-play to a process that reveals our inner self and its sincerity.

Illustration: © Natalia Torbiarczyk

#2 Explain the concept of “Poor Theatre” by Jerzy Grotowski to us and how it is related to your project.

Jerzy Grotowski formulated a theory of poor theatre in which the most important elements are the actor and the spectator. The actor's task was to reach the deepest layers of his psyche and emotions in his acting. He stopped being a simple element of the performance, but was supposed to become a subject on which all the viewer's attention was focused. To this aim, Grotowski turned the theatre into a laboratory in which he studied the individual stages of the actor's creative process. It was important for him to emphasize that theatre is not just a building and a group of actors performing their roles.

Breaking down walls, the boundary of the theatre, eliminating artificiality - these were the main principles that were close to his concepts and they became the basis for my design reflections. My main focus was to create a building whose very layout of rooms and internal communication, would help to create a space that would allow these principles to be implemented. Going through the stage shows that in this theatre there is no boundary between actor and audience.

#3 Your black and white animations convey a deep atmosphere. What is the meaning behind them and how do you try to convey it?

In my opinion, the use of colour is very dependent on the context and the emotion we want to evoke in the viewer of our project. In works where I try to keep things mysterious, I prefer to use black and white illustrations to leave the viewer more room for feeling and perception. However, colour is no stranger to me. In my thesis, which was one of my most recent projects, the materials used, the presence of nature and the depiction of rurality were of great significance. In such a situation, it was colour that had the most importance.

Animation: © Natalia Torbiarczyk

#4 What role do illustrations play in your architectural projects. How do you approach them?

I treat illustrations as showing a non-existent world that oscillates between our imagination and reality. For some time now, I've seen the beauty in being honest and presenting illustrations first and foremost as truth, without pretense or unnecessary elements. Of course, during my student or competition projects, I used methods that were different from the ones I use now. In my new works, I aim to illustrate my concepts with appropriate honesty, tenderness and sensitivity in such a way as to bring the viewer as close as possible to the real world.

#5 What tools and techniques do you use?

A pencil and a piece of paper accompany me throughout the design process. With the initial urban planning assumptions, I can't imagine working without a mock-up, even the simplest one made of paper and a map base. When it becomes easier to make some changes in computer programmes, I start working with Autocad and Sketchup. The end of the project is always hours spent in Photoshop.

#6 You are part of the project “Wrocławiaki”, can you tell us something about the intention of the project and the process of creation?

The idea for "Wrocławiaki" - graphics showing our favourite buildings in Wrocław - was born almost 5 years ago, while we were studying Architecture at the Wrocław University of Technology together. We are currently studying and working in different countries, the graphics help us return with our thoughts to this city that is so special to us.

From the beginning of the project, our intention was to give a fresh perspective on the architecture of this city, hence the unusual but consistent colour scheme. Wroclaw's buildings come from very different historical periods but spreading examples from the modern and post-modern periods is most important to us, as it is these buildings that are most often ignored or criticised.

We therefore very much hope that through our graphics, the work of prominent architects associated with Wrocław, such as Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, Krystyna and Marian Barscy or Wojciech Jarząbek, will find a new audience of admirers.

We do not have a specific division of roles in the creative process. We often exchange tasks, which helps to create each project from a different point of view. We always honestly exchange opinions and make corrections together, wanting the graphics to be as interesting as possible.

Illustrations by: Weronika Kozak, Jakub Chrząstek, Weronika Dardzińska and Natalia Torbiarczyk

#7 Now that you have graduated (congratulations!) what are your plans/ next steps?

Thank you! Knowing myself (probably well), I realise that what I say today may be very different from what I say next week. For the past few years, I have been trying to gain experience in architectural offices in Wrocław. However, I can't hide the fact that I have been thinking about going to Italy, where I had the opportunity to live and study for a few months. I miss learning about a new culture and trying to understand people in a different background from the one I've seen so far. As I mentioned, I have many plans, but one thing is certain - I want to be involved in design and creative work.

#8 How do you see the role of the architect in today's society?

I feel that, as an architect, I should see more, perceive, anticipate, discuss and relate to the world around us with the appropriate sensitivity. Consequently, the role of an architect should be to be able to make conclusions from these very observations and implement them in the project process. I believe that our main task is to impact the quality of the space around us, hence the priority in this industry should be (especially today) to design in harmony with nature. Unfortunately, knowing the reality, I realise that this is not easy.

#9 Three things that inspire you at the moment:

Walking alone and human watching.

Folding chair by Aldo Jacober.

Inner calm.

#10 What are you currently reading, watching and listening to?

There is a short story by my bedside - A Riot of Goldfish, written by Okamoto Kanoko. Today I saw Koyaanisqatsi (1982). Lately, I have been listening to birdsong because it makes me feel the warm days of spring coming closer.

Links

Instagram: @krysiowe2

Photo Credits: © Natalia Torbiarczyk, Interview Caroline Steffen