Architecture that teaches everyday life

Architecture that stands on the side of people begins with mindfulness. It starts with an encounter with another person, including those whom life has dealt a harder hand. Interacting with people who are disabled, excluded or lost can change a designer's perspective. It teaches gratitude, but also humility. It pushes fascination with form into the background, in favour of concern for what happens within the walls. There, all turns around relationships, safety, everyday rhythms,...

Social architecture always thinks about people, especially those who have fallen, and those who are looking for a place for themselves. However, it is also about ordinary residents whose needs, although invisible, shape the meaning of space. In a small village in Podlasie, 130 kilometres from Warsaw, such a project has just been created for the Lena Grochowska Foundation. This project, called ‘Farma toMy’ (Farm to Us), is the work of the Arche group, and was designed by Piotr Grochowski and Wojciech Kolęda. It is a support home for people with disabilities, where everyday life follows simple rules and where everyone who lives there is a host.

“We treat it like a normal farm”, says Piotr Grochowski. “They are the hosts of the place. We don't want them to feel like they are wards of an institution. It is their home, where they make decisions about their daily lives, learn responsibility and how to take care of the space together.”

Currently, seven people live here with a caretaker, an instructor who is part of the life of the house, not a supervisor. It is only the beginning of the project, but after just two weeks, the parents of the residents told us that they could see a change: they noticed a greater independence, a willingness to act and a different way of functioning. This place is designed to teach them a daily routine, how to work, but above all, how to cope on their own. When they leave here, these people will be able to live independently and find their place in everyday life.

The project stems from the philosophy of the Lena Grochowska Foundation (Grupa Arche). This combats exclusion through real employment and housing, not institutional care. The foundation already runs workshops and training centres in several cities. The farm is the next link in the chain: a six-month transitional stage that teaches everyday skills such as cooking, washing, organising the day, working in the garden and greenhouse, and food processing. Everyday life here has a productive and social dimension. Preserves are made and sold to Arche hotels and elsewhere. The idea is normal work for normal pay, not occupational therapy. The model minimises the risk of re-dependence: it teaches skills that are often lacking due to an overprotective environment.

The architectural response is a direct derivative of the programme. The building has a circular plan and presents a clear, egalitarian form without hierarchy. The circle allows all residents to be ‘on an equal footing’ while naturally focusing life in a common centre. It is there, in the meeting space, that residents gather in the evenings to talk and spend time together. The ring of functions includes bedrooms with bathrooms, a dining room, a utility area and a greenhouse accessible directly from the kitchen.

“A simple daily routine translates into a simple spatial layout”, emphasises Piotr. “The layout has been designed so that everyday activities are repetitive and easy to remember. For people who have not previously functioned according to a fixed rhythm, such a clear organisation of space is a huge support. Architecture becomes a tool for learning independence and helps to form habits, organise the day and, at the same time, provides a sense of security.

In the circle of community

The circle also has a broader meaning. The building stands in an open field, with no immediate neighbours. The form does not create a new urban structure, but acts as a single point, softly inscribed in the landscape.

“We didn't want to be rigidly defined by the boundaries of the plot or the sightlines”, says Piotr. “We wanted the building to blend into its surroundings, to act as a gentle accent in the landscape, looking equally friendly from all sides, with no front or back. This form allows the landscape to ‘flow’ freely past it.”

The building was constructed using a wooden frame technology. This is not only a matter of ecology – although wood significantly reduces the environmental footprint and allows for ‘reversibility’ of interference with the terrain – but also a gesture of rootedness in local tradition. Wooden houses are a natural element of the Podlasie landscape, and here this material becomes a bridge between old craftsmanship and contemporary design. Minimalist details and neutral finishes have been chosen deliberately. This house is not about imposing a ready-made, finished aesthetic. On the contrary, the architecture here is a frame that residents can gradually fill with their own objects, souvenirs and small everyday items.

“We don't design everything down to the last detail but leave space for the users”, says Piotr. “This decision means that over time, the interiors acquire a patina and diversity, creating a kind of patchwork. It is far from sterile, catalogue perfection, but close to the people who create the everyday life of this place.”

The practical dimension is also important: wood on this scale and with this technology allows for relatively quick assembly, lower operating costs and easier maintenance. These are materials and solutions that can be replicated in subsequent investments of this type. They don’t lose their individual character, because the final shape will be determined by the residents anyway.

A safe haven

The compact, single-storey building is both a functional and strategic solution from a safety point of view. Short escape routes, no complicated communication systems and full visibility of individual zones enable the instructor to react quickly if necessary. The entire layout has been designed to minimise potential hazards and facilitate orientation for people who may have difficulty finding their way around.

“We wanted everyone to feel at ease, but also to know that they are within sight of someone who can help if necessary”, says Piotr. “For people who are just learning to be independent, this transparency of space is important because it reduces stress and feelings of disorientation.”

Landscape and context

The building stands on the former site of the Grochowski family estate, in an open field adjacent to meadows where a herd of about 150 fallow deer roam freely. The area is surrounded by a vast landscape. Its lack of dense development means that the building does not compete with any urban structure, but rather becomes a point in space, a subtle accent among the fields and grass.

“We are a point in a field, we have no city or village with an imposed layout around us,” says Piotr Grochowski of Grupa Arche. "That's why we wanted a form that wouldn't create artificial urbanism here, but would approach the landscape in a gradual way. We wanted the sides of the building to ‘blur’, allowing the landscape to flow around it rather than stopping at sharp edges.”

The circular form perfectly achieves this goal. It blurs boundaries and does not position the building rigidly in relation to sightlines or plot boundaries. This makes the building ‘be’ rather than ‘domineering’. The farm is a model of how small, precisely designed architecture can respond to a systemic problem – adulthood without independence and a sense of loneliness. It is functional architecture that organises the day and supports the learning of new skills, but does not impose an identity on the user. Although rooted in the landscape of Podlasie and the tradition of wooden construction, it carries a universal lesson: that social architecture begins with a question not about the building, but about the person. About their daily rhythm, needs, sensitivity and sense of security. It is a language that can be translated into many cultures and places – from rural landscapes to dense urban fabrics – without losing its meaning. At a time when many buildings are designed with ‘effect’ and visual impression in mind, the Farm shows a different way. This is a design that grows out of relationships, matures in everyday use and, over time, becomes increasingly intertwined with the people for whom it was created. This is architecture that does not end with construction, but lives and changes with its inhabitants.

All photos: © Dawid Drzewowski