about planning phase 0 at the CCA Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw -
In autumn 2013 Umschichten arrive in Warsaw to begin a two-month residency at the CCA Ujazdowski Castle as part of the A-I-R Laboratory programme. At this time, the CCA is in the spotlight of attention, for a conflict between the institution’s staff and its director until then latent, has flared up and become public.
In their practice, Studio Umschichten explore the relationship between architecture and social space. Their projects are usually site-specific and informed by interviews that the architects conduct to diagnose the needs or issues of their host institu- tions. Then this architectural ‘special unit’ comes up with potential remedies, whether social or spatial. Those are usually facetious projects, rooted in childish spontaneity and imaginativeness, executed in a tongue-in-cheek manner, yet highly apt in their diagnosis of the given situation.
(Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka)
