Great success of Silesian architects in Belarus

Silesia’s Robert Konieczny has dominated a competition recognizing the best young architects in Eastern Europe. The Katowice resident won three awards at the second International Competition of Young Architects, including the grand prize, the daily newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza reported. This year’s competition, in Minsk, Belarus, drew 150 entrants from 12 countries. In addition to the grand prize, which was for a house he designed, Konieczny won a first in the best-project category.

And he won a Russian Architects Association special prize, also for the house he designed.Two other Poles also won first places – Przemo Lukasik for best restaurant design and Tomasz Konior for best design of a public building.The Polish sweep was even more satisfying for the country’s architectural community because this was the first time Poland had taken part in the competition for architects under 40.It is not the first time that Konieczny, who owns the architectural firm KWK Promes, has earned international recognition.

He won a competition to design the house in Opole, near Wroclaw, that led to his most recent awards.The house sits on two retaining walls above a driveway. Putting the driveway underneath the house allowed the owners to have a garden in the back at the same level as the house. The building opens to all sides. The only way to get to the garden is through the house and an atrium.