Julian, I need your help with something cool!

Almost four years ago, I heard that after answering a call from Mateusz Hodurek, a good friend of mine from Pracownia Inżynierska. They had just won a tender to design the renovation of “Jordanówka”, the iconic round pavilion in Kraków’s Park Jordana.

As part of the project, they were also tasked with preparing concept designs for several other buildings within the park. I grew up spending a lot of time there, so the place holds a special meaning for me - and of course, I was in! Together with Bartek Hodurek and Mirosław Stępień, we spent countless hours discussing and developing ideas for how these buildings could evolve. For some of them, we even used VR to better present our concepts to ZZM.

But the idea for one of them, “Bajlandia” started with a digital sketch I made. But before I get into that, let me tell you a bit about the building itself. Over the years, this modernist building had fallen into a bad state. Moreover, it had been painted over in a poor attempt to make it look like a “blue castle”. Because of that, most people would probably describe it as “super ugly and kitschy.” Still, it has an important role as it is one of the few places in the park where you can buy some drinks and food (it is also located right next to a big playground for kids).

I still remember the moment during a site visit when I stopped seeing it through the eyes of a child and started seeing it as an architect. That’s when I began to appreciate the original design hidden beneath layers of paint, rust, and time.

That realization led us to a clear decision: we wanted to preserve the building’s modernist character while adapting it to today’s market-driven reality. We added external stairs to make the roof accessible, opened up the structure with large, full-height windows, and introduced glass balustrades hidden behind planters with cascading greenery. We also proposed red canvas roofs over the new terrace - something that sparked a bit of debate with the local heritage department (but hey, not trying is sometimes the bigger sin).

We presented the concept to ZZM, included some comments, and honestly, I forgot about it after that.

Then, just recently, I found out that in February, ZZM selected new managers for the building - the ones who are willing to invest in it. Furthermore, our concept was included in the tender and the final agreement. There’s still a long road ahead for the new investors (starting with getting a building permit), but I’m already happy to have played a part in improving a space that means so much to me - and to many others in Kraków.