Balancing between two countries. The architect Wojtek Grabianowski

Originally, Wojtek Grabianowski, who comes from a well-known, wealthy Poznań family, never had any intention of emigrating. As a great lover of art, he wanted to create something himself, and decided to study architecture. At that time, architecture was taught at the State University of Fine Arts (Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Sztuk Plastycznych), and not at a technical college (Politechnika). There, he met his wife, a fellow student who was studying for a diploma in graphic design. In 1971, during the height of the communist period, the young couple decided to spend their honeymoon making their dream come true of seeing the art treasures of Italy and Spain that they knew from books and photos at first hand. Fascinated by what they were able to experience in the west, they spontaneously decided to spend more time there than originally planned. When “a short time” later they reported to the Polish military mission in West Berlin (there was no Polish embassy there during that time) in order to extend their passports, they were told that they would have to reckon with serious consequences on their return… Gripped by fear and uncertainty, they took the difficult, momentous decision not to go back home to Poland…

At that time, Wojtek Grabianowski did not yet speak German. At his first meeting with Helmut Rhode, head of the RKW architecture bureau in Düsseldorf, which had already been in operation since 1950, he was accompanied by an interpreter, and he knew that his drawings were his only hope of being taken on. Evidently, however, art really doesn’t require translation: he was told to his astonishment that he had been made the first foreign employee of “RKW Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky” in Düsseldorf. Over the first few months, he worked for the company without a residence permit, a work permit or a secure legal standing. However, these problems were quickly resolved. Initially, Grabianowski worked as a simple architect. He rarely talks about this period, but it is evident from what he says that this wasn’t an easy time for him.

He had already gained his first practical experience in his hometown of Poznań. After completing his studies, he worked as an assistant at the university, and was involved in projects such as the completion of the interior of the international exhibition centre halls in Poznań (Międzynarodowe Targi Poznańskie). As well as a large number of practical skills, he also learned what it meant to take on responsibility for his work. In this respect, he likes to quote his first mentor, Professor Stanisław Zamecznik: “I only do exhibitions. They have one clear advantage: if I do a bad job of building a house, it remains standing there for the rest of my life. But if I do a bad job of curating an exhibition, the worst-case scenario is that I simply don’t photograph it.” 

Wojtek Grabianowski spent his entire career in the offices of RKW in Düsseldorf, during which time he had to overcome all kinds of obstacles. One important breakthrough came with the end of communism and the opening of the borders. It began with a project in the former GDR, the conversion of the former abattoir in Leipzig and its historical buildings into the headquarters of the Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR) state radio broadcasting company. The design offered by RKW won the tender, but ultimately, the contract was awarded to a competitor from Munich. Nevertheless, the first step in the east had been taken. Despite the disappointment, it was a positive development. Helmut Rhode delegated to Wojtek Grabianowski the task of establishing an RKW branch office in Leipzig, saying: “You’re from the east, so you’ll understand the people there.” Grabianowski is still surprised by his attitude today. “How can I, born a Pole, understand a German from the east better than a fellow German from the west?” 

After the Leipzig office had been set up, the first project was to convert the Specks Hof commercial and exhibition building in Leipzig into a high-class office building with a modern shopping mall. It wasn’t an easy task, since the building complex was among the landmarks of the city, and the investor, the listed building authority and the local population all had their own ideas about how it should look. However, in the end, it was during this challenge that Grabianowski developed his excellent mediation skills. He worked with visual artists for the first time, and with them created solutions typical of the RKW and Grabianowski style, and which to a certain degree became his architectural trademarks. Not only that: in 1996, the project won an Oscar at the MIPIM, the world’s largest real estate trade fair in Cannes, for “Best Refurbished Office Building”. This opened up opportunities for refurbishing other important historical buildings, including the Mannesmann Tower, the Behrensbau and ARAG-Haus in Düsseldorf, a property owned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Schuch Avenue (Aleja Szucha) in Warsaw, a building in Senatorska Street, the Smyk department store, and the “Round Building” (Okrąglak) and the “Square House” (Kwadraciak) office building in Poznań. However, RKW and Grabianowski didn’t just specialise in refurbishing old buildings.