In September 2023 INTBAU Norway organised the one-week International Workshop on Traditional Crafts in Milanówek, Poland, aligning with the revitalisation efforts of the historic villa Valeria. Read on to explore the workshop’s comprehensive content and view images of the sessions.
Lectures were held every day from 9:00 to 12:00
The workshop, led by experts from Norway and Poland, featured a series of lectures covering a wide array of topics pertinent to traditional urbanism, classical architecture, and wooden architecture in both countries. Participants delved into the history of the timber industry in Norway, explored techniques in masonry, woodcarving, and stucco, and engaged in discussions on the essence of beauty in architecture, among other subjects.
Afternoon activities from 13:00 to 16:00 included building a garden pavilion in traditional techniques.
The pavilion consisted of a stone base using lime mortar and topped with brick that was to be used as a seat. On top of the stone base, there was a wooden construction using only traditional joints without any metal nails.
The programme included a stucco workshop and participants visited an antique furniture workshop where students had a chance to see all the stages of renovating and conservating old furniture.
Participants visited the building site of Willa Waleria, where extended rehabilitation works were taking place.
Each day concluded with lectures covering diverse subjects such as rural and villa architecture, Mazowia and Żuławy wooden constructions, antique building restoration, and the translocation of wooden structures. Additionally, participants enjoyed guided tours of neighbouring towns, offering insight into the region’s most esteemed examples of wooden houses.
On the culmination of the sixth day, a comprehensive summary presentation was held, followed by the distribution of diplomas to all participants, marking the successful completion of the workshop.
To captivate visitors and students, the programme presented a model of a dragon-style building Hasselbakken restaurant from St. Hanshaugen Park in central Oslo before it burned down in 1936.
The week finalised with a visit to a manor house in Brześce dating back to the XVII century, where participants sat at a masterclass, followed by a festive traditional Polish lunch.
This is a a larch-wood building, standing in Brześce by the lake, and dates back to approximately 1784. It was designed and lived in by Jan Kanty Fontana – architect, and burgrave of the royal castle in Warsaw. The manor is part of a historic complex, which also includes a park and additional buildings at the farm.
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