Polish architect Bogusław Barnaś marks ten years since the first visualizations of his award-winning Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage with the introduction of BXB Blocks and Personalized Polish Houses — two initiatives that bring architectural heritage, contemporary design and creative education together.
By DESIGNER Magazine Editorial Team
Ten years after the first visualizations of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage, Polish architect Bogusław Barnaś is returning to one of the projects that helped establish the international reputation of his practice, BXB Studio. This time, however, the story extends beyond the building itself.
To mark the anniversary, the studio has introduced two collections of architectural blocks, alongside a residential design concept that allows clients to commission personalized versions of some of its most recognizable houses. Together, these developments reflect Barnaś’s continuing interest in Polish architectural traditions and his belief that good design should be understood and experienced by a wider public.
The anniversary also offers an opportunity to revisit the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage, a project whose contemporary interpretation of regional architecture attracted attention well beyond Poland.
Ten Years of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage
The story of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage began a decade ago, when BXB Studio developed the first visualizations of a house inspired by the architectural traditions of southern Poland.
The project drew upon the distinctive character of traditional Polish buildings, particularly their expressive roofs, structural proportions and relationship with the surrounding landscape. Rather than reproducing historical forms, Barnaś sought to reinterpret them through contemporary architectural language.
The result was a house that combined a strong regional identity with an unmistakably modern appearance.
In 2021, the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage received international recognition in the Architecture & Design Awards competition, where it was distinguished as the World’s Most Beautiful House, according to the studio’s announcement.
The project has also received more than ten national and international awards, distinctions and nominations. Among those cited by BXB Studio are the European Property Awards 2021–2022, German Design Awards Special 2022, RTF Global Architecture & Design Awards, World Design Awards 2021, Silver A’ Design Award 2022 and an Honourable Mention at the Architecture MasterPrize 2022.
Its recognition also includes the Małopolska Chamber of Architects’ Architects of Małopolska 2017 distinction, an ArchDaily Building of the Year nomination and a MocNa Rzecz nomination in the MocArty RMF Classic awards.
The project has appeared in architectural selections published by Murator, Dobrze Mieszkaj and Archinea, including lists highlighting notable houses of recent years.
For BXB Studio, these distinctions helped establish the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage as an important reference point in its architectural portfolio. But the studio has continued to develop the ideas behind the original design rather than treating the project as a completed chapter.
The Small Eaves Cottage, a new interpretation of the celebrated house, now forms the basis of two further initiatives: BXB Blocks and Personalized Polish Houses.
From an Award-Winning House to Architectural Blocks
One of the most unusual developments presented for the anniversary is BXB Blocks, a collection of architectural objects designed by Bogusław Barnaś.
The idea is straightforward: to allow people to engage with architecture on a smaller, more personal scale.
Instead of observing a building through photographs, drawings or architectural models displayed behind glass, users can assemble its form themselves and discover how its individual components relate to one another.
BXB Blocks have been developed in two series, Architectural Blocks and Folk Blocks. Both are based on the Small Eaves Cottage, but each approaches the building from a different perspective.
The Architectural Blocks reproduce the house as a miniature three-dimensional construction puzzle. Their components represent different parts of the building, including its relationship with the terrain, ground-floor arrangement, intermediate floor and roof structure.
The Folk Blocks offer a more abstract interpretation. Inspired by Polish folk art and regional architectural heritage, they transform the house into a colourful sculptural composition.
Although the two collections differ in appearance and construction, they share an underlying idea: architecture can be explored through play, observation and creative participation.
Gravity Blocks: A Different Approach to Construction
The Architectural Blocks introduce an assembly principle that distinguishes them from conventional building sets.
The individual elements are designed to connect without traditional mechanical fasteners. Instead, their stability depends on their shape, positioning and weight.
BXB Studio refers to this system as Gravity Blocks.
The concept draws inspiration from traditional carpentry, where carefully shaped structural elements can fit together through the relationship between their forms.
In the miniature model, the pieces are assembled in a particular sequence, gradually creating the complete architectural composition. Their weight helps keep the elements in place, while their geometry determines how they fit together.
This construction method gives the model an educational purpose beyond the finished object. Users can observe the relationship between balance, structural logic and architectural form as they build.
The set includes a terrain base, undulating ground-floor elements, an intermediate floor slab, serrated attic components and a roof.
Each piece contributes to the overall structure, encouraging users to consider the building not simply as an exterior silhouette but as a composition of interconnected architectural elements.
It is a practical introduction to some of the principles that architects work with when translating an idea into a physical structure.
Folk Blocks: Architecture Inspired by Cultural Heritage
The second collection, Folk Blocks, approaches the Small Eaves Cottage through colour, abstraction and sculptural expression.
Its construction is deliberately simple. Differently shaped elements are placed onto a vertical rod, one above another, until they form a three-dimensional object crowned by the silhouette of the building.
The arrangement recalls the layered compositions and decorative qualities associated with traditional folk objects.
Where the Architectural Blocks emphasize structural relationships and spatial organization, the Folk Blocks invite a more expressive form of interaction.
Their shapes and colours allow the architectural model to become an independent decorative object, while retaining a connection to the building that inspired it.
This relationship between architecture and folk tradition is particularly relevant to the wider work of BXB Studio.
Barnaś has repeatedly drawn inspiration from Poland’s regional architecture, exploring how familiar historical forms can be reinterpreted for contemporary life.
With Folk Blocks, that exploration moves from the scale of a building to the scale of an object that can be assembled, displayed and experienced at home.
Making Architectural Education More Accessible
For Bogusław Barnaś, the new collections are connected to a broader ambition to increase public awareness of architecture.
“My goal is not only to create unique buildings and spaces within the Polish landscape, but also to raise architectural awareness in society through architectural education. I believe that the Blocks and Personalized Polish Houses developed by our studio, rooted in our studio’s philosophy, represent another step in fulfilling the mission of BXB Studio,” the architect explains.
The educational aspect is reflected in the materials accompanying the Architectural Blocks.
Each set is presented in a branded box and includes a booklet that guides users through the construction process. The publication also introduces the philosophy and history of the Small Eaves Cottage, supported by technical drawings, visualizations and additional information about the project.
A second publication, The Book of Your Imagination, extends the experience beyond assembling the model.
Designed as a creative workbook, it includes a sketchbook, notebook, architectural puzzles, crosswords and exercises intended to develop spatial imagination.
These additions are significant because they position the blocks as more than collectible miniatures.
They invite users to think about buildings, explore architectural ideas and experiment with their own creativity.
For younger audiences, the process can offer an introduction to geometry, spatial relationships and design thinking. For adults, it provides an opportunity to engage with an architectural project in a way that is both tactile and intellectually stimulating.
In both cases, the intention is to make architecture less distant from everyday experience.
Personalized Polish Houses: Architecture Adapted to Individual Lives
The anniversary also brings attention to Personalized Polish Houses, a concept developed by BXB Studio to make selected designs from its architectural portfolio available to individual clients.
The Small Eaves Cottage is the first project in this collection.
The idea is to begin with an established architectural design and adapt it to the circumstances of a particular family and building site.
As the studio explains, each house is created especially for its future residents and their own place in the world.
This means considering individual requirements, available budgets and the physical characteristics of the plot.
A house may need to respond to a flat site, a steep hillside or a particular landscape setting. Its interior organization must also reflect the everyday lives of the people who will occupy it.
The approach offers an alternative to both conventional standardized house plans and completely individual architectural commissions.
Rather than reproducing an existing design without modification, BXB Studio proposes a process in which a recognizable architectural concept becomes the starting point for a personalized home.
For clients attracted to the studio’s distinctive architectural language, the collection provides an opportunity to explore a design with an established identity while adapting it to practical needs.
It also represents a further stage in the evolution of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage.
What began as an individual architectural project has become the inspiration for a broader residential collection.
The Continuing Influence of Polish Architectural Traditions
An important thread running through these initiatives is the relationship between contemporary design and cultural heritage.
Traditional architecture is closely connected to local materials, climate, craftsmanship and ways of life. Its forms often developed over generations in response to the conditions of a particular region.
For contemporary architects, these traditions offer a substantial source of knowledge and inspiration.
BXB Studio’s approach has been to examine that inheritance and reinterpret it rather than reproduce it literally.
The Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage demonstrates how the silhouette and character of a traditional house can inform a contemporary architectural composition.
The Small Eaves Cottage continues this exploration in a new residential format, while the BXB Blocks translate its design into objects that can be handled and assembled.
There is a consistent architectural idea behind these different expressions.
A building’s identity does not depend solely on its size or function. It can also be communicated through proportion, geometry, construction and recognizable form.
By carrying these elements into smaller objects, BXB Studio demonstrates how architectural heritage can remain relevant across different areas of design.
The collections also create an opportunity to introduce aspects of Polish architectural culture to audiences who may have little previous knowledge of the country’s regional building traditions.
From Boutique Production to New Partnerships
BXB Studio currently produces the blocks on a boutique scale.
The studio has indicated that it is interested in working with companies capable of supporting larger-scale production.
Such cooperation could make the collections available to a broader audience and open new possibilities for their development.
Their combination of architectural design, cultural references and educational content may be of interest to collectors, design enthusiasts and organizations involved in creative learning.
The blocks also represent a different direction for an architectural practice whose primary work has traditionally centred on buildings.
By developing objects inspired by its own projects, the studio is exploring how architectural ideas can be communicated outside the conventional relationship between architect and client.
For BXB Studio, the blocks are an extension of its architectural philosophy, rather than an unrelated product line.
A Decade Later, the Story Continues
Ten years after the first visualizations of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage, the project continues to influence the work of Bogusław Barnaś and BXB Studio.
Its international recognition helped bring attention to a contemporary interpretation of Polish regional architecture. Its later development into the Small Eaves Cottage created new possibilities for residential design.
Now, through Architectural Blocks and Folk Blocks, the ideas behind the building have entered another field: collectible objects and architectural education.
The anniversary is therefore not simply a retrospective celebration of an award-winning house.
It marks the continuing development of a design concept that has moved between architecture, cultural heritage, education and product design.
What makes the initiative interesting is not only the miniature reproduction of a recognizable building, but the decision to invite people to participate in understanding how that building is conceived and constructed.
At a time when architecture is often experienced through digital images, BXB Studio’s new collections bring attention back to physical form, materials, geometry and the act of making.
The Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage began as an architectural interpretation of tradition. A decade later, its influence reaches beyond the original project, offering new ways to encounter and appreciate the ideas from which it emerged.
PROJECT INFORMATION
Architect: Bogusław Barnaś
Architectural practice: BXB Studio, Poland
Original project: Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage
Anniversary: Ten years since the first project visualizations
New residential concept: Personalized Polish Houses
Architectural model: Small Eaves Cottage
Design collections: Architectural Blocks and Folk Blocks
Construction principle: Gravity-based assembly for Architectural Blocks
Production: Boutique-scale production, with opportunities for manufacturing partnerships under consideration
Further information: www.bxbstudio.com
Source: BXB Studio press materials supplied to DESIGNER Magazine. Award references and product details are presented on the basis of information provided by the architectural practice.
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Halina Rosa