All who visit the Krzywy Domek call it the world’s most crooked house. Perhaps fitting, then, that it is predominantly used to conduct business, with most of its rental space let as commercial real estate to companies seeking a spot in the building’s umbrella complex, the Rezydent shopping center. Designed by Polish architects Szotyscy & Zaleski, who drew their inspiration for the showstopper from the fairytale illustrations and drawings of Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg, the Krzywy Domek’s construction completed in in 2004. Today, 43,000+ square feet of warped walls and windows, concave roofs, and architectural glass that look like the reflection of a funhouse mirror await the gaping mouths and camera flashes that pass by and through its doors every day.
Krzywy Domek is Polish for Crooked House, and this is an apt name for a bizarre building in the seaside resort of Sopot, Poland. Designed by Szotynscy & Zaleski and completed in 2004, it functions as a shopping centre and eatery and has become a popular tourist attraction. Along with Gdynia and Gdansk, Sopot makes up a metropolitan area called the Tricity, known for its shopping, restaurants, and bars, as well as it beautiful urban young people.
The Krzywy Domek has a tradition of having those who participate in its cultural events add their names to the building’s “Wall of Fame”, the Polish version of the American Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2009, this quirky attribute was one of many that helped it earn a spot on the list of the 7 Wonders of the Tricity. The designers are great fans of the well known illustrator of children’s fairy tales, Per Dahlberg, and his imaginative sketches became the inspiration for the design of this fun building. They have even purchased some of his original sketches which are displayed throughout the store.
The architectural style of the house is in fact in line with the traditional form of the town but in a warped version as though we are observing it through a fairground mirror. The stained glass entrance and the blue and green enamelled shingles on the roof are illuminated at night, creating an even more surreal appearance for the structure. It comes as no surprise that it claims the prize for being the most photographed building in the whole of Poland.
The Krzywy Domek comes with contemporary society’s version of everlasting cheat sheets: CAD drawings and construction plans. Thanks to these miracles of modernity, we–and future generations into infinity–will always be privy to the secrets of the Krzywy Domek’s bends and buckles. Although the building is relatively young it is already extremely well known around the world and has become a local icon. Built in 2004 the Krzywy Domek aka “The Crooked House” is located in Sopot, Poland. Part of a larger shopping center the building houses restaurants, shops and offices on four levels encompassing some 43,000 square feet
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