Grzegorz Piątek at ARCHI-STRADA 2026
The ARCHI-STRADA space is also a venue for author meetings organized in cooperation with the Bookarest bookstore. We present the first guest: Grzegorz Piątek – writer, journalist, and architect, who on February 5 will talk about his latest book entitled Świątynia i śmietnik. Architektura dla życia (Temple and Dumpster: Architecture for Life).
photo by Karolina Jackowska / press materials from W.A.B. Publishing House
About the author:
Born in 1980. Writer, journalist, architect by education, author of the books: Świątynia i śmietnik. Architektura dla życia (The Temple and the Dump. Architecture for Life) (2025), Starzyński. Prezydent z pomnika (Starzyński. The President from the Monument) (2024), Gdynia obiecana (Gdynia Promised) (2022), Niezniszczalny. Bohdan Pniewski – architekt salonu i władzy (Indestructible. Bohdan Pniewski – Architect of the Salon and Power) (2021), Najlepsze miasto świata. Warszawa w odbudowie 1944-1949 (The Best City in the World. Warsaw in Reconstruction 1944-1949) (2020), Sanator. The Career of Stefan Starzyński (2016). Winner of literary and cultural awards, including the Literary Award of the Capital City of Warsaw, Polityka's Passport, the Nike Readers' Award, the Kazimierz Moczarski Award, and the Jerzy Giedroyc Award. He co-created exhibitions including Hotel Polonia. The Afterlife of Buildings (Golden Lion at the Venice Architecture Biennale, 2008) and Warsaw Data (Museum of Warsaw, 2017). Chairman of the Municipal Naming Team at the Mayor of Warsaw (since 2023).
Temple and garbage dump. Architecture for life (2025)
A story about architecture for everyday life that defies all conventions, created alongside great works and spectacular buildings.
The history of architecture usually focuses on masterpieces and prestigious buildings – temples, residences, monuments, government buildings, and cultural institutions. But these places are exceptions, extremes, and it is everyday places that determine the quality of life, comfort, and health.
In a book that is a combination of essay, reportage, diary, and manifesto, Grzegorz Piątek guides us through such unprestigious yet essential spaces: public toilets, nurseries, kindergartens, senior centers, transport hubs, and municipal housing. He shows creators and investors who try to think outside the box, combining economy and quality, beauty and utility, financial and physical accessibility. He writes primarily about places he knows from his own life and asks for the opinions of users, whose experience is the ultimate test of an architect's ideas. He calls for disputes over good taste and wars over symbols to be replaced by deep reflection on whether architecture serves the good life or, on the contrary, hinders it.
The book description comes from the publisher - Wydawnictwo W.A.B.
Bookarest bookstore invites you to a meeting with the author
Bucharest is the people who create it. A place born out of a passion for art, architecture, design, and literature. In 2004, it was named the most designer bookstore in Europe by Elle Decoration. Bookarest is a Third Place (according to Ray Oldenburg) where you can find good literature, drink delicious coffee, and simply relax. As part of ARCHI-STRADA, the Bookarest bookstore will have its own stand and relaxation area, located in pavilion 5 at the Poznań International Fair. Throughout the fair, books on architecture and design will be available for purchase at the stand. Come and visit us!
