Polish designer Tomek Michalski is something of a maverick. He's no household name, but his vision extends from using Ikea products for a minimal kitchen to a range of slick yet low-key beds.
His first foray into architecture, a cabin in the forest, is his most eye-catching design yet. Poland is renowned for its outdoor spaces, and the country's citizens like nothing more than to escape big cities such as Warsaw or Gdansk for the cool of the lakes and the forests in the summer.
Michalski's cabin is a take on the traditional wooden homes that many Poles habitually rent or own in any one of 23 national parks. He's visualized a secluded cabin on a slope that at first glance seems to be hanging from a tree.
A triangular roof adds to the illusion, with skylights above a top storey bedroom. Downstairs, the main living space is not a place for the shy, with huge glass panels allowing wildlife a full view of human goings-on.
The design brings the outdoors in, as you become part of the life of the forest. The interior is finished in plywood, giving the feel and sense of a place constructed from the trees around it.
We love Tomek Michalski's singular vision. His images may be convincing, but it's still to be built. If you're as enamoured with this cabin as we are, and there's available woodland nearby, may we suggest a call to Poland?
