Design and Build Workshop Camp
17th – 23rd August 2026 · Led by Craig Barrow · 10–15 participants
Brutiful Residency Program 2026
Vitruvius Bonfire
Long before walls and roofs, there was a circle around flame. Around fire, language formed, food was transformed, shelter was imagined. Fire created the first shared interior – an invisible architecture of warmth, protection and collective presence. It became the centre around which communities assembled, stories were told, tools were made, and knowledge was passed on.
This year Brutiful.world invites architects, designers, artists and creative spatial thinkers to gather in Garbicz, Poland – a small village between Berlin and Poznań, surrounded by lake, wild forest and open fields to design and construct functional and experimental elements centred on this concept: a fire pit, collective seating, and spatial interventions that explore fire as origin, ritual, transformation and gathering force.
The nomadic Bonfire Island “Vitruvius” will become the evolving heart of Brutiful.World – a movable fire bowl and surrounding seating structures that establish a central place for warmth, dialogue, leisure and celebration. As fire once marked the beginning of civilization, it now marks the beginning of a new chapter for this land and project.
Beyond the main structure, we encourage small experimental projects orbiting the theme of fire – Fire as transformation. Fire as beginning. Set within a one-hectare archipelago of emerging “islands,” the Residency Camp is a one-week collaborative design and build experience rooted in place, material and collective imagination.
Days unfold between workshop tables, the lakeshore and the woodland paths. Evenings gather around fire, shared meals and conversations that stretch into the night. The residency offers time to experiment, exchange and build – together – within a landscape that is still in the making. Evenings will include communal cooking and the sharing of self-made natural wines – moments of warmth, exchange and brutiful leisure.
The residency is led by Craig Barrow, a Berlin-based object and spatial designer whose work explores materials, systems and human interaction. Drawing on his experience as a long-time participant of the annual Designers on Holiday residency on Gotland, Sweden, he brings a strong focus on material-led experimentation, contextual design and collaborative building cultures to Brutiful.World.
Structure
- Date: 17th – 23rd August
- Residents: 10-15
- Location: Garbicz, Poland
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Contribution: 20€ per day
(covers food and accommodation)
What is Provided
- Workspace to experiment, collaborate and grow ideas
- in a unique context: an emerging landscape of thematic “islands”
- Materials and tools for construction
- Communal dining and shared cooking
- Camp-style accommodation in bell tents
- Wood-fired sauna and daily lake swimming
For practitioners who…
- Are architects, designers, artists and creative spatial thinkers
- Are comfortable with unfinished spaces
- Work with place and context
- Value collective process
Application
Deadline: [Date] – Decisions: [Date]
Please send your portfolio and/or a brief motivation to apply@brutiful.world with your full name and city of residence as subject.
