Upside-Down House — Daniel Czapiewski

💡 5 things to know

1. A political statementCzapiewski told the local paper the house stands for the past era: the overturning of the whole eastern system. CEPR’s own page calls it an allegory of a world in which tradition and values have been turned on their heads. Kartuzy.info, 10 May 2007 · CEPR, Szymbark (undated page) Checked
2. Wałęsa was surprisedFormer president Lech Wałęsa, who had opened many CEPR attractions, cut the ribbon with a sabre and was visibly astonished. “Daniel, next time warn me!” he said. Kartuzy.info, 14 May 2007 Checked
3. Up to the basementYou enter through a door on the upper floor and then climb “up” until you reach the basement. The building is tilted by more than ten degrees, and visitors said they felt drunk or as if they were on a ship. Kartuzy.info, 14 May 2007 Checked
4. Hard to build, tooCzapiewski’s company normally needs about three weeks to build a house; this one reportedly took 114 days because the workers were disoriented by the angles of the walls. Transparent Language, 17 Nov 2010 · Designing Buildings, edited 27 Oct 2020 Reported
5. A level table in a crooked roomIn a 2013 blog post about her visit, Dorota Zalepa noted that the glasses on the table are not glued down: the table stands level, and it is the house that is crooked. Kameralna, 3 Sep 2013 Checked

📍 Where it is

🗓️ Sightings

1. 200710 May

   Opening announced for 12 May

2. 200714 May

   Local report on the opening

3. 200824 Jul

   Our photo (camera date)

4. 201017 Nov

   Blog on the 114-day build

5. 201327 May

   Photo on Wikimedia Commons

6. 20133 Sep

   Visitor’s account with photos

7. 201416 Jun

   Photo on Panoramio

8. 201524 May

   Photo on Wikimedia Commons

9. 20181 Sep

   IIBEC article

10. 202027 Oct

    Designing Buildings profile

Every stamp links to its source. Green stamps are dated photographs of the house in place (dates from the Commons date field or, for our photo, the camera data); the newest is from May 2015. Amber stamps are announcements, reports and articles. CEPR still lists the house on its current website, but that page is undated, so it gets no stamp.

📰 On the record

✅ The facts

Title

Dom do góry nogami (Polish: “house upside down”), the name used by CEPR and the local press; known in English as the Upside-Down House. CEPR, Szymbark (undated page) · Kartuzy.info, 10 May 2007 Checked

Artist

Daniel Czapiewski, entrepreneur and founder of CEPR. Kartuzy.info, 10 May 2007 · Kartuzy.info, 14 May 2007 · Designing Buildings, edited 27 Oct 2020 Checked

Year

2007; opened on Saturday 12 May 2007. Kartuzy.info, 10 May 2007 · Kartuzy.info, 14 May 2007 · Designing Buildings, edited 27 Oct 2020 Checked

Place

CEPR, Szymbarskich Zakładników 12, Szymbark, Poland. CEPR, Szymbark (undated page) Checked

Medium

Timber-clad house; the builder was reportedly Danmar, a timber construction company, and the foundations reportedly needed 200 m³ of concrete. Designing Buildings, edited 27 Oct 2020 Reported

Interior

Furnished upside down as well, with furniture fixed to the ceiling; one article says it is furnished as it would have been in the communist era. Kartuzy.info, 10 May 2007 · IIBEC, 1 Sep 2018 Reported

Status

Photographed in place in 2008, 2013, 2014 and on 24 May 2015, the newest dated photo we found. CEPR still presents the house as part of a visit on its current, undated website. Antekbojar / Wikimedia Commons · CEPR, Szymbark (undated page) Checked

Our photo

Polimerek, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (also GFDL and other CC BY-SA versions). The Commons date field says 7 August 2008; the camera data says 24 July 2008. We lean to the camera date: 7 August 2008 is also the day the file was uploaded to Commons. Polimerek / Wikimedia Commons Conflicting

🔗 Related

• Buildings That Won’t Behave (10 Photos): the SAU collection with the Upside-Down House

All sources (12)

Official

• CEPR Szymbark: “Dom do góry nogami”, undated page (copyright 2026). The house as an allegory of a world in which tradition and values were turned upside down; address Szymbarskich Zakładników 12.

Press

• Kartuzy.info: “Otwarcie domu do góry nogami. Jak świat stanął na głowie”, 10 May 2007. Opening on 12 May at 13:00; Daniel Czapiewski’s work; furniture on the ceiling.
• Kartuzy.info: “Dom postawiony na dachu otwarty”, 14 May 2007. Lech Wałęsa cut the ribbon; entrance on the upper floor; tilt of more than ten degrees.
• Transparent Language Polish blog: “Amazing Upside Down House”, 17 November 2010. 114 days to build instead of three weeks.
• Kameralna: “Dom do góry nogami – Szymbark”, Dorota Zalepa, 3 September 2013. A first-hand visit with photos.
• IIBEC: “Upside-down house disorients”, 1 September 2018. Completed in 2007; furnished as in the communist era.
• Designing Buildings: “Upside Down House, Poland”, last edited 27 October 2020. Designed by Daniel Czapiewski, completed 2007; built by Danmar in 114 days.

Photos

• Wikimedia Commons: “Dom do gory nogami.jpg”, Polimerek, CC BY-SA 4.0. Our photo; date field 7 Aug 2008, camera date 24 Jul 2008.
• Wikimedia Commons: “Dom do góry nogami 2013.jpg”, Przemysław Jahr (Pjahr), public domain, dated 27 May 2013.
• Wikimedia Commons: “Szymbark dom na głowie – panoramio.jpg”, Wanda Cyculeńko, CC BY 3.0, taken 16 June 2014. The page does not name the artist; it is filed in the Commons category for the Szymbark upside-down house and geotagged there.
• Wikimedia Commons: “SZYMBARK (woj.pomorskie), AB – 047.JPG”, Antekbojar, CC0, dated 24 May 2015. “CEPR – Szymbark. Dom do góry nogami.”

Street Art Utopia

• Street Art Utopia: “Buildings That Won’t Behave (10 Photos)”, 20 October 2026. The SAU post with this work.

Artwork File · Last checked 20 October 2026 · Certainty labels follow How We Verify Art · All Artwork Files