A team consisting of Mecanoo, Michael van Gessel, Delva Landscape Architects and Jojko Nawrocki Architekci has won a competition to design the Royal Lazienki Museum in Poland's capital. The 1,800 square meter museum will be buried beneath a triangular, 2.5 hectare “Garden of the 21st Century” in Lazienki Park, one of Warsaw’s most popular cultural destinations. Michael van Gessel and Delva Landscape Architects will focus on the garden, while Mecanoo leads the museum's design.
Would you ever want live in the Keret House - the world's skinniest dwelling - in Warsaw, Poland? Well, now's your chance. The Polish Modern Art Foundation has announced an open call for resident applications to artists (under age 35) practicing in the fields of architecture, visual arts, literature, music or film. If selected, artists will have the opportunity to live in the Keret House for up to 21 days to realize a project of their own design. The residency aims to foster individual artistic expression, promote creative exchange, and expose artists to the cultural environment of Poland while offering them the chance to experience what many believe to be an "impossible architecture." See if you are eligible to apply here.
The proposal by Moko Architects for the Diving and Indoor Skydiving Center restores a part of a house factory in Żerań which operated in the past,. They turn a building in a non-developed area with abandoned halls and warehouses into a recreation center open all year round in the old silos where bulk cement used to be stored in the past. The existing facility is a perfect base for this investment and will be the only place in Poland where people wishing to learn the skills of diving will have the opportunity to safely train at the depth of 25m under control. More images and architects' description after the break.
Custore, an experimental project, is a pavilion that explores the areas of parametric architecture used for the commercial market. Designed by Anna Dobek + Mateusz Wojcicki, they had to deal not only with the aesthetic issues of computer-generated sculptural forms, but also with practical problems associated with the execution of the project inside a commercial building, and - most importantly – with the real clash of artistic forms and commercial market guidelines. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Inspired by the movement of the curtain, an element inherently connected with the theatre, this second prize winning proposal for the Operlab competition focuses on this movement to induce the emotions of the viewers. Designed by Rafal Oleksik and Krzysiek Stepien, it was crucial in the proposed concept of the pavilion to induce such emotions to encourage people to enter the facility, and at the same time, allow them to become a part of the show whether it be exhibitions, screenings, a concert or a discussion. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The Weaving In-Tension (WIT) Pavilion is a multi-functional temporary pavilion designed by Meta- Studio for the Operalab Competition. The modular project concentrates on customizable space with the aim of not only to create various purposes of space, but to reflect the theatre performing motion and spirit to the pavilion. Inspired by the dancing or performance motion captured in time, the project’s facade represents the abstract act and movement of the performance of the theatre. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The idea of establishing Operalab – a mobile think tank - in the urban environment is the evidence of the transformation taking place in the structure of the Grand Theatre - National Opera, representing the openness and modernity of this elite cultural institution. Designed by exexe Studio, the main idea behind their proposal is the separation of part of the urban fabric, provoking creative use and generating more space rather than just designing the building. This time, it's not the audience coming to the theater, but a theater coming to the audience. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Confronted with an original form of the pyramid, the shape of the Operlab Theatre Pavilion proposal, designed by UGO Architecture and Design, is the result of a consistent analysis of the building of the Grand Theatre. The character and function of a row of interior spaces, including the entrance, auditorium, and stage, finds its reflection in the arrangement of forms composing the body of the building. The pavilion then becomes a repetition of this arrangement and gives it additional meaning. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Designed by Studio Alfirevic, their proposal for the Operalab Theatre Pavilion competition represents ‘live’ theater, in which different performances and experiments take place in the field of art. The suggested position of the pavilion is in the fringe area of the park, in the direct vicinity of the building of the Great Theater. The circular form of the pavilion is a subtle response to the conditions of the natural environment and it allows an equal visual experience from all sides. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Earlier this week, we announced the completion of the world’s narrowest house in Warsaw, Poland. The Keret House was first conceived as a seemingly impossible vision of the Polish architect Jakub Szczesny of Centrala, who first presented the idea as an artistic concept during the WolaArt festival in 2009. Now, three years later, the vision has become a reality and is drawing a significant amount of international attention to the city of Warsaw.
Built between two existing structures from two historical epochs, the narrow infill is more of an art installation that reacts to the past and present of Warsaw. Although the semi-transparent, windowless structure’s widest point measures only 122 centimeters, it’s naturally lit interior doesn’t seem nearly as claustrophobic as one would think.
The Keret House will serve indefinitely as a temporary home for traveling writers, starting with Israeli writer Etgar Keret.
Images and the architects’ description after the break…
Designed by gmp Architekten, Warsaw’s National Stadium prevailed against international competition and won the World Stadium Award in the best multifunctional stadium design and most innovative use of technology categories in stadium design. On the occasion of the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, the stadium was reconstructed on top of the existing – but since 1988 no longer used and dilapidated – earth wall stadium (Stadion Dziesieciolecia), and re-opened in January of this year. More images and architects’ description after the break.
