A Polish Himalayan Center will be established in Katowice. Patron - Jerzy Kukuczka, one of the most important figures of Polish Himalayanism. The museum commemorating another famous Himalayan, Reinhold Messner, was designed by Zaha Hadid. Why exactly Zaha? Her design won the competition. Most buildings of this type are built on the basis of projects selected in competitions... But the Kukuczka Museum project is to be selected without a competition.
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The planned Himalayan Center was already written about with excitement by mountain-themed portals last year. So far, a website commemorating Polish Himalayan mountaineer Jerzy Kukuczka is thriving, and it also provides the only "virtual museum." Meanwhile, at the top of the Kronplatz mountain, in South Tyrol, there is a museum of Kukuczka's greatest rival, Reinhold Messner. The distinctive block, designed by one of the most popular architects, Zaha Hadid, serves as an impressive monument, mimicking the shape of a glacier, but also functions as a small shelter and vantage point. There were more than one design ideas for the Messner Mountain Museum Corones, but this one turned out to be the best choice according to the jury of the architectural competition. Everyone was also looking forward to the competition for the Polish Himalayan Center....
Messner Mountain Museum Corones | kronplatz.com
We wanted Reinhold Messner to be a member of the international competition jury that will select the best design for the Jerzy Kukuczka Himalayan Center to be built in Katowice. After all, Kukuczka is a world figure," says a representative of the Katowice-based Association of Polish Architects in an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza.
But the architectural competition will probably not take place. Why?
Workshops as an alternative
Looking for alternatives to architectural competitions is not new. In many countries, more and more voices are breaking through, about the fact that such competitions spoil the market, or negatively affect the development of the industry. Seemingly fair, because, after all, they give everyone a chance to appear. In reality, it happens that they disqualify young, talented architects, or smaller firms that can't afford to work for free to possibly shine when the chances of that shine are relatively slim. For years in competitions for the biggest projects, the same names, the same company names, come through. Is it because they are really the best? Or is their position in the industry stable enough that they can afford to invest the time (and therefore money) of the architects they hire to work on a competition project that may or may not be profitable at all? Competition "disadvantages" are plentiful, yet to this day no one has come up with a better method of project selection. But still. Another attempt. The design for the Jerzy Kukuczka Museum is to be selected through a special workshop conducted.
Mural in Katowice | fot. wspinanie.pl
A decision has been made to first conduct a study and design workshop for the development of a preliminary urban-architectural concept. The workshop is also to develop preliminary scenarios for the arrangement of the main expositions and a cost estimate, says Michal Lychak, spokesman for the City Council.
The aforementioned workshops are to select a preliminary urban planning and architectural concept for the Jerzy Kukuczka Himalayan Center and the development of the area in the area of Katowicka and Markiefka streets in Katowice's Bogucice. The formula of the workshops themselves is not something new, although they usually led to the next stage, which was the competition. But this time they are to replace it completely.
Thanks to the workshops, we can obtain optimal conceptual solutions," argues spokesman Michal Lyczak.
The concept, selected during the workshop planned by the City Council, will be the initial draft for further design work. A tender for implementation will then be announced.
architects have doubts
In addition to a rich and creative debate for the selection of the best solutions - a kind of tribute to those who have dedicated their lives to the mountains and their commemoration - another point on the cultural map of Katowice will be created with a chance for the much-awaited revitalization of Bogucice," the president of SARP in Katowice, Mikołaj Machulik, wrote in September 2020, in an official statement to the Katowice city authorities.
According to information made available on the government portal, the city of Katowice has received PLN 2.3 million from the Government Local Investment Fund to prepare the Himalayan Center project. And according to the assessment of architects from SARP in Katowice, this is definitely enough to organize the competition and pay for the winning concept design. Why doesn't the city have a competition planned?
According to architects from the Association of Polish Architects in Katowice, a really good design has a chance to emerge only if a competition is held. That is, as has been the case so far, in most cases. The city, disregarding the opinion of architects, relies on workshops and appoints a special commission. The president of the Association, Mikolaj Machulik, decided not to participate in the workshop committee, appointed by the city.
architecture stands by the competition
The idea of a competition is a kind of foundation of the architectural policy we have become accustomed to. Undoubtedly, it is thanks to competition proceedings that designs have been created for some of the best buildings in the world, the names of which do not even need to be cited. The natural rivalry and the chance to "stand out" or establish themselves motivates many architects. For others, it is something unhealthy, often not entirely fair but.... Are there really better solutions? Won't the risk of testing the workshop formula be tragic for the final result? What is really behind this novel idea?
