Summing up the year is usually a boring cliché and a media ritual. So we propose not a compilation of the best realizations of 365 days, but a synthesis of the results of two competitions for the best architecture of Poznan and Greater Poland. What did they tell us about architecture and - equally important - about the competitions themselves? What is worth changing about the latter?
This year's Wielkopolska competitions are primarily about the 2023 realizations, although, as it turned out, not only. The first competition has a long tradition dating back to 1998. It awards the statuette of Jan Baptista Quadro (the author of the Renaissance expansion of Poznań City Hall). The award is given to the best object completed in the previous year (there is no division into categories). The organizer is the City of Poznań(the President's award) in cooperation with SARP, WOIA and UWI Inwestycje (the initiator of the award). This year was the twenty-sixth edition of the competition, the result of which we presented in more detail in October.
The second competition is held for the Architectural Award of the Wielkopolska Region. This year saw the fifth edition of this competition organized by the Association of Polish Architects with the support of the regional Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Poland (the Marshal's Office and the District Office also participate). The competition was organized in order to take a broader look at the activities of Poznan and Greater Poland architects, and - also for educational purposes - to appreciate the realizations in smaller centers of the region. The competition, modeled in part on other regional competitions of this type, is divided into several categories. A Grand Prix is also awarded. We presented the results of this year's edition a month ago.
NAWW Grand Prix, Award in the Public Building category, Award in the Interior category Hall - Sports and Entertainment Hall in Książ Wielkopolski, design: PL.Architekci photo: Bartłomiej Bajon
photo: Bartłomiej Bajon
on the level, but few entries
In the NAWW competition, the PL.Architekci studio triumphed above all : in three categories (house, public building, interior) and as Grand Prix winner . The jury awarded the sports hall in Książ Wielkopolski and the reconstruction of the twin "cube" house in Poznań. In the Quadro competition, the main prize was awarded for a multi-family house in the Jeżyce district still designed by the Litoborski + Marciniak studio. Still, because in 2023, partner Piotr Marciniak said goodbye to the office and it functions today as Litoborski and Partners. However, in the aggregate classification of both competitions, the second place on the podium rather belongs to the Insomia studio, which won the NAWW award in the multi-family residential building category(the complex at 2 Murawa Street in Poznań) and (the only other award besides the grand prize) a distinction in the Quadro competition.
The Jan Baptista Quadro Award of the President of the City of Poznań - multifamily building at 23 Kościelna Street, designed by Litoborski + Marciniak,
Illustrations from the competition organizers
Award in the NAWW 2024 multi-family residential building category - Murawa 2 estate in Poznań, proj.: Insomia
photo: Przemysław Turlej, Aleksandra Mucha
Also honored in the NAWW competition were Pawel Grobelny for bridges in Slupca ("common space" - see the opening photo of the article), Pracownia Architektoniczna 1997 for the expansion of the palace in Sobieszow (the "export work" category for Wielkopolska architects for a project outside the borders of the province). The award in the Young Artist category went to Jędrzej Pawlaczyk. An honorable mention was also given in the "common space" category for the pulpit - a viewing platform on Lake Malta in Poznań (designed under the direction of Partizan Architecture as part of the Mood for Wood workshop).
Award in the NAWW 2024 Export Work category - Museum and Education Center of the Karkonosze National Park - Sobieszow Palace, proj.: Pracownia Architektoniczna 1997
photo: illustrations from the competition organizers
The level was quite high, although a certain surprise was the prize in the Quadro competition. The winner was a building of very good quality, but nevertheless quite "generic". There were more interesting works in the finals. However, the jury argued that the idea was to show how the architectural "meat" of the city should be shaped, i.e. a residential building of medium standard. The competitions also confirmed the high level of works by previously awarded Poznan studios: PL.Architekci and Insomia.
Award in the single-family house category NAWW 2024 - Dom A, Poznań, proj.: PL.Architekci
photo: Bartłomiej Bajon
Both competitions have great educational value, and also help to value the achievements and level of the local architectural community, but they face a significant problem: the relatively small number of entries. To a much greater extent, this applies to the Quadro award. Only 12 projects were submitted for this year's edition from all of Poznań. In the case of NAWW, there were more, one hundred and one. However, this is the number for the entire province, and it was helped by a modification of the regulations. For the award, it was not necessary to submit - as before - realizations only from the last year. The pool was therefore increased by investments completed earlier. In addition, almost half of the entries were interior projects - not included in the Quadro competition.
NAWW Grand Prix, Award in the Public Building category, Award in the Interior category - Sports and Entertainment Hall in Książ Wielkopolski, design: PL.Architekci photo: Bartłomiej Bajon
photo: Bartłomiej Bajon
Fear of evaluation?
As in the case of other national competitions for the best architecture of the "season," therefore, are the results of NAWW and Quadro a product of the level of the latest output, but also of the ambition or desire of the architects who submit their projects for evaluation. However, they still do not answer the question of the general state of new architecture - led by the numerous productions of multifamily houses and haphazardly scattered residential condominiums within metropolitan areas.
There are, moreover, studios that - as a rule - do not participate in these competitions. Sometimes these are thriving and prolific offices. Their action looks like a well-thought-out strategy. They know that they design a lot, but mediocre and - not infrequently - under the dictates of developers. Those frosting these projects with marketing messages and it is more convenient for no jury to say "check." It's better not to get an award without entering the competition than to take the challenge and end up on the rejection list. Behind-the-scenes information can be given on occasion that contests are being ignored because, for example, their organization is not of high enough quality or the rules are not transparent enough. The excuse is not implausible at that. The fodder could be, for example, the Quadro competition, which has not been reformed for years, with its lack of categorization, debatable verdicts and method of evaluation (only this year there was something like an on-site inspection of sites).
Honorable mention in the Common Space category - Pulpit, viewing platform on Lake Malta, Poznań, design: Partizan architecture
photo: Dawid Majewski
The competition for NAWW fares much better here, with the jury vetting most of the nominated objects in nature from the very beginning. This activity, which is indispensable in professional evaluation, has more than once corrected preliminary opinions formed on the basis of photos and projections. The division into categories is also valuable, so that the competition's chapter does not have to choose between a successful single-family house and, say, a spectacular museum or library. What remains to be rethought, however, is the judging of interiors, which would benefit from a separate competition - due to the different nature of this somewhat too lifestyle category, which often (though not always) says little about the level of architecture as such. And certainly does not give even a trace of how the space of Wielkopolska towns and cities is shaped.
interiors like a locomotive
The problem, however, is that interiors are the "pulling power" of the competition. These cheaper-than-others investments not only increase the number of entries (adding significance to the competition), but also attract the average audience: fans of interior design and decorating. Watching the jurnal designs of apartments and bars, by the way, they can get infected with the bug of architecture of a different scale and meaning. They are also interiors a chance for young, up-and-coming architects to break out, who don't have a chance for bigger and more serious commissions. The category will therefore remain in NAWW, although moving it to a separate competition would have an added benefit. Interiors deserve much more careful vetting, with emphasis on functionality, acoustics and accessibility issues. Here one already needs a separate competition chapter with specialists in sound, lighting and universal design. The division between private and public interiors, abandoned in NAWW, could also be reinstated. Finally, in the case of interiors, there is no need to worry about the issue of representativeness of the submitted projects. Private dwellings, after all, have little impact on the quality of the space surrounding everyone.
Award in the NAWW 2024 Export Work category - Museum and Education Center of the Karkonosze National Park - Sobieszow Palace, proj.: Pracownia Architektoniczna 1997
Photo: Illustrations from the competition organizers
The influence is instead single-family houses, with an emphasis on the suburban spats of terraced, semi-detached and single-family small-scale developments already mentioned here . Look in vain for this building mass in the single-family home category. The number of newly constructed buildings of this type probably stands out most glaringly from the number of entries. Thus, in the finals of both competitions, we tend to have very successful houses, but they are punctuated contrasts to the sea of detrimental buildings flooding us (especially on the outskirts of cities) (infrastructure, communications, natural conditions). But this category is also bound to catch on, as single-family houses are also an opportunity that wealthy investors give to architects who can show off.
how about one?
So it would be ideal if the competitions for the hit of the season were the result of a comprehensive review of the achievements of the past year, with an additional anti-award for the worst or most bizarre solutions. For now, however, this is probably a pipe dream. There would have to be a professionalized and continuously operating competition office, whose well-paid employees would do queries, local inspections, collect scattered and usually incomplete data from offices. However, such an activity would be invaluable - not only for the quality of competitions. In the long run , we would have a complete catalog of architectural achievements - an ideal knowledge base to serve planners, local government decision-makers and architecture researchers.
Award in the NAWW 2024 multi-family residential building category - Murawa 2 estate in Poznań, proj.: Insomia
photo: Przemysław Turlej, Aleksandra Mucha
In Greater Poland, one thing is possible for now: a combination of the faltering Quadro competition and the growing NAWW. The Quadro statuette could stand firm in the new NAWW as a prize for a strictly Poznan-based realization. All organizational forces would be directed to one place. It would also help the jurors resolve the annual dilemma: to give the award for good architecture in the regional capital, or - for promotional and educational purposes - to direct the spotlight toward smaller towns. A division between Poznań (or Poznań County) and the rest of the province would probably be fair.
