Dürer, Remrandt, Rubens and Picasso. These are just some of the names of the artists whose works are in the collection of the Princes Lubomirski Museum. One of the richest collections of works of art and numismatics in Poland has not had its own seat for more than 200 years. However, everything indicates that this situation will soon change. Construction of the new Museum of the Dukes of Lubomirski in Wroclaw has finally begun. How is the {tag:pracownie} project of 2018 doing today?
The concept of building an edifice for the Princes Lubomirski Museum in Wroclaw has been forgotten by many. The first whispers towards the creation of a new museum took place as early as 2002, when the Ossoline National Institute began its efforts to establish a facility for the collection, whose origins date back to 1823. The institution of the Museum of the Dukes of Lubomirski was reconstituted in 2007, but a lot of water had passed in the Oder River by the time the concept for a new headquarters was conceived. In 2017, the Ossolineum, together with the Wroclaw branch of the SARP, organized a competition to determine the best proposal for the construction of a new edifice for the institution's rich collection. 216 studios from around the world entered the two-stage competition, but the laurels of victory went to Polish architects and architects from the WXCA office.
The Princes Lubomirski Museum in Wroclaw - Visualization of the street view.
vision: Plankton Group © WXCA
The long (un)construction of the Princes Lubomirski Museum
As it happens in Poland, however, there is a long road from conception to realization. For several years, not much happened in the subject of the new Wroclaw museum. Almost half a decade ago, the concept for the permanent exhibition that will fill the interiors of the new edifice was selected in another competition, with the end of 2021 a building permit was successfully obtained, and in 2023 the then Minister of Culture Piotr Gliński visited the Ossolińskis Plant, informing that the final documentation was being prepared.
Shovel driven in, no turning back
Now, however, there is no turning back - the construction of the new building of the Lubomirski Princes' Museum has finally begun. The area designated for development between Aleksandra Fredry Street and Szewska Street has already been fenced off, and a plaque has appeared on the tin fences informing of the start and planned end of the work. This one is expected in December 2027, so one can predict that the Princes Lubomirski Museum will open its doors to visitors in 2028 at the earliest.
Museum of the Lubomirski Princes in Wroclaw - Bird's eye view visualization
vision: Plankton Group © WXCA
like a sardine in a colorful can
The task that faced the architects and architects was not easy. A small plot of land, densely enclosed on all sides, was allocated for the new building. The Princes Lubomirski Museum will be adjacent to the façade of the University Church, the western wing of the Ossolineum, the former building of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the Medical Academy and a row of tenement houses on the street leading to University Square.
The architectural expression of the neighboring buildings certainly didn't make things any easier - whichever way you look, you'll encounter a completely different form of facade development. Three of the four buildings have historic forms, with the facade of each painted in a different color; from the snow-white walls of the University Church, through the canary-colored facades of the former Faculty of Pharmacy, to the red details of the Ossolineum.
The new building of the Princes Lubomirski Museum in Wroclaw
proj.: WXCA
a subdued answer
So how to fit into such diverse surroundings? The WXCA team set out to make the building's expression as neutral as possible. Neutrality is feared in the design both in the massing and in the way the exterior elevations were developed. The building itself was planned on the plan of a quadrangle tightly filling an irregular plot. In accordance with conservation requirements and in reference to the surrounding buildings, the building in the design of the Warsaw studio is covered with a hipped roof with a truncated top. A roof garden for visitors is planned on the flattened area created at its top.
Neutrally, though certainly not ostentatiously, the facade of the designed building is also sparing. This one is covered with small stone blocks with slightly irregular sides and gray color. Similar finishing will also be found on the roof slopes.
A classic spirit in contemporary Wroclaw
The divisions of the facade and the dimensions of the window openings in the design clearly refer to architectural interpretations known since ancient times. Like the piled-up order of the Roman Colosseum or the facades of Renaissance Florentine palaces, the facades of the Lubomirski Princes' Museum building operate with elements that become lighter and lighter optically with successive floors.The areas of the quadrilateral openings decrease on each floor, and there will also be slightly more of them on each floor. Thus, at the base of the building, the facade gives the impression of being optically heavy, built of massive elements, while in its upper parts the divisions and dividers are created by small, densely spaced windows.
The way the exterior elevations are solved is reflected in the vertical structure of the building's interior. Subsequent first floors have increasingly lower suspended ceilings, from 5.7 meters for the first floor to just over three meters for the administrative floor. Vertical communication will take place mainly through a staircase located in the center of the building.
The Princes Lubomirski Museum in Wroclaw - Visualization of the warehouse
image: Plankton Group © WXCA
walk through the amphilade
The first floor is a public space, inviting visitors from the street level thanks to large glazing interspersed with massive rectangular pillars. In the open plan of the first floor, the infrastructure typical of museum architecture has been planned - visitors will find here a café, museum store, ticket office or checkroom. An auditorium has been designed in the northwestern part, while in the center there is a separate closed space, which will house the Gallery of the Visual Panorama of Old Lviv. Adjacent to it is a staircase leading to the upper floors.
Museum of the Lubomirski Princes in Wroclaw - cross section
© WXCA
Exhibition spaces, organized mainly on the second floor of the building, refer to the long tradition of locating museum institutions in palaces. Those who have had the opportunity to visit the collections of Versailles, Prado and even Wilanów will feel familiar in the Princes Lubomirski Museum. This is because the architects used an amphilade layout of rooms, proven in such establishments, in which one exhibition room leads directly to another. The amphilade circles the building along the exterior walls, and in its center, as on the first floor, an enclosed quadrangle space has been set aside for storage.
The second and third floors are spaces accessible primarily to those employed at the museum. Here the design team dispensed with the amphitheatre arrangement of rooms, although the motif of a separate space in the center of the building is repeated on these floors as well. The interior "courtyards" again include storage blocks.
Above the exhibition floor will be educational rooms, conservation studios and storage rooms, while another floor will be used for administration. Auxiliary rooms have been located in the attics.
The Princes Lubomirski Museum in Wroclaw - Visualization of the amphitheatre
vision: Plankton Group © WXCA
grey cube
The visualizations presented by the architects and the people from STUDIO 1:1 designing the exhibition also reveal a bit of information about the interior design of the exhibition spaces. The dominant color scheme will be - no different - neutral gray. The walls will be covered with a concrete finish, and there will be rows of cross beams under the ceilings. The architecture of the exhibitions will represent a minimalist approach, with white, partially mobile displays and black trim.
Museum of the Princes Lubomirski in Wroclaw - Visualization of the hall.
vision: Plankton Group © WXCA
10 years have passed like one day
By the time the Museum of the Princes Lubomirski is completed, roughly a decade will have passed since its design was conceived. That's a chunk of time during which trends in modern architecture have changed significantly. However, this doesn't make the WXCA-designed building obsolete - 10 years is only a fraction of the time it will have to serve the citizens of Wroclaw and all those who want to see the collection of the Lubomirski Princes.
