The Faculty of Arts at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce will get a new building. Established in 2019, the unit, which brings together both visual arts and music teaching, has so far functioned in several buildings scattered around the city. This is set to change in the coming years with a new facility designed by Krakow-based Dresler Studio.
Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce is one of the youngest Polish universities. Previously, since the late 1970s, it functioned as the Higher School of Teachers, where future educators were trained. Over the years, the center was enriched by the addition of other departments, among which were units dedicated to artistic education. This took place, already after the renaming of Jan Kochanowski University, within the framework of the combined Faculty of Pedagogy and Art. Artistic education became independent in 2019, when the Faculty of Arts was established at the University - with the Institute of Visual Arts and the Department of Music taking place within its framework. So far, classes have been held in separate premises, located on Mickiewicza, Podklasztorna or Krakowska Streets, where the University Center for Art Education with a small concert hall is located. However, the artistic diaspora of Jan Kochanowski University's institutes is about to come to an end - in recent days the university authorities announced the construction of a new building, which will house all the sub-units of the Faculty of Arts.
New seat of the Faculty of Arts at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce
© Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce | Dresler Studio
New headquarters for the Faculty of Arts
The tender for the design of the new headquarters of the Faculty of Art was won by the Cracow-based architectural firm Dresler Studio, which presented a concept for erecting a complex of three buildings of near-cube proportions, connected to each other in the lowest floors. According to Grzegorz Dresler, who heads the studio responsible for the concept, its development was a challenge primarily from a functional perspective, as each institute presented slightly different, sometimes contradictory requirements.
The Art Department, which should have peace and quiet and adequate lighting conditions; the Music Department, which is governed by quite different rules, are small rehearsal rooms where everyone plays a different instrument. Then there is the administrative part. In our design, these three segments have been separated functionally, none of them interfering with the other," the designer stressed.
The new headquarters of the Faculty of Arts of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce
© Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce | Dresler Studio
Each building will have its own distinct characteristics. In the building intended for the Institute of Visual Arts, the facades will be designed to provide optimal light in the studios, and a white cube exhibition space is planned. The building of the Department of Music presents a more compact body, devoid of glazing in the lower floors. It houses, among other things, a concert hall designed for students. Far from the aesthetics of the best projects of this type, it will have exceptional acoustic properties. The entrance area will include a spacious foyer, a cafeteria and a Japanese garden located within a rectangular patio, serving as additional exhibition space.
New seat of the Faculty of Arts of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce
© Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce | Dresler Studio
art divided into three
The sculpted silhouette of the new university complex will open with a low, oblong entrance hall, above which will be set two cube-shaped blocks housing administrative rooms and teaching spaces used by the Department of Music. The two structures like temple pylons flank the horizontal entrance zone, preceded by a longitudinal courtyard. To the south, the entrance zone extends in the form of a glass tunnel up to the University Sports Center building, connecting the headquarters of the two units. Behind the entrance zone will be the widest of the buildings, intended for use by the Institute of Visual Arts. The facades of all three blocks are composed in the form of vertical, rectangular fields delineated by aluminum light-breakers, which frame the deeply set windows. The aesthetic expression of the facades is rather subdued and is not the strongest point of the project. It also seems unfortunate that the body of the administrative part is suspended above the square in front of the entrance area. This gives the building a certain lightness and fantasy, but also builds an impression of athectonics of the whole structure. Despite this, the combination of three asymmetrically distributed blocks can be considered successful.
The new headquarters of the Faculty of Arts of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce
© Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce | Dresler Studio
not only buildings
Dresler Studio also took care of the development plan for the areas adjacent to the new buildings. There will be cleverly located rest areas that will benefit in the summer months from the shade offered by the existing nearby buildings of the University. The design team also took into account the geological conditions on the plot to be developed. It is characterized by significant level differences, which were used in the design in a functional way - the slope of the land present at the back of the plot was allocated for a driveway leading to the storage part of the building serving the Institute of Visual Arts.
New seat of the Faculty of Arts of Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce
© Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce | Dresler Studio
a long way to go
The construction of the new headquarters of the Faculty of Arts at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce is a project that has been worked on basically since the new university unit was separated.
After four years, we finally got through the formal and legal road. The two institutes of the Faculty of Arts - Visual Art and Music - will have one seat. I am convinced that the modern building in which they will be housed will meet the requirements of both university staff and students," Prof. Głuszek said at Tuesday's press conference.
The project is expected tocost 57 million zlotys, and is scheduled for completion in 2027 .
