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How was the location chosen for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw? Summary of the post-competition discussion

24 of January '25
w skrócie
  1. The expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw will be carried out according to a design by the TŁO studio of Michal Sikorski, which sparked a wide architectural debate in Poland.
  2. The post-competition discussion took place on January 23, 2025 at the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw.
  3. The discussion was attended by representatives of the competition jury and the author of the expansion project, Michal Sikorski
  4. Location issues of the new building were the main topic of the discussion, covering historical variants of the expansion and current challenges related to the space of Bernardinskaya Street.
  5. For more interesting information, visit the home page of the A&B portal

Will the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw obscure the southern façade of the Bernardine Church? Where will the materials for the new building come from? Why does the entrance to the Museum not lead through the church? These and many other important questions were raised during a post-competition discussion held at the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw on January 23 this year. Below we compile the most important issues that were raised during the meeting.

The most important architectural competition of last year resulted in an innovative project that sparked architectural debate in Poland. The expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw is to be carried out according to a concept created by the TŁO architectural firm of Michał Sikorski. The dialogue on the controversial work, which has so far taken place in the Internet space, finally had a chance to move to the material world, as on January 23 this year a post-competition discussion took place within the walls of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw, attended by representatives and representatives of the competition jury, as well as the author of the project himself, Michał Sikorski.

The group, which included Michal Duda, director of the MA in Wroclaw, Prof. Maciej Miłobędzki, chairman of the competition court, Dr. Roman Rutkowski and Michal Świerczewski, had a chance to confront the questions raised by the audience. What was asked during the post-competition discussion?

Projekt rozbudowy Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu

The project to expand the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

© BACKGROUND | Courtesy of the competition organizers

Alternative options for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

Many of the questions concerned the issue of the location of the new volume of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw. This matter, even before the round of questions, began to be explained by Michal Duda, who noted that during the museum's 60-year history, a number of variants of the institution's expansion had been developed. Locations once planned included the area around today's Wrocław Women's Square (rejected due to the impossibility of coherently connecting the old and newly designed parts), on theareas by the Juliusz Słowacki Park (which could result in the death of trees - some of the oldest in the area) or, finally, the facilities of the entrance pavilion in the place where storage spaces are currently planned.

Projekt rozbudowy Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu

The project to expand the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

© BACKGROUND | Shared courtesy of the competition organizers

Will the Museum of Architecture overshadow the historic Bernardine Church?

Throughout the discussion there were questions signaling, also raised in social media, the problem of obscuring the southern elevation of the Bernardine Church by the planned storage building. Indeed, the perspective into Bernardinskaya Street will change significantly, but, as Michal Duda noted, the current state is the result of wartime destruction, and before 39 the corner of Bernardinskaya Street and Juliusz Słowacki Avenue was built up. Paradoxically, the addition of a new volume at this location will therefore allow the restoration of the pre-war spatial layout. Importantly, the fact of the existence of earlier buildings in this location also affects greenery issues - as analysis has shown, due to the very shallow humus layer, trees in this location live on average about 25 or 30 years.

Why doesn't the entrance to the Architecture Museum lead through the church?

An issue that sits at the intersection between considerations of the functional layout of the Museum of Architecture and preservation issues was the location of the entrance area. Voices coming from the audience suggested locating it, for example, in the main entrance to the church, as the most intuitive solution from a pedestrian perspective. As Michal Duda pointed out, such a change would involve the need to locate additional infrastructure in the church's porch, necessary for the institution's operation - for example , check rooms or ticket offices. Michal Sikorski added that an urban planning element necessary for the smooth functioning of the Museum of Architecture is the creation of an appropriate forecourt, which would allow, among other things, larger groups of visitors to gather. In the case of locating the entrance area in the western elevation of the church, the entrance would be directly adjacent to the pedestrian thoroughfare on Bernardine Street.

Projekt rozbudowy Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu

Project for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

© BACKGROUND | Courtesy of the competition organizers

Expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw and conservation issues

Conservation issues, raised primarily by Prof. Maciej Malachowicz, who was in the audience, played an important role in the debate. Among other things, objections were raised to the construction of the concrete ramp in the nave of the Bernardine church, which could prove too heavy for the historic foundations and floor, and interfere too much with the architectural expression of the protected building. As Michal Sikorski replied, the analyses attached to the competition documentation indicate that it is possible to carry out work at this location, and - in keeping with the idea of circularity - each element of the concrete ramp will be suitable for dismantling and later use elsewhere, which is also in line with the current conservation paradigm.

Also raising doubts among those attending the meeting was the idea (importantly, one of the competition's objectives) of locating the connector between the existing and new buildings of the Museum of Architecture underground. As Michal Sikorski explained, the project was created from the perspective of the entire quarter, and locating the connector, even if fully glazed, above ground would result in creating a barrier to pedestrian traffic.

Projekt rozbudowy Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu

Project for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

© BACKGROUND | Courtesy of the competition organizers

How does the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw fit into the context?

How does the new storage building at the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw fit into the architectural and urban context? Michal Sikorski answered this question, emphasizing that the immediate surroundings of the planned building are very diverse - as is its façade. Currently, in addition to the brick buildings of the former Bernardian complex, there is a neo-Renaissance tenement house with rusticated facades, the post-modern mass of the Dominican Gallery or the futuristic building of OVO Wrocław.

Will the new building of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw be ecological?

The winning project for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw is called a manifesto in the spirit of circular architecture. During the discussion, questions were raised about the actual impact of the new building on the environment - as Michal Sikorski assured, his studio is already in contact with specialists to study the carbon footprint generated in the construction process. So everything will be properly documented. Instead, the author of the concept expects some difficulties in acquiring the building material, which is to come from demolition.

Projekt rozbudowy Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu

The project to expand the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw

© BACKGROUND | Courtesy of the competition organizers

what exhibits will be on the facade of the new building?

The most distinctive element of the TŁO studio's concept is the architectural display shelf, where the spolia from the demolished buildings are to be placed. The visualization includes, among others, fragments of the demolished Emilia pavilion, ladders from the swimming pool in Ciechocinek or mosaics decorating (let's hope for as long as possible!) the Wroclaw ZETO pavilion. During the discussion, it was explained that these are only illustrative elements, and as Michal Duda noted, Wrocław is full of abandoned spoliations that are waiting to be empowered by finding a place in an institution dedicated to architecture.

design in process

An important feature of the winning project for the expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw is its strongly conceptual nature - as both its author, Michal Sikorski, and MA director Michal Duda have repeatedly stressed, it is a starting point in the discussion about the future of the only such institution in our country. In the course of further design and implementation work, the concept of the TŁO studio will probably undergo greater or lesser transformations. Nevertheless, the direction of development is already known. During Thursday's discussion, Michal Duda announced that this is not the last meeting on the issue of expansion. So there will probably be plenty of opportunities for discussion - the important thing is that it should be as substantive as possible, conducted in a spirit of dialogue and mutual respect.

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