Lots of daylight, dynamics, views of the city. This is how the interiors of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw can be described in a nutshell . The contrast with the simple and austere packaging of this content is therefore quite a contrast. MSN opens to the public today. This is only the beginning of changes in this part of the capital. And also: not the end of strong and ambiguous emotions.
The barriers surrounding the new MSN edifice have finally been removed almost in their entirety, and its final shape in the northeastern part of the former Parade Square between Marszalkowska Street and the Palace of Culture can be slowly tamed. The building has six floors (4 above ground and 2 underground) and almost 20,000 sq. m. of total space.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, unveiled first floor on Marszalkowska Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
Opening to the public - today at 8 p.m. In the following days - plenty of accompanying events [see: program of events]. Yesterday (Thursday 24.10.) the museum could be inspected by journalists guided by the author of the project Thomas Phifer. A press conference was also held on the first floor of the building, with speakers including the designer himself, museum director Joanna Mytkowska and Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. Mytkowska said:
It will be a place serving both local artists and international exchange, a place for art, important social debates, as well as contemplation. The building faces the Palace of Culture, which also symbolically changes this part of the capital by dedicating it to open, equal and democratic art.
She added that she hoped MSN would significantly contribute to the improvement of the situation of artists in Poland. She clearly emphasized the contribution of the numerous employees of the institution she runs, without whose work the MSN in its current form would not have been created. President Trzaskowski, in turn, said. that such a place for art, built from scratch, had not been in Warsaw for decades. He described it as "spectacular." He stressed its importance for downtown Warsaw:
We are managing to disenchant this part of the city after decades. The construction of the MSN is part of the transformation of streets and squares. We have shown that we are capable of carrying out large-scale projects with a view to promoting Polish art and cooperating with museums of the world. We are opening a new chapter in the history of Warsaw.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, pictured: Thomas Phifer and Joanna Mytkowska
photo: Jakub Głaz
end of an epic
Thus ended the long-running epic of the creation of the new MSN headquarters. We will remind it in a quick summary. The decision to build it was made in 2005. The architectural competition was held a year later and ended in an organizational and image disaster due to formal restrictions and the disqualification of almost a hundred participants. The competition was canceled and another was held in 2007. The winner was a simple design, far from the expectations of the time of a recalcitrant icon on the scale of the "Bilbao effect." The winner, Swiss Christian Kerez prepared a detailed design for five years encountering major problems in his relationship with the city authorities. Amid scandal, Kerez was thanked in 2012.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, view from the second floor window of the Palace of Culture and Science and the area for the Central Park and TR Warszawa headquarters
photo: Jakub Glaz
The new design, divided into two buildings (smaller than the Museum and the TR Warszawa theater headquarters before), was delivered in 2014 by American Thomas Ph ifer(Thomas Phifer and Partners) through negotiations. He proposed a white(covered with steel mesh!) building for the museum and a black one for the theater. In between: a plaza. Construction began in 2019. Since 2022, the MSN has been run independently by the City of Warsaw (previously jointly with the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage). The cost of 700 million zlotys reported yesterday at the conference exceeded the budget of five years ago by almost 300 million). There is currently a shortage of funds for the construction of TR Warszawa, whose budget has also skyrocketed. The edifice is said to be completed around 2030.
The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the site where the TR Warszawa headquarters is to be built
photo: Jakub Glaz
no exaggeration with the box
So much history. Back to the actuality. On the occasion of the opening, another wave of hasty opinions about the Museum is sweeping through the media. According to the logic of clickbait, unambiguous assessments reign supreme (we will quote one at the end of the text), although - as yesterday's experience of the interiors showed - there is no question of unambiguity here. The controversial building, often judged by vox populi as a hypermarket box (there is a great exaggeration in this, but also a grain of truth), inside surprises with an interesting diversity of spaces and forms, with the spectacular staircase at the forefront.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, central staircase seen from the highest floor
photo: Jakub Glaz
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, central staircase between the first and second floors of the exhibition space
photo: Jakub Głaz
Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is the large amount of daylight coming in through the not-so-frequent windows on the facade again, and through the roof skylights (most of the fanlights are opaque, giving diffused light). In this way, according to the author's intention - the building will indeed provide a friendly frame for exhibitions and events, a large number of which were announced yesterday by Director Mytkowska. The first floor is to become a place for meetings and interactions, first and foremost. Anyone, without paying an admission fee, will be able to walk through the building in any direction. In this way, the MSN is ultimately to become a living urban forum under the roof.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, design by Thomas Phifer, press conference in the meeting and discussion area on the first floor of MSN
photo: Jakub Głaz
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, design by Thomas Phifer, venue for discussions and meetings on the first floor of the MSN
photo: Jakub Głaz
The exhibitions will primarily occupy the space of the first and second floors, in ca. 7 meters high rooms. The permanent exhibition will open in February. Now you can see nine works in several rooms: the oldest and quite significant is the sculpture "Friends" by Alina Szapocznikow. Maintained in the spirit of Socialist Realism, a pair of men look through a spacious window at the Palace of Culture and Science, the place where the work stood until the 1990s.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, sculpture "Friends" by Alina Szapocznikow on the second floor overlooking the Palace of Culture and Science
photo: Jakub Głaz
frames are essential
In addition, the large window openings frame very interesting views of the neighborhood: the just-mentioned Palace and skyscrapers on Emilia Plater Street on one side, and the commercial cubicles of the East Wall on Marszałkowska Street on the other. Through the glazed parts of the first floor one can also observe the traffic and life on this street. Being inside, one can also feel the connection with the environment and its proximity.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, the still unopened exhibition "Warsaw Under Construction" was watched with curiosity by passers-by.
photo: Jakub Glaz
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, exhibition room on the second floor overlooking the Eastern Wall ( and its ads)
photo: Jakub Głaz
The impression of proximity, however,washes away as soon as you step outside. While the MSN provides a glimpse of the city, it doesn't allow you to see much of its interior. This is hampered by an arcade sheltered halfway by the overhang of the massive facade (as well as its visual weight and the smoothness of the concrete). Quite often, however, the arcade was cited on Thursday as a welcoming and inviting space. During the tour, Thomas Phifer explained his intentions:
The idea was to partially shield the building from the urban hustle and bustle, to introduce an intermediate space between the city and the museum. This place will be alive!
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, arcade along Marszalkowska Street (here, in front of one of the entrances - not half covered)
photo: Jakub Głaz
Others also talked a lot yesterday about arcades as spaces for urban interaction, and their similarity to the tall arcades of the East Wall. However, it is hard to imagine this urban life in a space preceded by massive pillars.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, arcade on the west side by the square with gledichiae
photo: Jakub Głaz
The problem is particularly evident on the Marszalkowska side, where a large part of the first floor has no windows. The two ends of the lower part of the building are the best prospects: the southern and northern ends. The first one works well as a space for small exhibitions (currently another installment of the Warsaw Under Construction festival). A café has been launched in the second .
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, space on the side of Marszalkowska Street, Warsaw Under Construction exhibition, the visible arcade forms a buffer zone
photo: Jakub Glaz
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, proj. Thomas Phifer. first floor café on the north side
photo: Jakub Głaz
warming greenery
The space on the side of the Palace of Culture and Science is likely to be much more popular. First of all, the walls of the first floor here are fully glazed, and secondly, 44 sizable triple-thorn gleditsias have been planted in a square carved out of heavily paved planes. There is also low greenery. In the future, the square will be a link to the dark block of TR Warszawa and Central Square. When the construction workers left the square with the gleditsias, photographers rushed to take pictures of the building as seen through the silhouettes of the trees.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, square with gleditsias from the west side
Photo: Jakub Głaz
It's not surprising - nature is very conducive to a positive perception of the massive massing, which can be seen from Marszalkowska Street: the eastern elevation is most pleasantly experienced from the bike path, looking at the MSN through a line of trees.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, view from the bike path along Marszałkowska Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
Another "warming" of the MSN's image will thus become the just-mentioned green Central Square on the axis of Zlota Street. Delayed by archaeological research, construction is underway and is expected to be completed next year .
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, behind the fence construction of the Central Square is underway
photo: Jakub Głaz
So there is still a long process of changes ahead, which will significantly affect the perception of the site and the building itself. However, this does not prevent the atmosphere from heating up for a while . Thus, we read that
The building of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw is like Marmite paste: you either love it or hate it.
This is an excerpt from an otherwise nuanced and substantive article by Michal Wojtchuk in today's Wyborcza. It's hard to figure out where this simplification comes from, because the issue is not zero-sum. One can dislike MSN from the outside, and love it - on the inside. One can also, what is forgotten in times of polarized discussion, like only a little, or even be indifferent. One can appreciate some solutions and criticize others. MSN is a very ambiguous building. Neither an outstanding work of art, as some people repeat while conjuring up reality, nor a monstrous rot, as others say without playing with analysis. Hence the probably strong emotions - the ambiguity (and the uncertainty that comes with it) arouses strong anxiety in many people.
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer
photo: Jakub Glaz
it's just getting started!
Warsaw will live with the MSN as it is, and what is important now is how the Museum (as a building and institution) will "align" with the capital's space and with the public, artists, employees and residents who pass through the first floor on a daily basis. And also: will it harmonize with the present more than a building that already belongs to a slightly different era and approach to "showing modern art to the people" (with all the pomp typical of the academicism into which this art and its curators fell quite a long time ago). The edifice is also a thing of the past in terms of its approach to ecology and energy efficiency, as both the designer and the director honestly admitted on Thursday (she announced, by the way, a new ecological boiler room in a few years).
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, west elevation, view through the site for TR Warszawa construction
photo: Jakub Głaz
Therefore, a thorough evaluation will take time, especially since its surroundings are changing (the construction of Central Square) and will continue to change (the metamorphosis of Marszałkowska Street, plans to refresh commerce on the Eastern Wall and - finally - the construction of TR Warszawa).
Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw - 24.10.2024, designed by Thomas Phifer, Marszałkowska Street, in this place on the axis of the transformed Zlota Street a (much delayed) pedestrian crossing leading to Central Square will be created
photo: Jakub Głaz
In 10 years MSN will be in a different context and then it will have to be analyzed again. Finally, let's not count on both the building and the institution to stop stirring up emotions, as President Trzaskowski summed up well yesterday.
If it seems to you that this is the end of the controversy, you are in for a surprise. Only when a permanent exhibition is built here and people come to judge what they like or don't like - in today's polarized reality - well, the controversies will only begin! Including attempts at censorship. But - that's what we want: to provoke a discussion about, among other things, what modern art is. We will show that in Warsaw there is no place for censorship and bans, but there is room for discussion and exchange of opinions.
Following in the footsteps of this voice, the editors of A&B are already announcing a set of fresh opinions on MSN, in the form of an analytical polyphony of several authors. We will deliver it in the December paper edition of Architecture&Business.
