The prestigious The European Prize for Urban Public Space has once again found its way into the hands of Polish designers! The "Storm" Action Park in Warsaw, designed by Archigrest and topoScape studios, has been recognized by an international jury. What does this award tell us about the changes taking place in public spaces?
A view of the Warsaw Uprising Mound
Photo: Michal Szlaga | Illustrations courtesy of Archigrest studio
On October 29 this year we got to know the winners of the award for the best public spaces in Europe, which has been granted by the Center for Contemporary Culture in Barcelona since 2000. In Poland, the title has so far gone to the realization of the "Przełomy" Dialogue Center in Szczecin by KWK Promes (2016). In this year's installment of the competition, the final five included the realization of the park of the Operation "Storm" in Warsaw, appreciated in many competitions, namely the park under the mound of the Warsaw Uprising (design: Archigrest, topoScape).
More about the final five: Finalists of the European Prize for Public Spaces 2024
sensitive intervention and engaging narrative
Chaired by Spanish urban planner and landscape designer Beth Galí, the jury consisted of: Sonia Curnier (architect from Switzerland), Fabrizio Gallanti (architect and curator from France), Žaklina Gligorijević (architect and urban planner from Serbia), Beate Hølmebakk (architect from Norway), Manon Mollard (editor and architect from the UK) and Francesco Musco (architect and urban planner from Italy) appreciated the Warsaw park for its ability to highlight the memory of the site through its materiality, using the rubble of the hill, remnants from the destruction of World War II, to create new park structures.
The park has been adapted to the needs of people with disabilities
Photo: Michal Szlaga | Illustrations provided courtesy of Archigrest studio
The modernized park, which became available on the 79th anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Uprising, not only commemorates the painful history of the capital, but also creates a completely new recreational and educational space. The coexistence of these two aspects was possible thanks to sensitive intervention and an engaging narrative - the project exposed the ruins of destroyed Warsaw, introduced educational paths, built ravines made of rubble concrete, in the creation of which a certain amount of creativity was left to the contractors, preserved wildlife and ensured the park's accessibility.
exposed ruins
Photo: Michal Szlaga | Illustrations provided courtesy of Archigrest studio
More about the project: Crushed landscape - park under the Warsaw Uprising Mound
an experiment that paves the way
When creating the concept, the designers carefully observed the space, analyzed the relationship between the rubble and wild vegetation. They experimented (they spread buttermilk mixed with moss and sugar in the construction manager's malaxer so that the walls of the ravine could be taken over by nature!).
The consequences of these actions were not only recognized in Poland(Grand Prix of the 10th Architectural Award of the President of Warsaw), but also abroad(award in the Landezine International Landscape Award). Allowing nature to develop naturally and rewarding realizations such as the Warsaw park, makes it possible to tame the "unsightly aesthetics" of scrub and weeds, change the existing canons of beauty and set new directions in the creation of public spaces in the city. The reuse of rubble-concrete, minimal interference with nature and a fourth nature that will be allowed to evolve in this place are part of the idea of moderation, a balance between what is natural and what is transformed, preached by Wojciech Januszczyk. Necessary in times of climate crisis.
Park under the Warsaw Uprising Mound
Photo: Michał Szlaga | Illustrations courtesy of Archigrest studio
Read more: Overgrowth and circularity
Co-authors of the project, architects from Archigrest studio, will be our guests during this year's Open Architecture Studio Festival. You are welcome!
