Do you have to graduate from a university to become a symbol of a scientific field? Adam Giedrys showed that not necessarily - although he was a tailor by education, he appeared at international conferences, brought a fragment of the moon to his city, and his astronomical legacy inspires generations of Szczeciners. After years of effort, a real planetarium will finally be built in Szczecinek. The Warsaw-based Mijo studio is responsible for the design of the building, whose form resembles planetary rings.
The idea of building an astronomical observatory in Szczecinek is not new. The first plans to erect such a building were presented back in 2001 by the Szczecin Astronomy Lovers Association, which proposed a building equipped with two astronomy rooms - one for observing the sun, and the other for viewing the night sky. Between them there was to be a dome-covered space, on the vault of which stellar constellations would be mapped.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
The project died a natural death, and the next approach to the construction of a facility related to astronomy took place in 2016, when the concept of adapting the historic water tower on the water supply hill in the city center was created. The architectural design, which envisaged the construction of an astronomical observatory on top of it, and the addition of an additional volume at its foot, was developed by the Studium office from Warsaw. Once again, the plans did not come to fruition due to the high cost of construction. However, it looks like this time it will be different, as the City of Szczecinek has presented a project for a new Planetarium, for which adequate funds have already been set aside.
The Planetarium is to be built on the so-called Waterworks Hill, a hill located in the eastern part of the city, just outside the old city limits. The waterworks hill is a green area, where there are currently two historical buildings - a water tower from 1912 and a French cemetery, which is a remnant of the Napoleonic wars.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
planetarium in Szczecinek
The design of the new complex was created by the Warsaw studio Mijo, according to whose concept the Transboundary Tourist Information Center in Cieszyn was built, among others. The capital's team proposed for Szczecinek an object that with its dynamic spatial form is to fit in with the terrain. In the visualizations presented, the composition consists of two main elements. In the western part of the establishment is to be found the main planetarium building with a base similar in shape to a rectangle and a body slanting towards the south. The structure will be inscribed with an ellipsoidal wall, whose shape is to resemble an orbit, planetary ring or Kuiper belt - in its southern part, in front of the glazed facade of the planetarium building, a small square will be created, separated from the rest of the complex. On the green roof of the premise there will be a planetarium dome, two circular skylights and an astronomical observatory.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
star walk
The second element of the complex, located in its eastern part, will be a square surrounded - again - by an ellipsoidal wall. The elevation created on its eastern side is to serve as a viewing terrace. The square will be adjacent to the corner of the main building, and will also be divided by a pedestrian walkway, which will connect Wodociągowa Street with the Cardinal Ignacy Jeż Roundabout. The green character of today's hill will remain essentially the same - the whole establishment will be surrounded by vegetation interspersed with walking paths.
Project of Planetarium in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
cosmic attractions
Although the Functional and Utility Plan is still under construction, as the City of Szczecinek reports on social media, it is already clear what attractions will await visitors in the newly built facility. The core of the new complex in Szczecinek is to be a planetarium with an astronomical observatory. In the main building they will be accompanied by an educational center with an interactive exhibition, workshop spaces, a cafeteria and facilities necessary for the operation of the facility. Care has also been taken to develop the surrounding area - educational paths with information boards will lead around the planetarium, with relaxation zones and green spaces in between.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
Adam Giedrys - tailor-astronomer
The idea of building an astronomical observatory in Szczecinek did not come from nowhere. In 1946 Adam Giedrys, a tailor by education and astronomer by passion, settled in this small city. His passion for observing the night sky was probably born in him in the early 1950s, when he ended up in an Olsztyn hospital with kidney tuberculosis and was in a state of clinical death for eight seconds. As he later used to say, it was this experience that inspired him to explore astronomy.
Dad recalled lying on his bed by the window and mostly looking up at the sky or reading books from the hospital library. Among them were items devoted to astronomy, which became his passion. And that's how his father, as we joked later, started rocking in the clouds.
- The astronomer's daughter, Prof. Stefania Giedrys-Kalemba, told the Polish Press Agency
He assembled his first telescope himself, and with the help of the local community, a special observatory dome was built on the roof of the tenement house at 10 Kosciuszki Street, where he lived, as early as 1958. Adam Giedrys' astronomical passion was not limited to solitary observations of sky-high constellations. The Szczecin astronomer actively participated in scientific life, and also organized seminars and summer camps devoted to astronomy. One of his most interesting achievements was the organization of an exhibition in 1971, where for the first time in Poland was presented...a moon rock! The exhibit was sent by NASA, which in the political climate of the time was an unheard of event.
Adam Giedrys during his wedding anniversary in Szczecinek
Photo: Jan Giedrys © CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Adam Giedrys died in December 1997, but his legacy lives on in Szczecinek to this day. The continuation of the tailor-astronomer's activities is being taken care of by the Szczecinek AstrostRef Scientific Association named after Adam Giedrys, founded by his students and his daughter. A school and a traffic circle are named after him, and a monument to him has been erected on Bohaterów Warszawy Street.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
conservation puzzle
Implementation of the project will require close cooperation with the conservator, and for not one, but two reasons. The first will be Szczecinek's water tower, once rising to a height of 36 meters. Erected in 1912, the brick structure is one of the most distinctive elements of the West Pomeranian city's skyline. In 1989, due to the launch of a water treatment plant in nearby Bugno, the tower was taken out of service. In 2012, the tower's crowning octagonal water tank was dismantled, and the whole thing was covered with a makeshift conical wooden roof. After the devastation , the building attracted the interest of the West Pomeranian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, who decided before the end of the same year to enter the tower in the register.
Panorama of the Old Town in Szczecinek, on the right visible historic water tower
Photo: Vercyngetorix © CC BY-SA 3.0 en | Wikimedia Commons
The tower itself was given to the city by the private investor who owned it at the time, but the private land around it was left to itself. There were plans to build a shopping center around the structure, while an astronomical observatory was built in the tower. Neither idea panned out, and last November the city bought back the land around the monument, allowing the area to be developed in a more comprehensive way. According to information made available by the investor, the tower is to become a vantage point, which will happen in the final, third stage of the investment.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
design: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
ghosts of the past
Right next to the plot where the new observatory is planned to be built is the Napoleonic Soldiers Cemetery, also under conservation protection. However, this is not the only necropolis located on the site of Waterworks Hill, also known as St. George's Hill or Barn Hill. There used to be an Evangelical cemetery here, as well as a Jewish cemetery with a pre-burial house, which was converted into an Evangelical-Augsburg chapel in the 19th century. At this point it is not known how and whether the burials located on the site planned for development will affect the project, but consultation with the conservator may be necessary.
Planetarium project in Szczecinek
proj.: Mijo © UM Szczecinek
The amount the city has earmarked for the construction of the new planetarium at this point is not astronomical - according to the portal Temat Szczecinecki, more than PLN 28 million has been allocated in the budget for 2025, and the investment is also included in the Strategy for the Development of Szczecinek for 2026-2032. The rest of the funds needed will come from the Integrated Territorial Funds.