From the series "Meeting with the Master" - Szczepan Wronski, WXCA
[ A&B 9'2019 original material]
The WXCA studio was founded in 2007 by Szczepan Wronski and Wojciech Conder, graduates of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Warsaw University of Technology. Currently, the core of the studio consists of Szczepan Wronski, Marta Sękulska-Wronska and Pawel Grodzicki. WXCA's realizations have twice been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award. The studio has been repeatedly awarded in architectural competitions, including for the complex of the Museum of the Polish Army in the Warsaw Citadel (2009), the headquarters of the Museum of the Princes Lubomirski in Wroclaw (2018) or the Polish Pavilion for the World Exhibition EXPO 2020 in Dubai (2018). In April this year. Szczepan Wronski and Marta Sękulska-Wronska hosted a lecture at the SARP Architecture Gallery in Krakow, where they gave a lecture as part of a series entitled "Meeting with the Master."
Szczepan Wronski
Photo: © WXCA
Marek Kaszynski: In 2019 you won the competition for the Witold Gombrowicz City Theater in Gdynia, in 2018 and 2017 you won six prestigious competitions. What are architectural competitions for you? How do you choose the ones you want to participate in?
Szczepan Wronski: Competitions are one of the best forms of selecting a good project. Our goal is to create outstanding things, and we believe that entering competitions enables us to do that. In a way, we have specialized in projects that are complex and require a comprehensive approach. This often boils down to public facilities of the highest contextual or social importance, and indeed among such our output is the greatest.
Marek: The more difficult the competition, the more interesting it is for you?
Szczepan: The more difficult the competition, the more challenging it is and the more we want to compete in it. An additional mobilization is the presence among the competitors of the best Polish and international studios. Of course, for this to happen, the competition must have good regulations, as well as judges with achievements and experience. Also important is the question of the budget, so that the funds for the implementation of the investment are adequate, non-fictional.
Visualization of the Museum of the Polish Army in the Warsaw Citadel, design: WXCA, in progress.
photo: © WXCA
Marek: As part of the "Meeting with the Master" series, you have prepared a presentation about two buildings: The Museum of the Polish Army in the Warsaw Citadel and the Polish Pavilion for the World Exposition EXPO 2020 in Dubai. Why such a choice?
Szczepan: The EXPO 2020 Pavilion is a very timely topic, while the Polish Army Museum is the longest-running project in the history of our studio. Two areas of design can be shown on their example: the most creative, conceptual and implementation. In the case of the EXPO 2020 Pavilion, the prize of the competition was the creation of a multi-discipline concept, which was later approved in Dubai. The execution and workshop documentation is being developed by the general contractor. As for the Polish Army Museum, we are in the implementation phase, which requires determination, moving from something conceptual to something built.
Visualization of the interior of the Museum of the Polish Army in the Warsaw Citadel, design: WXCA, under construction
photo: © WXCA
Marek: The Museum of the Polish Army is one of the facilities located in the Warsaw Citadel. Both the place and the institution referring to Polish history are unique. What was most important to you in this project?
Szczepan: The two-stage competition was announced in 2008, and we won it a year later. In total, we have been working on this project for more than ten years. Over such a long period of time, we went through different phases of the design process, and depending on the stage we were at, other things challenged us. On the other hand, from the very beginning, the most important thing for us was to adapt and give the Citadel back to the people of Warsaw and Poland.
Marek: There is a chevron pattern running through the facades of the building. What was the inspiration here?
Szczepan: In the design process we discover certain things, sketches are made and at some point we see something unusual, unique in them. Among the various ideas, this one seemed the best.
Pattern on the facade of the Museum of the Polish Army in the Warsaw Citadel, proj.: WXCA, in progress
photo: © WXCA
Marek: You have maintained tremendous consistency in your efforts to highlight the pattern in every detail.
Szczepan: This is one of the elements that was a challenge for us. At the competition stage, the pavilions we designed at the Warsaw Citadel were strictly for exhibition purposes. The chevron design came later, after the introduction of the permanent exhibition, which required a significant revision of earlier assumptions. We came to the conclusion that concrete is the most appropriate material for the building. It is often associated with the 1960s and 1970s, while we were looking for a formula that would result in a different perception of it. We wanted to find additional value, and that's when the chevron pattern emerged. First came the beautiful form, then the conviction that it would fit perfectly into the design. It started with a sketch and a paper mockup, then there were styrodur mockups and mockups. During the implementation phase, we made more and more approximations of parts of the building, answering technical questions about the feasibility of such a facade.
Marek: You knew from the beginning that you would imprint the chevron pattern in concrete?
Szczepan: In the methodology of our work, we are searching, exploring different solutions, based on our experiences and knowledge from other projects and realizations. This creative process is set on a strong foundation, but certainly nothing is prejudged from the very beginning. Chevron emerged as a result of discussions. We work according to the principle of the author's community of ideas - approaching the project very individually, we work in a team, in which we exchange views and look for the best solutions. The result is the conviction of everyone that what we have decided on is the best solution for the concept.
Polish Pavilion for the World Exhibition EXPO 2020 in Dubai, design: WXCA, under construction
photo: © WXCA
Marek: The Polish Pavilion for EXPO 2020 is an implementation in Dubai, in a completely different cultural and climatic area, developed according to different technical conditions. How did the context of the place influence this project?
Szczepan: At the competition stage, the key considerations were usability - high temperatures, sandstorms, conditions that are very specific to the region. The regulations there are similar to ours in many aspects, but they are approached differently. For example, we struggled for a very long time with the issue of using wood for the facade of the pavilion. In Dubai they do not allow such a building material, the facades are supposed to be non-combustible, and even very well-protected wood does not meet these requirements. From the beginning, we made it clear what was to be used on the facade of the building. Although we knew that other pavilions planned to be built in wood were being redesigned, we retained this material. This is thanks to the determination and commitment of very many people, including the ministry and the ambassador.
Poland's pavilion for the World Exhibition EXPO 2020 in Dubai, proj.: WXCA, under construction
photo: © WXCA
Marek: Why exactly was wood so important to you?
Szczepan: Five years ago we competed in the competition for the EXPO 2015 pavilion in Milan. At that time we took second place [the winning studio was 2pm architects - author's note], but we participated in the construction of the pavilion for the exhibition. We noticed a gap between the ideological assumptions of EXPO exhibitions and reality. Most of them refer to the principles of sustainability, ecology and respect for the environment, while pavilions are being built that cost a dozen or tens of millions of euros. We were looking for a suitable form that would allow us to act more in line with nature, and wood became a completely obvious material for us. In Poland, experience in wooden construction is relatively high, and the pavilion and exhibition also serve the purpose of presenting values and technologies related to the country. Wood has also been present in previous Polish pavilions - at EXPO 2005 in Aichi, Japan, a wicker braid was used [in a design by Ingarden & Ewý Architects - note. author], EXPO 2010 in Shanghai used plywood [designed by Wojciech Kakowski, Marcin Mostafa and Natalia Paszkowska - author's note], and EXPO 2015 in Milan used apple crates [designed by 2pm architects - author's note]. We are continuing this tradition.
Palmyra Memorial Museum, proj.: WXCA, 2012
photo: © WXCA
Marek: For the Museum of the Polish Army, the Polish Pavilion at EXPO 2020 and for your other projects, you develop mock-ups, models, later mockups in 1:1 scale. What questions are you looking for answers to when preparing them?
Szczepan: The models are related to our working methodology. The designs boil down to simple architectural treatments that are meant to affect the viewer most strongly. With the modesty of the means we use, we have to specify, define and check certain things very carefully. The mock-up is one of the best tools for such verification. When creating it, we use plasticine, plaster, paper, cardboard. For us, the mock-up is only a tool, not an end in itself.
European Center for Geological Education in Chęciny [see project presentation here], proj.: WXCA, 2015
photo: © WXCA
Marek: You have hosted a series called "Meeting a Champion." Do you too have any masters, architecture that inspires you?
Szczepan: I should answer this question for myself, because we work in a team and different people find various ideas inspiring. We are close to the traditions of modernism. However, it is difficult to say that this is a form of inspiration, because we rely on certain solutions to reach higher. It is rather a kind of foundation, our identity, but we approach each project individually and try to respond to specific needs.
Marek: Thank you for the interview!
interviewed: Marek KASZYŃSKI
Photo: © WXCA
See also Szczepan Vronsky through the prism of the series "10 questions to...".
