Małopolska Garden of Arts designed by Ingarden & Ewý Architects. Photo: © Krzysztof Ingarden
The ergonomic cultural centre designed by Ingarden & Ewý is Architizer's Popular Choice winner in the category of Theatres & Performing Arts Centers
Upon announcing the winners Architizer CEO Marc Kushner suggested the quality of the winners this year made the jury's job "easy" and represent the best designs from all over the world for a broad public, not just inudstry insiders. “The mission of the Architizer A+ Awards is to remind everyone in the world that they are fans of architecture, even if they don’t realize it", said Kushner.
Małopolska Garden of Arts 4,300-square-metre building brings together two cultural institutions, the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre and the Malopolska Voivodeship Library on Karmelicka Street in the centre of Kraków. It has also been nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award this year, and it was awarded first prize in the cultural-project category by Archdaily.
According to the project description published on the Architizer website, the building's architect Krzysztof Ingarden (of Ingarden & Ewý Architects, working in collaboration with Jacek Ewý and in cooperation with K3 Architekci) aimed to create an interplay between mimesis and abstraction, drawing upon the environment context it is situated in. The project draws inspiration from surrounding buildings' geometry and structure and meshing with the natural landscape of the plot. As Architizer's editors predict,
In this place, the cultural life of the Kraków’s young artistic set will blossom under a shared roof. Modern ballet, contemporary theatre forms, audio and video arts, concerts, and all and any other artistic pursuits will find their home here.
A total of 87 buildings won the Jury and Popular votes for each of the Award’s 52 Typology and Plus categories. The biggest winners in the competition were JDS Architects took home prizes for their Holmenkollen Ski Jump (best Sports Venue) and their spiky Iceberg Dwellings (Residential Mid-Rise), as well as Steven Holl Architects for the Daeyang Gallery and House (Residential: Single Family Home) and the newly opened Sliced Porosity Block (Residential High-Rise) in Chengdu, China.
The jury board voted on winners for this year's edition in mid February, and revealed the decision on the 19th of March 2012. Winners will be honoured at the gala ceremony on the 16th of May. The A+ Awards competition includes 50 categories divided into two sections, Typology and Plus. The Typology Category comprises buildings raised over the past three years in the core architectural categories of Residences, Commercial, Cultural and Institutional projects. The Małopolska Garden of Arts was in the
A third Polish project among the original nominees was given a Special Mention in the Landscapes and Gardens category by the jury. Maya's House, designed by Ultra Architects based in Poznań (Marcin Kościuch, Tomasz Osięgłowsk), is for a little girl named Maya. With the house for the girl's family built, floorboards were left over and the architects decided to build a smaller structure just for Maya.
See more on Maya's House
The Plus Categories select both realised and unrealised projects, which place particular emphasis on the social aspect of architecture. Keret House in Warsaw was among other Polish nominees for the main award and the Popular Choice award - Jakub Szczęsny's installation designed for Israeli writer Etgar Keret, which competed in the Architecture + Living Small category.
See more on the winners of the Architizer Awards at: www.architizer.com
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Architizer, Archdaily
20.03.2012