Museums, cultural centres, opera houses, state-of-the-art concert halls, congress centres and sports facilities – several dozen costly and showy, but certainly essential objects have been built in large Polish cities during the country’s first decade in the European Union. We citizens have been excited with all this new headline-making architecture, especially its international recognition. The new buildings have not only radically changed the architectural landscape of Poland, but also the way we think about our surroundings. They have sparked discussions, invited us to take a second look around ourselves and to evaluate the buildings we function in every day. In other words, it was necessary to build several impressive and head-turning buildings for us to start talking about architecture.
It is important, however, not to forget that this investment boom was strictly related to access to European funds – most of the new public utility buildings were built thanks to financial support from the European Union. The money is running out though, and in a couple of years this form of financial aid won’t be available. Does that mean that there will be no more newsworthy buildings in Poland? Not really – only a slight change of perspective is needed. While the media kept its focus on the flashy designs of museums and philharmonic halls, smaller Polish towns have seen the emergence of new buildings suited to local needs and funds, often just as impressive in quality. It is a prudent idea to take a closer look at these achievements now and learn something from them – when the wave of big public investment is over, Polish architecture will probably realise itself on a smaller scale and these constructions will be singled out as the start of a new architectural epoch.
Simplicity in Silesia
In 2003, a competition was held for the design of a paleontological pavilion in Krasiejów in the Opole region. The new building was supposed to house the Triassic fossils of amphibians and reptiles, including the oldest archosaur skeleton ever discovered: silesaurus opolensis. The first prize in the competition was granted to a joint proposal by two architectural studios: Goczołowie Architekci and Ovo Grąbczewscy Architekci. Oskar Grąbczewski recalled the construction process in Architektura Murator magazine:
We were planning to build a simple, glass pavilion – but it turned out completely different. The municipality wasn’t able to buy the fragment of the land that would allow for an appropriate shaping of the hill, so we had to add a strong retaining wall, and in the end the building was constructed from reinforced concrete. Actually, the additional land would’ve made it much cheaper, but due to this obstacle we did end up with a unique object.
The paleontological pavilion was built in 2009. Two years earlier, Barbara Grąbczewska and Oskar Grąbczewski designed the centre for health and social care in Gierałtowice. The local council governing its 3,500 inhabitants announced a competition for the design of the building, allowing them to choose an original project that could best serve local needs. The architect couple also designed the Museum of Fire, which opened in 2015 in Żory.
The idea here was different – the building, though small, was supposed to stand out. It was constructed next to a busy highway, so to make it more eye-catching the architects covered the expressive façade with shiny fire-coloured copper, creating a flame-like structure. Oskar Grąbczewski commented on the process of designing buildings far from big cities:
It seems that architects can find context as well as guidelines and inspiration anywhere. It's just a matter of their internal work.
Containers and crates
The idea that improvements in the quality of our surroundings doesn't necessarily stem from big investments is best demonstrated by two projects from Poznań. In 2014, Łukasz Nowak and Katarzyna Stawarz-Nowak of trabendo studio had an idea to turn a dishevelled local shop in a brass container into a place adapted to the needs of the neighbourhood. The change may seem insignificant – one metal pavilion was exchanged for another one. However, thanks to the architects, the new blaszak (‘brass-ie’) is a much better fit for this space between blocks of flats in the Grunwald district in Poznań. The glass façade, topped with simple neon, opens the pavilion up to its surroundings, while also creating a much more attractive presentation of the shop's offerings. This simple, almost minimalistic pavilion doesn't interrupt the urban plan of the neighbourhood.
A slightly different makeover idea for a small commercial object was proposed by the architects from mode:lina studio. They adapted the unlikely material of wooden pallets, typically used for transportation, to serve as the basis for the façades and interiors of a wine shop and bar in Poznań. The pallets, painted white and black, turned the 120-square-metre pavilion into a novel edifice that stands out amongst the chaos of the neighbouring buildings.
Pavilions of the province
Trying to fit the local context never makes designing a new object easy. The Yeti advertising agency has its headquarters in Kryspinów near Kraków. Its surroundings are frankly dull – the neighbouring chaotic suburbs are intersected by a motorway junction. Jace Krych, who designed the small building to meet the needs of the agency, decided not to compete with these surroundings. Instead, he created a subtle, almost ethereal form with rounded quoins and a lighted façade made of semi-transparent polycarbonate. Within this minimalistic building, the architect fitted out both the office spaces and a production hall. These two different spaces were given a consistent character through the use of a steel construction and lighting: the building is flooded with soft, dispersed light, entering through semi-transparent façades. At the same time, the colours of the façade were used to differentiate them: office spaces use white polycarbonate and the production hall a grey sheen.
Several years earlier in 2010, Jacek Krych and Dariusz Gajewski designed a small gas station in Siercza near Wieliczka. Here again minimalism dominates, serving as a perfect ‘cure’ for the architectural ills of the surroundings (nearby is a former PGR – a state-controlled agricultural farm) and the conventional ugliness of gas stations. The building of the station, absolutely devoid of details, was designed using contrast: the heavy platform of reinforced concrete holds a light glass pavilion, which in turn is topped off with a ‘cap’ on the tall and flat roof.
Tradition and modernity
In 2014, the municipality of Zduńska Wola opened its Town Hall Integration Centre, built on the site of the old cloth hall, which was historically known among locals as the ‘town hall’ and destroyed during World War II. The architects invoked local history by creating an elegant building with elements characteristic for a town hall, such as a clock tower. Managed by the local cultural centre, the building was designed by 90 Architekci studio. The architects gave it a simple and clear form, with echoes of the geometric architecture of the interwar period and even art deco (elements of which are visible in the form of the open-work tower, coated with milk glass). The building holds two concert halls, lounges, gyms and art studios. The construction of the ‘town hall’ is part of a revitalisation of the old market square (today known as Freedom Square): the simple and elegant building wonderfully complements the square's frontage.
The organically beautiful church
Among contemporary Polish architecture, there aren't many good examples of sacred architecture: new churches are rarely built and the ones that do (usually in the new housing developments) are marked by historicist and unoriginal forms. That made the construction of a tiny riverside chapel-church in Tarnów all the more interesting. Sponsored by a private investor, the construction was completed in 2011. However, due to multiple complications, the church still hasn’t been consecrated yet, so its only attendees are fans of good architecture. Marta Rowińska and Lech Rowiński, architects of the Beton studio, made the most of the unique location – a cliff edge on the wild Vistula river, surrounded by nature. Measuring just 12 metres in height, 9 metres in length and less than 5 metres in width, the church is a wooden construction – its gable roof and side elevations are covered with aspen-wood shingles, while the primary façade is made of wooden boards. The only exception is the gable wall behind the altar – constructed out of a transparent material, it not only allows the light to fill the nave, but also opens up to a view of the picturesque river bend and banks. The project is complemented by its uncovered, visible wooden construction and wooden furniture. Its modest, simple and raw form fits in perfectly with the surrounding landscape.
The architects explained their concept:
The design concept was really simple, almost organic. We wanted to create an unpretentious sacred building that would be inviting to the locals, but also to the nearby Vistula river, the pine forests, birds, foxes and country dogs.
A study in red
Expressive, striking and almost extravagant is the building of the Racibórz Regional Blood Centre, built between 2007 and 2013 following a design by FAAB Architekci. The building, erected during the modernisation of an already existing smaller construction, houses state-of-the-art laboratories with cold storage for biological material, as well as office and conference spaces.