The competition for the design of the reconstruction and expansion of the Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw
On 20 December (2024), the results of the prestigious architectural competition for the concept of rebuilding and extending the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław were announced. The event was organised by the Museum of Architecture, the Wrocław branch of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) and the Municipality of Wrocław. Thirty-six projects were submitted for the competition and evaluated by the Competition Jury chaired by architect Maciej Miłobędzki. The deliberations, held between 17 and 20 December at the museum’s headquarters, brought together a group of experts, including representatives of the Wrocław authorities, the Lower Silesian Voivodship Conservator of Monuments – Daniel Gibski, and experts in various fields related to architecture and heritage protection.
The aim of the competition was to develop a concept that would not only emphasise the historical character of the museum complex, but also make it functionally and aesthetically adaptable to contemporary needs. The results of the competition promise a project that will become a new symbol of Wrocław’s architecture and culture.
“It was not a unanimous decision,” – says the Chairman of the Competition Jury, arch. Maciej Miłobędzki. “In fact, until the last minute there were several projects in play on which our opinions clashed. The concept that won was the one with an interesting narrative and a very strong message behind it.”
By the decision of the Competition Jury, three prizes and three equivalent distinctions were awarded.
The winner of the First Prize was the studio TŁO Michał Sikorski Architekt from Warsaw (author team: Michał Sikorski, Nicolo Signori, Anna Nauwaldt, Michalina Kubiak, Natalia Budnik; cooperation: Jan Jabłoński, Mateusz Zawadzki, Pola Machinska, Justyna Zawada, Michał Salamonowicz, Aleksandra Kędziorek, MIOVIZ, BRDA Foundation)
“Let’s try to imagine the Museum of Architecture as a large house of architects, where the old mixes with the new and the organic with the artificial” – say its authors about the winning project. “We design the new building as a large-scale ‘shelf’ for exhibits – fragments of demolished or modernised buildings that are already – or will be in the future – in the Museum’s possession. Designed in this way, the building is both a backdrop for the exhibition and becomes part of the collection itself.”
jury’s reasoning:
The first prize was awarded for the apt integration of the project into the Museum’s mission, plans and needs – both functionally and symbolically. Weaving together in a single gesture a reinterpretation of the past with a reflection on the present and the future, the designers consciously chose to use recycled materials, minimising the building’s carbon footprint and reducing the consumption of natural resources. In turn, all new elements will be designed according to the principle of design for disassembly – that is, assuming their reuse, bringing into the discussion a reflection on the full life cycle of the building.
The project is a clear signal in the urban space marking the existence of the Museum of Architecture, the only such institution in the country, one of the few in Europe. By proposing to move outdoors, into the urban space, to the façade of the building an exhibition composed of elements and details of architectural buildings that no longer exist. It introduces this solution as a strategy, a curatorial project to be carried out in collaboration with the museum team. At the same time, reference is made to the identity of the institution, whose mission in its early years was to document the process of rebuilding the war-ravaged city, as well as to collect the material remains of destroyed buildings.
An important gesture of architectural concession – and a subtle reference to the tradition of the site – is the placement within the façade of pots from which vines will grow over the building, imposing on it an additional, biological layer, similar to that which overgrows the historic seat of the museum. The authors of the award-winning work have also recognised the diversity and potential of the public spaces surrounding the museum’s headquarters. They have defined each of them in an interesting way, programming various functions – contemplation, meetings, experimentation, designing appropriate furnishings for a variety of users and activities, and proposing distinctive sets of plants.
Extract of "Museum of Architecture in Wrocław reinvented. Winners of the competition to redesign the building are selected", Mateusz Markowski on whitemad.pl, 21.12.2024
