Museum of modern art, Warsaw Poland

Varsovie, Pologne

This is a new kind of museum, the museum as medium, with a totally interactive relationship between creativity and collections. The traditional functions of the museum are retained, but the building is built in such a way as to support artists’ interventions.

The presence of artists’ studios within the museum is one of the key parts to the project. These creative spaces, as well as exhibition spaces will make Warsaw’s Museum of Modern Art one of the foremost places for the making of art and developing of artistic talent. Artists will interact on an area of the building or its empty spaces in a way that is directly linked to the city, the park and Warsaw’s urban activity, timeliness guaranteed. This concept of a museum incorporates both inside and outside space.Creating an urban space is a major challenge in a city whose Stalinist urbanism confronts its symbolic representations. It’s about generating a framework that can stimulate and unite the urban environment around the palace building, and about creating a fluidity and urban density that integrates all the elements from the smallest (the individual citizen) to the largest (the palace building).

Location

Plac Defilad, Warsaw

Client

city of Warsaw

Project cost (ex.tax)

78,5 M€ (2006 value)

Area

35 000 sq.m.

Competition entry, not selected
Themes

The 21st-century museum. Urban integration, confrontation with existing architecture

Lead architect

Pargade

Museographer

Maffre

Landscape architect

Besson-Girard