Exhibiting success
As Poland's significance as a global economic player grows, the nation is turning its attention back to its cultural heritage, supporting the construction of major museum sites in Warsaw, Kraków, Łód and Toruń. Poland's new cultural centers boast state-of-the-art design, span thousands of sqm of exhibition space and give stature to the surrounding landscape. In cooperation with local authorities and cities' promotional campaigns, Poland's new museums aim to entice and edify tourists with the country's rich history and trove of artwork.
Capital of Culture
The Center for Contemporary Art in Toruń will be located at the very heart of the city's gothic Old Town quarter upon its completion in January 2008. "The Center is certainly going to help our city in its strides towards becoming a European Capital of Culture by 2016. The modern building will be one of our biggest advantages in the competition for this prestigious title," said Museum spokesperson Dominik Pokornowski. The three-storey building will occupy a total of 7,500 sqm of space, which will be used for exhibition and lectures halls, a cinema room, a multimedia library, a bookstore and a coffee shop. The total cost of the investment is zł.46 million, the majority of which is covered by European subsidies along with funding from Toruń's City Hall.
"For the first time in 70 years we are witnessing the construction of a building designated specifically for a cultural institution of this kind," Pokornowski explained. He added, "To date, existing buildings have typically been adapted for galleries and museums." Even the Warsaw Uprising Museum, one of the highest-profile historic centers in Poland since its opening in 2004, is situated in a renovated tram power-house.
Art and commerce
The opening of the Warsaw Uprising Museum established a successful model for attracting visitors and stimulating the revitalization of certain districts. The Wola district, near the museum, has seen significant commercial development in recent years, crowned by this year's launch of Poland's first Hilton Hotel just a few blocks away. "The city, as a whole, certainly benefits from the modern design of museums and public buildings," said Ewa Kuryłowicz, an architect with the APA Kuryłowicz and Associates design studio. She added that the high-tech aspect of Poland's new museums, using innovative resources such as multimedia, will introduce culture to a broader audience. Such innovations, in turn, broaden the role of cultural institutions in contemporary society, along with providing a much-needed upgrade for the urban landscape.
The University Library building in the Powile district is now one of the most popular sites in the capital, drawing new bars and nightclubs to the area and gaining a "trendy" status amongst the youth. The district is seeing the construction of several significant residential projects, including Bouygues Immobilier's development of 100 high-class apartments at Dobra 54.
Łód also expects to benefit from investments in modern museum buildings. In July 2007, the construction of a new home for the remarkable collection of the Łód Museum of Art was launched. "The new museum building could be one of the city's landmarks, contributing to the development of the city as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum did for Bilbao, gaining worldwide recognition for the small Spanish city," said Jarosław Suchan, director of the Museum in Łód, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2008.
In addition, the development of an art museum within the Manufaktura shopping and recreation center in the city, estimated to cost zł.54 million, is an example of successful cooperation between the city's municipal authorities, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the European Union. "The museum's new building is definitely among our top priorities," declared Stanisław Witaszczyk, Deputy Marshal of the Łódzkie voivodship.
Focused on the future
Over the course of the next four years, Warsaw will enlarge its cultural portfolio with at least two new major museums. In 2010, the Museum of the History of Polish Jews (MHPJ) will welcome its first visitors. "The museum building is one-of-a-kind, yet despite its unique design, is very well integrated with its surroundings in the Muranów district," said MHPJ spokesperson Kinga Duda. The design competition for the project was won by Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamäki. The museum will feature eight galleries devoted to the history of Polish Jews, along with a number of symbolic elements - the passageway through the middle of the building is meant to resemble the parting of the Red Sea at the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt.
Kuryłowicz also gave Christian Kerez's design for the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw its due, saying that the design from the Swiss architect "also hits the bullseye." Kerez won an international competition for the museum's design earlier this year, despite a marked degree of public protest for the way it referenced Poland's legacy of Communist-era architecture. "Kerez did a great job 'conversing' with the bulk of the Palace of Culture and its surroundings," opined Kuryłowicz. Warsaw's City Hall is currently negotiating the budget for the Museum of Modern Art's construction and it is expected to open in 2012, ushering in a new age for the celebration of Polish art and culture.
