L&M win Jewish tender
Their project was one of 11 that were considered in the final of the international architectural competition. "We have been unanimous on this one since the very beginning," said the president of the jury, Bohdan Paczowski. "The project approaches difficult issues in a restrained way. The compact plan with a curvaceous passage lit from above reflects the tear, the parting of Yam Suf, which in turn reminds of the passage of Polish-Jewish history."
This sculptural void will separate the administrative part from the public facilities. It broadens to the ground and lights up the main exposition on the lower storey. The fact that space was so flexibly organized around this central core was a crucial criterion in the jury's decision to award this project the first prize.
The project places a part of the museum underground, which the jury particularly liked, pointing to the fact that it is not to be an exhibition of showpieces. It will rather take the visitors through the dramatic history of the Jewish people, by multimedia visualizations and lectures. The museum is meant to be a narrative museum, where the story is most important, not the objects. Thus, the permanent exhibition will be installed in the underground, whereas the upper main floor will house a library, auditorium and media and education center.
Lahdema & Mahlamaki is an architectural studio founded in 1997 in Finland.
"The [architectural] competition is special for Warsaw, Poland and the international scene as a moral challenge," said Paczowski. The competition was announced in February this year by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute. The objective of the organizers was selecting a project that would fulfill the accepted concept of the museum. Initially there were 250 applications, but 119 dossiers actually came in. Eventually, out of this number, 11 architects were chosen to design the building.
Andrzej Bulanda and Włodzimierz Mucha and Biuro Architektoniczne DDJM were the only Polish architects in the group. Unfortunately, their projects were not merited. Apart from the first award, the jury decided to highlight three designs. Among them was Daniel Libeskind, who has Polish origins and designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews will be built in the historical Jewish district opposite the existing monument to the Ghetto uprising in Warsaw. It was in 1997 that the Warsaw City Hall earmarked 13,000 sqm for the construction. The patron of the project is the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, while Israeli politician Shimon Peres is the head of the International Honorary Committee.
Plans to open the Museum in 2008 became feasible in January when the Minister of Culture and the President of Warsaw signed an agreement. Some 80 percent of the total construction costs, which amount to $33 (zł.110) million, will be covered by the public sector. Some $7 (zł.23.44) million will be collected in Western Europe and North America and contributed by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute by the end of July 31.
This sculptural void will separate the administrative part from the public facilities. It broadens to the ground and lights up the main exposition on the lower storey. The fact that space was so flexibly organized around this central core was a crucial criterion in the jury's decision to award this project the first prize.
The project places a part of the museum underground, which the jury particularly liked, pointing to the fact that it is not to be an exhibition of showpieces. It will rather take the visitors through the dramatic history of the Jewish people, by multimedia visualizations and lectures. The museum is meant to be a narrative museum, where the story is most important, not the objects. Thus, the permanent exhibition will be installed in the underground, whereas the upper main floor will house a library, auditorium and media and education center.
Lahdema & Mahlamaki is an architectural studio founded in 1997 in Finland.
"The [architectural] competition is special for Warsaw, Poland and the international scene as a moral challenge," said Paczowski. The competition was announced in February this year by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute. The objective of the organizers was selecting a project that would fulfill the accepted concept of the museum. Initially there were 250 applications, but 119 dossiers actually came in. Eventually, out of this number, 11 architects were chosen to design the building.
Andrzej Bulanda and Włodzimierz Mucha and Biuro Architektoniczne DDJM were the only Polish architects in the group. Unfortunately, their projects were not merited. Apart from the first award, the jury decided to highlight three designs. Among them was Daniel Libeskind, who has Polish origins and designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin.
The Museum of the History of Polish Jews will be built in the historical Jewish district opposite the existing monument to the Ghetto uprising in Warsaw. It was in 1997 that the Warsaw City Hall earmarked 13,000 sqm for the construction. The patron of the project is the President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, while Israeli politician Shimon Peres is the head of the International Honorary Committee.
Plans to open the Museum in 2008 became feasible in January when the Minister of Culture and the President of Warsaw signed an agreement. Some 80 percent of the total construction costs, which amount to $33 (zł.110) million, will be covered by the public sector. Some $7 (zł.23.44) million will be collected in Western Europe and North America and contributed by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute by the end of July 31.
