New space of culture in the Defilad Square

The final design of the future abode of the Modern Art Museum and TR Warszawa was presented on the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science on Thursday, 17th June. The presentation was followed by a press conference.

The architect Christian Kerez was presenting his design of the building while Warsaw’s mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz and Bogdan Zdrojewski, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, were talking about the plans for the realization of the investment.

Joanna Mytkowska, the head of the Modern Art Museum in Warsaw, as well as the deputy general director of TR Warszawa Tomasz Janowski – the future occupants of the new building in the Defilad Square – were speaking about their wide range of plans for making use of the building so that it is beneficial for Warsaw’s culture. 

- The project seems a pioneering, brilliant idea for Polish conditions, praise the critics. According to the author of the project, Swiss architect Christian Kerez, the building will not be too transparent but it can be entered from each side.
- When I first saw the site, when I was about to getting down to designing, I was impressed by the enormous empty space in the middle of the city. I was afraid to change too much in that scenery. First, I just wanted to cover it with a roof. That first idea evolved into what can be seen now, said Kerez.

- The Square in front of the Palace of Culture will finally be full of life, no more stopgap measures, added Joanna Mytkowska.
What is also interesting, is the actors’ dressing-room – situated under the ground but lightened with sunlight thanks to a patio built into the ground.

It turned out that the building needs special support so that it can stand above the subway. Those supporting pillars are currently too long for the designed space so the project must be changed once more.
– In the summer, we will be working on the correction of the investment plan. The new one will take into account all the necessary changes, assured city’s mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

According to the financial investment plan for the following years, the project should cost no more than 270 million zlotys, but as it turns out, it will probably reach half a billion zlotys because of the construction’s complexity.
- There is a high chance that the project will be financially supported by the EU, if only they have the necessary funds, asserted Bogdan Zdrojewski, the Minister of Culture.

A planning permission should be granted in three months, it will go out to tender in a year. At the end of 2011 the construction is supposed to start and come to an end by 2014.

Watch Christian Kerez present the design:

http://wideo.gazeta.pl/wideo/10,84172,8027746,Christian_Kerez_przedstawi...

[sources: TR Warszawa, Gazeta Wyborcza Stołeczna]

press material for dowloanding:
renderings
film stills
drawings by Przemek "Trust" Truściński