MUSEUM OF POLISH HISTORY SUBMISSION

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MUSEUM OF POLISH HISTORY SUBMISSION

Firm

Type

Cultural › Museum

SIZE

1,000,000 +

BUDGET

$100M +

Design
Concept
For
the proposed museum building, we have taken a bold step and inverted the
typical exhibition space typology. The full exhibit gallery program is
conceived as ten, 3-dimensional monolithic objects, a dramatic departure from
the gallery defined exclusively as an interior space. Exposing the galleries to
be viewed in the round, in space, adds a critical scale dimension to the
program, one that is not typically legible in the museum experience. The
galleries are given an impressive solidity and monumental scale, and yet many
are floating in space- held up on virtual
pedestals. It is the complexity of this dual expression of monumentality
and lightness which defines the contradiction within the individual museum
experience, celebration, judgment and the rejection of sentimentality. The ten
gallery objects are juxtaposed to each other both vertically and horizontally
to create a 3-dimensional cubic composition within and through a linear
circulation volume. The objects are then push-in and pulled-out like drawers to
create a series of interior voids and dramatic interstitial spaces.
The
six exterior surfaces of the gallery objects, sides, top and underside provide
multiple canvases for nonconventional exhibition use. Also, in this
configuration, the in between, or accidental spaces can become important
opportunities for surprise temporary exhibits and mobile museum events and
program space.
The
ten boxes contain the five chronological divisions for the permanent exhibit
program, the two temporary exhibition spaces, and the exhibition related
educational zones. The free composition
of the gallery boxes does not determine a particular distribution of the
permanent galleries; but provides a flexible environment for multiple
interpretations of how the galleries can be allocated and the relationships
between them. The temporary exhibition space is located in two of the upper
gallery boxes clustered together to provide a multi-height venue for temporary
exhibits when required. The “high” temporary gallery is a 12m tall box which
projects out of the eastern façade and through the roof structure to form a
dramatic tower-like element suspended within the museum.