Very good single-family houses, weaker housing, uneven level of public buildings, modest choice of realization of common spaces. We already know the nominations in two competitions: the Jan Baptista Quadro competition in Poznań and the Architectural Award of the Wielkopolska Region (NAWW). A record number of nominations in both competitions can be boasted by the PL.Architekci studio from Poznań. Among the NAWW finalists nominated several times were also architects from Ultra Archite cts CDF Architects Atelier Starzak Strebicki.
Thenine finalists for the J. B. Quadro competition were announced Thursday, and a list of thirty-eight nominations (in eight categories) selected by the NAWW jury was announced Monday. The first competition, which rewards the best Poznan developments of the previous year, has a long tradition; this is the 23rd edition. However, the Architectural Award of the Wielkopolska Region will be awarded for the second time this year, and the competition covers a much larger area - true to its name. The NAWW was created on the initiative of the Poznań branch of SARP, in consultation with the local Chamber of Architects, and is under the patronage of the Wielkopolska marshal and governor.
Some of the buildings and sites have been nominated in both architectural competitions, with the exception that in the Poznań competition there is no division into categories. The full list of finalists with a chance to win the J. B Quadro Mayor's Award of the City of Poznań can be viewed, among others, on the City of Poznań's website. All NAWW nominations and the composition of the competition chapter are available on the official website of the award.
top province?
Definitely more interesting, not only because of the larger territorial scope, are the nominees of the provincial award, for which 94 projects were submitted (24 more than last year). This year's final of the J. B Quadro competition (selected from among 25 entries) arouses much less excitement, despite the fact that last year abounded in numerous housing projects on the wave of the developer boom. However, the rash of multifamily houses did not translate into an increase in the quality of such buildings. On the contrary, Poznań and the surrounding areas were flooded with realizations that were mediocre at best. Thus, it doesn't take too much effort to point out two or one favorite in this category almost without a miss. Let's hope that - in addition to the external qualities of the nominated buildings - the competition courts will also look at the quality of the apartment floor plans and take them into account in the overall evaluation.
Two of the five NAWW nominations in the "multifamily residential building" category:
residential complex on Tri-pole Street (also nominated in the Quadro competition), proj.: Ultra Architects;
multi-family residential building with services, proj.: Easst Architects
photo x 2: B. Turlej
The single-family houses, on the other hand, look much better. None of the proposals here even verges on mediocrity. The NAWW judges may therefore have trouble choosing the best building in this category. In addition to the next stage of the terraced housing development Nowy Strzeszyn from Szymon Januszewski's Insomia studio, we have intriguing examples of single-family houses from TEŻ Architekci, Ultra Architects, UGO Hugon Kowalski and an exceptional "portable house" designed by wiercinski-studio Adam Wiercinski.
Among NAWW's nominations in the public utility category, two proposals are most striking: the expansion and modernization of a railroad station with a transfer hub in Wolsztyn (designed by PL Architects) and the reconstruction (or, in fact, reconstruction) of a former garbage incinerator from 1928 on Wilczak Street in Poznań (designed by Litoborski+Marciniak). A less distinctive but noteworthy nomination in this category is a Poznan office building combined with a research center called LAB 150 (by Wrzeszcz Architects, Borys and Mariusz Wrzeszcz, Jan Celichowski). Other office and administrative buildings present a more average level.
However, in the Quadro competition, it is worth noting two realizations of a character rarely noted in the city. We are talking about the extension of the Painted Room of the Polish The ater (designed by Trabendo) and - especially due to the difficulties in adapting an old tenement house and the decades of waiting for this realization - the headquarters of the Polish Dance Theater (designed by ARPA Architectural Design Studio of Jerzy Gurawski).
common does not thrill
Less thrilling is the "common space" category . Among the nominees is the recently presented by A&B: the square and square in front of Stary Browar in Poznań (proj.: 1050 Pracownia Architektury) and the marketplace and square in Wielen (proj. Neostudio Architekci). There's also a Poznań path in the treetops (proj. AN-Architekt Adam Nogaj in cooperation with Vowie Studio). The other two proposals are interesting but spotty interventions, one of them rather small architecture. It will probably get hotter in the finals of the next editions of the competitions, after the commissioning of the rebuilt: the Kolegiac Square and the Lazarski Square in Poznań.
Two of the five NAWW nominations in the "common space" category
Market and marketplace in Wielen, proj.: Neostudio Architekci
Multifunctional Gazebo, proj.: Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Photo: 1. Neostudio Architekci, 2. Danil Danieliuk
The authors of the Wolsztyn train station, PL.Architekci studio, broke the bank with nominations not only in general (in addition to six NAWW nominations, two - in the Quadro competition), but also in the field of interiors of the NAWW competition. Three of their projects made the final five in the "private interior" category, while two made it to the "public interior" compartment. Perhaps because of this, one has the impression of a certain repetitiveness after a cursory review of private interiors. Only the interior designed by Atelier Starzak Strębicki stands out here stylistically.
Two of the five NAWW nominations in the "public interior" category:
Elementary School No. 3 named after Powstańców Wielkopolskich (Insurgents of Greater Poland) in Pleszew, proj.: Wiekiera Architekci
FALA_PARK_DRINK_bar in Wolsztyn, proj.: PL.architekci
Photo: 1. Wiekiera Architekci, 2. Nate Cook
It is more interesting in the category of public interiors, where one of the two projects from PL.Architekci particularly draws attention: the arrangement of a drink bar in the FALA PARK sports and recreation center, designed by the same studio, by the way (implementation: 2013). It will be interesting to see how the interior of a school in Pleszew (proj.: Wiekiera Architekci), a city that has been taking a sensible and sensible approach to both public architectural and urban planning projects for some time. Architects of the new generation, meanwhile, will be most interested in the announcement of the results in the "young architect" category of the NAWW competition.
When will the results be announced? The J.B. Quadro will be decided as early as October 18. We will wait until December to choose the best realizations in the NAWW Competition. Members of the Competition's chapter will soon head out into the field to carefully review the nominated works, and then award prizes in each category, as well as the Grand Prix.
