Studio WXCA in cooperation with Buro Happold Poland won fourth prize in an international architectural competition organized by the Lithuanian Art Museum. The goal was to develop a concept for the expansion of the Radziwill Palace in Vilnius.
Project for the reconstruction of the Radziwill Palace in Vilnius
image: Pixelcraft © WXCA
Latvijas Nacionālais mākslas muzejs (Lithuanian Museum of Art) announced in May 2020 a competition for a design for the reconstruction of the historic Radziwill Palace complex in Vilnius. The competition was conducted by the Lithuanian Union of Architects. The jury consisted of Mindaugas Pakalnis, Siiri Valner, Rolandas Palekas, Jan Belina Brzozowski, Arūnas Gelūnas, Lolita Jablonskienė, Jolanta Jurašienė, Aurimas Sasnauskas and Mindaugas Staniūnas.
Third place in the competition went to BDR Architects, whose idea we wrote about in another article.
concept
The basis of the concept developed by WXCA and Buro Happold Poland was to respect the original shape of the building. The modern part was to stand out, but not contrast with the historic part. The basis of the concept was also to restore proper proportions to the palace. Modern solutions and details are intended to correspond with the historical part. The entrance to the museum - glazed in a niche on the axis of the palace - is also an important point of the concept.
bird's eye view
vision: Pixelcraft © WXCA
The Radziwill Palace has been a witness and participant in history since the 17th century, and traces of various eras can be seen. We wanted to respect the complex fate of the palace and proposed a calm and noble architecture that reflects the idea of its first designer," explains Malgorzata Dembowska of the WXCA studio, co-author of the project.
urban garden
One of the studio's goals was to create a new representative space around the palace. The concept includes the introduction of an amphitheater in the central part of the courtyard zone, as well as a green square that can be adapted for outdoor exhibition spaces. The circular amphitheater in the middle of the square is filled with green vegetation and trees.
Plan of the palace including the courtyard
image: Pixelcraft © WXCA
We wanted to create such a place that would become a link between the museum and the city. The solutions we designed allow us to develop the entire space for various activities - for lectures, concerts, exhibitions or simply for meetings of residents," states Krzysztof Moskała of the WXCA studio, co-author of the project.
view from the technical part
image: Pixelcraft © WXCA
The concept for the development of the Radziwill Palace in Vilnius, together with the courtyard and the square that currently serves as a parking lot, focuses primarily on the problem of creating the new with the left. The search for an appropriate connection between these elements, avoiding artificial reconstructions or breaking the dialogue by introducing forms that are completely different, was certainly among the most difficult challenges of the concept.
bird's eye view
image: Pixelcraft © WXCA
