Varsovians have lived to see a new public space near the Palace of Culture and Science. Architects Marcin Kwietowicz and Michal Sikorski have created the Urban Activities Square - a project that was created as part of the participatory budget, despite its small size is of great importance to the residents of the capital.
The new Urban Activities Square, named TARAS PSW, is a multifunctional space for recreation and leisure located on the edge of Swietokrzyski Park, at the intersection of Marszalkowska and Swietokrzyska streets, next to the subway station and the Palace of Culture. The project introduces new public functions in the hitherto most neglected corner of the park, restores the forgotten Warsaw Pavilion and organizes the space on the side of the construction site where the Museum of Modern Art is being built. This idea, which enlivens the neighborhood, was realized as part of the civic budget by the Warsaw Greenery Board.
The terrace's concourse was made of wood
Photo: Błażej Pindor © Marcin Kwietowicz, Michał Sikorski
The structure of the PSW TARAS is made of wood, and all its elements are kept in a gray-blue color, blending well with the facades of nearby buildings. Here, lovers of active leisure can use concrete ledges for jumping, sliding or climbing, play ping-pong and ride in the skatepark. The architects also created three round panna football fields, cut and recessed into the terrace surface, and a fitness track with wooden shelves for climbing. Hammocks and benches are provided for relaxation. In the future, the Warsaw Pavilion plans to open a sports equipment rental shop, board games and perhaps a café.
The platform with board proportions and dimensions of 80×20 m is conceived as a small, orderly public space
Photo: Blazej Pindor © Marcin Kwietowicz, Michal Sikorski
As Marcin K wietowicz and Michal Sikorski say about the project:
Every architect's dream is to build a skyscraper, so following in the footsteps of Rem Koolhaas's youthful fantasies, we realized an overturned skyscraper - the gray plane of the elongated rectangle of the floor, with its geometry, color and scale, refers to the surrounding office buildings and thus fits into the metropolitan context. Located in the foreground of the Palace of Culture and Science, the 80×20 meter platform with board proportions is conceived as a small, orderly public space floating, like a raft, above the hustle and bustle of the ever-changing city. Here you can play ball, ride a skateboard, try acrobatics on a scooter or bicycle, or, from a small green hill adjacent to the square, as from an auditorium, admire sporting stunts and, while taking a sunbath, devise your own forms of activity. Or lie on the boards and do nothing.
