Today, many cities try to identify themselves through "their artist." Barcelona is associated with Antoni Gaudi, Prague with Franz Kafka, and Krakow?
Stanislaw Wyspianski is considered one of the most outstanding figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a versatile artist: painter, playwright, stage designer and furniture designer, whose uniqueness was recognized by his contemporaries. He is a representative of Polish modernism, who devoted almost all his activity to Krakow.
visualization of the museum entrance
© Wioletta Nowak
Unfortunately, in the city where the artist was born, in no museum can you see the entire collection of his works. The present project was created as a response to the existing need to create a place that will showcase Stanislaw Wyspianski's work and become a permanent part of Krakow's cultural landscape.
project
Museums dedicated to art play a unique role among buildings of contemporary architecture. These buildings emphasize the rank of the place, create an atmosphere, and become spatial signs in the fabric of the city and landscape.
At the core of the project is the idea of creating a museum quarter, of which the Stanislaw Wyspianski Museum will become an integral element, together with the Main Building of the National Museum, the former Cracovia Hotel and the Kijow Cinema. The open, green space between the buildings will encourage leisure activities, providing a cultural center that responds to the oft-repeated theme of a "Krakow forum."
scheme
© Wioletta Nowak
The planned institution is envisioned as a modern, narrative biographical museum that will demonstrate the diverse nature of Wyspianski's work, where architecture, literature, fine arts, theater and historic preservation intermingle. The project envisages an underground connection between the Main Building of the National Museum and the planned Stanislaw Wyspianski Museum, as well as with the Cracovia Hotel (adapted for the Museum of Architecture and Design) and the Kijow Cinema.
B-B section
© Wioletta Nowak
The above-ground part of the complex - the newly designed Museum building - is a modern, minimalist architecture, based on the play of light and shadows. Bathed in green, the mass concentrates free-standing cuboids into which the various functions have been inscribed. Exhibition spaces have been designed as separate rooms with individual decor.
visualization of the exhibition
© Wioletta Nowak
The character of each room is emphasized by the structure of the wall surface, color and lighting. This treatment is intended to restore the "main role" of Stanislaw Wyspianski's works by identifying the place where they were originally intended to be exhibited, making it clear that all things are interdependent, and to understand this complexity, one must notice the relationships between them. The choice of appropriate colors, materials and lighting guides the visitor, provokes a dialogue with the artwork.
Wioletta NOWAK
© Author
