|
|
 |
| Publikacje prasowe |
|
Architectural Gems
The Warsaw Voice, Febuary 2002
These sorts of questions crop up in discussions about the development strategy for the Polish capital. They were most recently tackled at the mid-January awards ceremony of the fourth edition of the Life in Architecture competition, for buildings erected in 2000-01. Over 200 designs were submitted to the jury. The multi-stage selection process was accompanied by strong emotions among architects, which clearly shows the importance of the competition. On the day before the ceremony, the editorial staff of Murator publishing house, which organizes the competition, was bombarded with questions about the winner.
"The prize is symbolic, but for architects it's very important that people talk about their creations and emphasize their values, and that the inhabitants themselves have something to say about their work," said Ewa Przestaszewska-Porębska, chief editor of Architektura-Murator monthly and a member of the jury. "Architecture is a public good, it is not created solely for investors."
"Paradoxically, since the World Trade Center was destroyed, the topic of architecture and the role it plays in the city life have suddenly become a public issue in New York," said Jan Pietrzak, chairman of the jury. "In New York, you hear that architecture belongs to us all. A building may belong to the owner, however architecture in the urban sense is common property. Therefore I'm truly glad that this competition helps make society aware of what the urban environment is and how architecture is an element that creates that environment."
Awards were granted in three categories: public building, multi-family building and single-family home. There was only one nomination in the latter. It went, along with the award, to the Lasek housing estate designed by Majewski, Wyszyński, Hermanowicz Architekci. According to the jury, one element that deserved particular attention was the perfect spatial management that enabled the users to adjust the space depending on individual needs.
The multi-family building award went to the Winnica Residential Estate design by Adam Pacześniak and Robert Głowacki. The jury were impressed with the unity of the architecture and the landscape, and the impression it gives of intermingling space, which preserves an air of intimacy. The project beat Wilanów Park by Wojciech Szymborski, Jacek Zielonka and Lech Szymborski, and the Hoża-bis building by Konrad Kucza-Kuczynski and Andrzej Miklaszewski. "Nominations in both categories and picking winners went off without a hitch," sald Marek Mikos, a member of the jury. Mikos said that in a way, Kucza-Kuczyński's design belonged in a different category. The first two projects are residential developments, while Hoża-bis is an urban tenement house, a filling in a fragment of Warsaw's downtown area. The decisive factor was that, statistically speaking, there were more residential areas.
Ministry of Culture handed out certificates. The nominees were the Warsaw University Library (BUW), the Headquarters of the Stefan Batory Foundation, the Polish-Japanese Academy of Computer Technology, and the elementary, junior high, secondary and universitylevel schools of the Alliance of Families Association. The awards went to Marek Budzyński and Zbigniew Badowski for the BUW, and to Leszek Kołacz, Mikołaj Kołacz, Krzysztof Pęszkal and Andrzej Witkowski for the enlargement of the Polish-Japanese Academy of Computer Technology. The people's choice award went to Avon Cosmetics' new headquarters. Stefan Kuryłowicz received the award.
The people's choice award shows that many Varsovians are interested in good architecture. However, in order to stimulate a widespread discussion on this topic, there has to be more promotion of architectural creativity. "There is no special gallery in Warsaw devoted to architecture" said Przestaszewska-Porębska. "The Association of Polish Architects (SARP) has been organizing exhibitions of various kinds. However, promotion cannot rely on the activities of an association which by its nature is addressed primarily to its own members."
|
|
|
