Photo: Inigo Bujedo Aguirre
Congratulations to the Museum of the History of Polish Jews on winning the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) Award of the Year and Award for the Best Architectural Object Built Using Public Funds under the Honorary Patronage of the President of the Republic of Poland.
Out of 46 submissions from all over Poland, the building of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews received the main award in both categories. The jury’s explanation regarding its choice reads as follows: "The award was granted for the exceptional arrangement of the public building’s space. The building of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews is not only a museum, but also a statue and a symbol. Architects incorporated these extra-functional aspects of the building into beautiful substance, in order to then give it grand form. The museum is shaped so that the external space runs through the building’s interior, and experiencing this incorporation becomes an architectural sensation for the visitor."
The Museum building was created as a result of an international architectural competition, organized by the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute in 2005. Out of over a hundred designs submitted for the competition, the work of the Finnish studio Lahdelma & Mahalmäki, whose Polish partner is the Kurylowicz & Associates studio, was selected.
The outside of the Museum building is toned and geometric, evoking the simple shape of the nearby monument to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto and the architecture of post-war buildings in Muranów. On the inside, there is an illuminated, sculptural void created by two curvilinear walls. It’s a metaphoric architecture that tells the history of Jews in Polish lands — which was almost ended by the Holocaust and post-war oppression. In contrast, the bright, open spaces of the building and materials used in its construction (wood, stone, copper, and brass) reflect the phrase "the museum of life," devoted to the 1,000 years of Jewish existence on Polish lands, not restricted to the subject of Holocaust.
The SARP award ceremony took place on May 26, with President of Poland Bronislaw Komorowksi, an honorary patron of the competition, in attendance. President Komorowski noted that Poland "is changing in every respect, including in terms of appearance." This award was established in 1983 for architectural designs "built on Polish territory with significant architectural values."
This is the latest in a series of accolades that the architectural design of the Museum has received. The Architectural Record featured the Museum building in its Design Vanguard 2013 issue. In 2013, the Museum building also received the prize in the Architectural Design of the Year category at the Eurobuild Awards competition; the Eurobuild Awards prize is awarded for the best design of a commercial or public building. In 2008, the visionary design of the Museum received the International Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum.
The Museum will have its Grand Opening on October 28, 2014, which will open its 9-gallery Core Exhibition to the public, which has already been enjoying the building, temporary exhibits, and cultural events since the Museum's Soft Opening on April 19, 2013.
Read the article on SARP awards on Museum of the History of Polish Jews website
