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Michał Haduch and Bartosz Haduch

Photos

Iñigo Bujedo Aguirre

Fram

e of Mind Cricoteka, a museum by nsMoonStudio and Wizja, is a highlight

of Cracow’s new waterfront.

107106 Museum Cracow | PolandLong Section nsMoonStudio | Wizja

Vistula is Poland’s longest and most important river. Stretching over 1,000 km from the Beskid Mountains to the Baltic Sea, it runs through important Polish cities such as Warsaw, Toruń and Gdańsk. Historically, the Vistula divided the country in two: the affluent west

and the underdeveloped east. The same applies to Cracow, the country’s second-largest metropolis, where the Vistula separated the rich left bank – the city’s Old Town and the Kazimierz district – from the neglected right bank, the site of the once independent village of Podgórze. For ages the city’s inhabitants perceived the frequently flooding river as more of a threat than an opportunity. Only lately has Cracow turned its face back to the water. In recent years local authorities have embarked on an ambitious public-works programme aimed largely at neighbourhoods on the river’s right bank. Major new developments include Mocak, a museum of contemporary art designed by Italian firm Claudio Nardi Architects, and a congress centre by local practice Ingarden & Ewý. Comple-menting these big investments are smaller initiatives, from a water-tram service to new bridges and cycle paths. The most recent addition to the revitalization plan is Cricoteka, a museum commemorating the life and work of 20th-century creative genius Tadeusz Kantor.

Cracow is widely considered to be Poland’s capital of culture. The city is the cradle of the country’s most renowned artists. Among its famous residents, past and present, are Wisława Szymborska, poet and Nobel Prize laureate; contemporary music composer Krzysztof Penderecki; and Oscar-winning film director Andrzej Wajda. Another luminary is Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990), a versatile avant-garde artist, painter, draughts-man, sculptor and writer, yet probably best known for his achievements in the performing arts, a field in which he was actor, director, set designer and creator of happenings: roles that made him one of Poland’s most prominent figures of 20th-century theatre. In 1955 he founded the memorable Cricot 2, a theatrical ensemble whose revolutionary, internationally acclaimed spectacles were renowned for their interaction with the audience, defiance of conventions and experimentation with materials. In 1980 Kantor established the original Cric-oteka, a heritage centre that housed his troupe’s ‘living archive’. In accordance with the artist’s will, the institute continued to serve as a museum, repository, art gallery and research cen-tre, while simultaneously collecting materials documenting the activities of Cricot 2 and its founder. Throughout the years, though, such items became scattered, eventually ending up in three places. It would take three long decades and two compe-titions before work began on a permanent seat for Cricoteka. The recently completed centre, the result of an inter-national competition organized in 2006, bears the signature

V

A meticulously restored power plant is incorporated into the museum.

The building is on the right bank of the Vistula, in the once independent district of Podgórze.

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of a consortium of two Cra-cow practices: young nsMoon-Studio and the more experi-enced Wizja (coauthor of the remarkable Polish Embassy in New Delhi). The complex is on a narrow triangular site sepa-rated from the Vistula River by a promenade and an old stone wall built to prevent flooding. The previous occupant was a power plant, now meticu-lously restored. Dwarfing the 100-year-old industrial build-ings is a new and surprising geometric structure with a V-shaped plan. Clad in steel,

it seems to wrap the older cluster while forming a protective canopy overhead. The geometric giant rests on two concrete pylons that house lifts and stairs. Its dimensions are impres-sive: the building is approximately 80 m in length, 30 m in width and 20 m in height. Erecting such a heavyweight construction on unstable riverside soil constituted a considerable engineer-ing challenge. The new structure is clad almost entirely in densely perforated panels of oxidized Corten steel. Holes in the metal panelling reduce the massive character of the suspended volume and enable inside-out illumination at night. Count-less rows of punctured steel evoke images of screen printing or hidden messages in Morse code. The monumental ‘bridge’ may seem slightly overscaled for the context, but it does correspond to the heights of neighbouring buildings. More importantly, though, it relates to various elements of Kantor’s multidisciplinary oeuvre. He was an enthusiast of basic, raw, low-profile materials. He liked to break stereotypes. Themes of impossibility, conflict and fusion recurred throughout his work. His favourite artistic concepts included wrapping and assem-bly. And perhaps the architects were inspired by his famous drawing: Man carrying table.

The building ushers visitors into a partially covered courtyard that echoes the modernist tradition of an open ground floor with pilotis. Their attention is immediately drawn to a spectac-ular mirrored ceiling that reflects the old architecture and the flow of the Vistula River while encouraging interaction with the building. This new 600-m2 public space occasionally doubles as an open-air stage for theatrical performances or film pro-jections. The idea of a sheltering plaza can also be interpreted as the deconstructed umbrella that Kantor loved so well. From here, visitors proceed to the underground entrance hall, which accommodates a cloakroom, a gift shop and a counter for tickets and information. This hall connects the old and new parts of the building. Comprising the restored power plant are offices, conference rooms, storerooms, wardrobes, archives, a reading room and an auditorium that seats 140 people. The suspended volume holds galleries for permanent and tem-porary exhibitions, with movable partitions that allow for the flexible arrangement of these spaces. Also within the new-build structure are an educational room and, on the top floor, a café that offers a panoramic view of the river and the city. The new Cricoteka not only pays homage to a unique artist and theatrical personality but also forms an urban frame for his visionary work. The complex symbolizes the reconcilia-tion between a leading Polish city and the country’s greatest river. Highlighting Cracow’s new waterfront, Cricoteka has provoked heated debate; the arguments are more intense than those involving any other recent development. Some love it, others are appalled, and no one is indifferent. Both locals and tourists are heard praising its uncompromising form, its refer-ences to Kantor’s legacy and to Podgórze’s industrial past, and its moderate cost (€12.5 million). Countering the accolades are the protests of local conservatives, who complain about the building’s radical intervention into the surroundings and its use of materials, which are so different from Cracow’s tradi-tional brick and stone. One thing’s for sure: Kantor would have enjoyed the controversy stirred up by a new building in which his art and ideas are all but guaranteed not to rust away.

moonstudio.com.plwizja.krakow.pl

‘Kantor would have enjoyed the controversy stirred up by the new museum’

The complex is on a narrow triangular site separated from the Vistula River by a promenade and an old stone wall built to prevent flooding.

A partially covered courtyard at the main entrance to the museum features a mirrored ceiling.

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+ 301 Entrance hall02 Cloakroom03 Ticket and information

counter04 Entrance courtyard05 Office06 Reading room07 Back entrance08 Multifunctional auditorium09 Exhibition gallery10 Educational room

Perforations in the Corten-steel façade create a beautiful play of light and shadow inside the building.

The suspended volume holds galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions, with movable partitions that allow for the fl exible arrangement of these spaces.

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