The news was announced at a press conference at the Association of Polish Architects. According to the secretary of the jury Marek Szaniawski, this decision was based on several considerations, including spatial, functional, educational, and aesthetic.
The estimated cost of designing this exhibition space in the Polish Army Museum is PLN 250 million (US$62.7 million, £50.5m, €57million). The exhibition will be open to public November 2020 and situated inside the Warsaw Citadel – a 19th century fortress in Warsaw that served as a prison during the 30s.
According to NM Architekci’s vision, the space of the exhibition inside the Polish Army Museum will be divided into three paths – short, medium, and long.
Visitors to the new Polish Army Museum can enjoy each aspect of the exhibition at their own comfort and pace. Each of the three paths offers a varied perspective of the exhibition.
According to a member of the selection jury, each of the exhibits “has been treated with the greatest of respect.” The jury member also explained that every exhibit has been treated as a “work of art.”
NM Architekci’s concept particularly portrays ‘authentic’ exhibits as the most important aspect of the exhibition, and these will be designed and presented in a conscious manner. Illuminated rooms will be used to emphasise on the special character of each of these exhibits.
One of the features of the plan that stands out the most and represents PLN 45 million (US$11.3 million, £9.1 million, €10.3 million) of the entire project’s budget is the dioramas that will act as the ‘historical freeze frames.’
These historical freeze frames will serve to provide a visual break from too much information all at once, while at the same time, stimulating the imagination of the visitors. One of these might be a life-sized cavalry charge of mounted hussars with lances.
NM Architekci’s vision for the Polish Army museum will focus on using minimal lighting, sound, and multimedia, emphasising on the sense of mystery attached to the Citadel instead.
The original Polish Army Museum dates back to 1920. It is the second-largest museum in Poland and is home to the greatest collection of military objects in Poland.
The Polish Army Museum documents a thousand years of Polish war history – from the 10th Century, all the way to the Second World War. The new building was announced in 2008 but the competition to attribute the responsibility of building the new museum was held only recently.
Now that NM Architekci has won the competition and shoulders the responsibility of designing the new museum, it will be interesting to see the changes it can bring to the original museum and whether or not visitors to the museum will enjoy these changes as much as they enjoy the exhibits of the original museum.
