Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań

‍Contemporary spatial sign among traditional urban development

Organized by the I.J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań together with SARP Poznań, the architectural competition involves the realization of a new building at the intersection of Grunwaldzka and Matejki streets in Poznań's Łazarz.

The aim of the project was to create a timeless object that harmoniously fits into the traditional architecture and urban planning of Poznań, while responding to the contemporary needs of the city. The analysis of the traditional context in a modern perspective allowed the reinterpretation of the boundaries of the public and private zones, avoiding the creation of strict divisions. The composition of the building manifests the social character of the University, blurring the boundaries through the expressiveness of the solids, niches and openings on different floors, while opening up to the surroundings. The life of the university is centered around the central space, also subordinating itself to the issues of stage technology. We are talking about the theater hall, which, like the whole form of the building, combines the social function with the private sphere of the university. Vertical zoning is clearly marked in the facility; public, starting on the open ground floor and moving into increasingly private educational spaces with the addition of further didactic functions on the upper floors. On the other hand, there is a separation of the public function from the technical facilities, thanks to which their paths do not cross and ensure the smooth functioning of the facility.

At the junction with the existing urban fabric, at the confluence of the streets, the compact arrangement of the blocks gradually gives way to a freer composition, blurring the boundary between the interior and the exterior, while emphasizing the character of the public building. The compositional dominant located at the intersection of streets is a spatial sign that marks the presence of institutions in the city. The volumes of individual blocks in scale refer to the neighboring, 19th century buildings, and their general expression has been subdued by the simplicity of the geometrized solids and the rhythmic articulation of the facade, referring to the traditional form of an urban tenement house.

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