WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION 9
Plac Defilad: A step forward
Plac Defilad is in for a real change and the planned municipal projects stir immense interest and emotions amongst Varsovians.
This largest and so far undeveloped space in the city centre is the sole focus of this year’s edition of the festival WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The festival offers the possibility to imagine the life of the square in front of the Palace of Culture and Science in the forthcoming years once the architectural competition for its development has been settled and the new Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa buildings have been completed. The WUC9 concentrates on the near future of Plac Defilad – the much-awaited step forward.
The festival recapitulates the history of the construction of the square, the subsequent competitions for its redevelopment and debates concerning its planned metamorphosis. Against this backdrop, we present good contemporary models, analyse the local conditions, pursue concept works and organise design workshops for Varsovians. A special feature is the real-scale scenography that depicts the real size of the future square and the edifices that will shape its fronts, as well as a vast visual intervention that draws a comparison between the planned square and iconic urban spaces in Poland and abroad.
WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION is also an opportunity to familiarise Varsovians with the public institutions accessed directly from the square in the future – the local hosts: Palace of Culture and Science, STUDIO teatrgaleria, barStudio, Dramatic Theatre, Cafe Kulturalna, TR Warszawa and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Alongside the representatives of the municipal authorities and social organisations, these hosts will work on developing the best collective decision-making model with regard to the life of the square.
The festival programme is connected with a cycle of summertime social-cultural animation activities organised by the STUDIO teatrgaleria within the Plac Defilad project as well as design and consultation efforts pursued by the municipal Office of Architecture and Spatial Planning. During the festival, the competition jury will select five best functional-spatial concepts for Central Square, which will then undergo consultations with the residents. The competition, consultations and festival debates will serve to select the team in charge of the implementation of the final design of the square.
The festival WARSAW UNDER CONSTRUCTION is co-organised by the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and the Museum of Warsaw in collaboration with and owing to the funding from the Capital City of Warsaw.
