Phifer and Partners to design 'transparent' Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

Thomas Phifer and Partners has won a competition to design a new gallery space for the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, ArchDaily reports.

The firm's proposal comprises two separate buildings housing the TR Warsawa Theatre, also part of the museum, and the museum itself. The two buildings will be joined by a common area that will function as an entrance and public space.

“This is a unique moment in the history and culture of Warsaw, where a creative trajectory is intersecting with positive political and economic forces," said Thomas Phifer, the firm's principal. "This new home for contemporary artistic expression, the new cultural center of gravity for Warsaw, must embody this progressive essence. It’s about people, open, welcoming, accessible. It must be optimistic, transparent and populist in spirit.”

To further the transparency of the theater space, the design includes a stage that opens onto the Plac Defilad, so anyone passing by will be able to see performances. Backstage rooms of the theater will have glass walls for the same purpose. Similarly, the museum will have glass walls in places so that artwork can be shown to the public.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $126 million; $86 million for the museum and the remainder for the theater.

Completion is slated for 2019.

Renderings courtesy Thomas Phifer and Architects

Components of the $9-million structural concrete construction phase included a 700-foot-long, below-grade baggage-handling tunnel; metal decks covered in poured-in-place concrete; slab-on-grade for the new terminal; and 10 exterior architectural columns––each 56-feet tall and erected at a 14-degree angle.