Detail english 2015-11-12

∂ 2015 ¥ 6 Documentation 593
Museum in Cracow
Architects:
Wizja, Cracow
Stanisław Deńko
nsMoonStudio, Cracow
Piotr Nawara, Agnieszka Szultk
Structural engineers:
Pracownia Inżynierska Czesław Hodurek,
Cracow
Others involved in the project: see page 646
www.detail.de
Site plan scale 1:7500
Standing on the banks of the River Vistula in
the industrial district of Podgórze, this new
museum, with its perforated CORTEN steel
outer skin, may seem out of place from a
distance, but it is subtly structured in detail.
Erected specifically to document the work of
theatre director and artist Tadeusz Kantor,
it has already become an urban landmark
only shortly after its completion. The building
straddles a former power station that
now houses the archive and a theatre auditorium
commemorating Kantor. The main
entrance and foyer are at lower floor level,
while the exhibition areas are housed in the
bridge section with a steel-frame construction
that extends between two solid staircase
cores. The structure is also borne by a
third support of steel that stands, scarcely
visible, between the existing buildings.
Horizontal and vertical loads are conducted
into the reinforced concrete cores via special
anchors and a number of pot bearings
typical of bridge construction. In view of its
location on the banks of the river, the entire
structure is supported by 160 pile foundations
11 metres deep. Beneath the elevated
bridge-like section, a 600 m² area was created
as an open-air stage. Reflections in the
polished stainless-steel soffit of events that
take place below seem to keep the huge
volume in a state of movement – visible
even from the promenade along the river.