MUSEUM OF POLISH HISTORY

Paths Between Place & Memory: In this proposal, a gathering of paths links place with memory: paths that stitch ul. Jazdów to O Stanislawowska; paths that straddle Trasa Lazienkowska; paths that lead one up and along the Skarpa Warszawska; paths from pl. na Rozdrou and paths relinking Zamek Ujazdowski with Sobieski gardens. All the paths gather to form the architecture of the museum. The architecture is shaped by the lines of movement between ul. Jazdów and the Stanislawowska Axis. These lines place the primary internal circulation of the museum. One arrives at the museum’s entry through paths that bend and slide below a bar building, located on ul. Jazdów. One is drawn into the forum, an open public atrium which runs west to east at the base of a network of shallow stairs. These circulatory elements are the major ordering elements of the building. The forum and stairs place and shape the exhibition spaces, and locate the supporting functions—auditorium, seminar rooms, multimedia library, reading room, museum store and café. The shallow stairs cut sections through history and bring the visitor to the galleries above. A “comprehensive path” links the galleries back and forth across the forum atrium in a continuous loop that begins and ends at the ul. Jazdów entry. Recognizing the variability of memory, a “fast path” intersects the chronological ordering and provides access for a specific course of study or an informal visit. The galleries stitch together across the building and give multiple views and courtyard spaces to connect back to the site. The forum culminates in a panoramic view eastward, towards the Wisla River.