3.1 Poland Aviation Museum- Poland

The new main building of the Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow offers a symbolic and attractive combination of virtually all the symbolisms associated with the museum, including the idea of flying, the atmosphere and structure of an airfield and a passion for the history of technology. Architects: Pysall Ruge Architekten with Bartlomiej Kisielewski Project: Polish Aviation Museum Location: Krakow, Poland Client: Muzeum Lotnictwa Polskiego w Krakowie Project initiator and main co-founder: Samorząd Województwa Małopolskiego(Regional Authorities of Malopolska)

Software used: Vectorworks (architectural drawings) and AutoCAD (M&E drawings) Architect / General planner: Pysall.Ruge Architekten with Bartlomiej Kisielewski Design Team: Justus Pysall, Peter Ruge, Bartłomiej Kisielewski, Katarzyna Ratajczak, Mateusz Rataj, Alicja Kępka-Guerrero Structural and M&E Services: Arup International – Kraków Landscape Architect: ST raum a – Berlin Photographies: Jakub Pierzchała Location: al. Jana Pawła II 39, 30-969 Kraków, Polska Park Area: 6,19 ha Net Floor Area of the Building: 3 378 m2 Gross Floor Area of the Building: 4 504 m2 Building Volume: 23 250 m3

The Polish Aviation Museum in Krakow has erected its new main building in its vast grounds along Jana Pawła II avenue 39. The building will also play the role of entrance to a complex combining the Museum and the Aviation Park located within the Krakow’s historic Rakowice-Czyżyny airport.

The building plays symbolic and practical roles by housing the Museum offices, a conference and study area and an exhibition hall and by offering its dramatic shape as a new icon of the entire Museum complex. As the bulk of

The architectural concept designed by Pysall.Ruge Architekten with Bartłomiej Kisielewski won the first prize in an open international architectural competition in 2005.

From the outset, the architects agreed four priorities for the design: – To create an architectural structure which is both clearly associated with the museum function and reflects the nature of the exhibits on display; – To create a modern form, which could provide an icon representing the Polish Aviation Museum in the contemporary cultural landscape of the city of Krakow – a form that would attract tourists and airplane aficionados; – To adopt a logical and efficient, functional layout; – That the facility would not dominate the adjacent buildings despite its size and would be open enough to offer a ‘soft transition’ between the developed area and the green area of the Aircraft Cultural Park.

A square base was adopted for the design that corresponded to the size of a historic hangar from 1929 located at the center of the Museum grounds.

The square 62.5 x 62.5 m concrete platform served as a base for the main building’s three wings designed so as to form patios opening up in three directions: to the southern approach to the museum,

to the future Aviation Park and towards the existing museum buildings. By having its bulky form broken up into three wings the new building successfully avoids dominating the existing facilities, while its transparency allows various components of the environment to ‘see’ each other.

SPATIAL AND ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT

The architecture of the building offers modern design solutions and stands out in its environment but maintains respect for the surrounding landscape. The single-piece building has been carefully shaped to create three internal and three external spaces. The form-factor brings associations of a huge fan or propeller.

1 - The great war anticraft museum 2 - Main exhibition hangar 3 - The aero engines exhibition 4 - History panel 5 - The open-air exhibition 6 - The east wing exhibition 7 - Aviation heritage cultural park 8 - Museum main building 9 – Runway

The three wings house various functions corresponding to the needs and plans of the client. The unobstructed 10-metre-high spaces in two of them offer an environment where the standing and suspended collection can ‘live’ at various levels. The west wing was divided into three floors of 3.5 meters each and houses the study, conference and administrative functions. The wings meet at a hub. This is where most public functions have been placed, including the ground floor entrance hall, lobby of the multi-purpose room and the first-floor restaurant.

FUNCTIONAL STRUCTURE

The building’s three floors reflect its three main functions as a museum, a study and conference facility and an office.

The ground floor houses the entrance zone with a freely accessible temporary exhibition space, a small cinema, a museum shop and modelling workshops.

The lobby opens up to the exhibition space occupying two wings. The largest of the wings, designed around the size of the planned exhibits, displays the museum’s showcase airplanes and engines. Some of these can be suspended above the standing exhibits adding dynamism to the collection. The wing meets with an educational exhibition section ensuring the smooth flow of the visitor traffic.

A multi-purpose room seating 150 is located on the first floor alongside a lobby, the museum bar, the library with a reference room and Internet-enabled computer workstations.

ILLUMINATION

Much effort went into the illumination and lighting design. A complete illumination design for each internal space uses lights placed on the floor, walls and under the ceiling to underscore the building’s unorthodox geometry.

HVAC DESIGN AND SYSTEMS

- The designers aimed to create an energy-efficient building (including heating, ventilation and lighting) that would use local energy resources and would meet the project’s budgetary constraints.

-Two temperature zones were designed. The two 10-metre-high exhibition wings constitute the lower temperature zone. The west wing devoted to the study, conference and office functions is kept warmer. In summer, both zones can be interconnected by opening the dividing walls. This division into ‘climate zones’ considerably improved the building’s energy efficiency.

-The abundance of natural light penetrating deep into the building minimizes the requirement for artificial light during working hours.

-The floor-heating system incorporated in the exhibition wings by the client will be supplied via a heat-pump and will reduce the cost of heating in winter. In summer, the same system will be used to cool the building.

EXTERIOR VIEW

The spacious glazed interior opens out freely in all directions. The reception area faces the street, while the library and office windows overlook the park to the west. The exhibition hall finds harmony with an undeveloped area in front of it and offers an unobstructed view of the former runway and of airplanes parked outside. The subdued colors of the walls and the floor in the northern wing provide an elegant background to the collection. The airplanes seem to be ready for take-off and do not look like mere exhibits.

INTERIOR AND MATERIALS

Natural and raw-looking materials were selected for the building to provide contrast to the surrounding greenery. The light and the colorful surroundings will complement the interior spaces.

The existence of visual relationships between different sections of the entire space was adopted as an essential design principle and some of the internal walls are glazed to allow this contact. The outer shell defining the building shape is made of architectural concrete, which has been left exposed both on the inside and outside. Anodized aluminum was proposed as a finishing material on some of the walls and stairwell details. This material was consistently repeated in components of the exhibition furniture. The ground floor was made of integrally colored high-load concrete. Heavy duty parquet was used for the upper floors, including in corridors, office rooms, the multipurpose room and the library to provide an effect of warmth.