New York-based ZERAFA ARCHITECTURE STUDIO shared with us their proposal for the International Competition to design the Museum of Polish History in Warsaw, Poland. More images and architect’s description after the break.
Introduction The challenge of creating a new Museum of Polish History today involves considering the historical relationship between a National identity, collective memory and a culture’s traditions within a modern global context. The design of the museum and the crafting of a user experience that communicates an essential spirit of Polish Identity and is also meaningful to visitors from around the world represent a universal challenge of our time. We believe the solution lies within the power of history to illuminate, teach and improve relationships through the celebration of ideas and human aspirations. The collective memory of a Nation is quite often defined by those memories enshrined in national monuments and in particular, those not publically memorialized. The idea of a “collected memory”, one that is inherently fragmented and individual in character in relation to “collective psychology” that represents a group’s common ideas and aspirations is the starting point for our design.
