European Solidarity Centre - konkurrenceforslag

3rd prize in competition for cultural centre/museum

Address: Gdansk, Poland
Category: Cultural centre/museum
Size: 15,000 m²
Competition year: 2007
Type of competition: Open, international
Awards: 3rd prize


How can you create an architectural counterpart to the achievement represented by the creation of the union Solidarity? How can you create a monument to democracy, freedom and comradeship?

Arkitema's proposal expresses and concretises the concept of solidarity through a number of rectangular, skyward-reaching buildings which stand shoulder to shoulder to create a cluster of expressive building bodies. Just as the building bodies materialise the Solidarity movement, the facade cladding represents a materialisation of its origins. In the proposal, all of the facades are formed from polished steel surfaces – symbolising the Gdansk shipyard and the many steel workers who in 1980 won the right to organise themselves in the Solidarity union.

Three entrances open up the building to its surroundings and allow people to filter into the large hall that embraces the central winter garden. The sky and the building's sculptural steel surfaces are visible through the winter garden's impressive glass roof.

A visit to the building reaches its climax and conclusion at the Tower of Freedom. From here, the shipyard's tangled contour of masts and cranes can be seen to the north, while to the south lies the bell tower of St Mary's church and the impressive skyline of the old town, framed in the foreground by the monument to the fallen: a view which unites and tells the story of Gdansk, Poland and Solidarity.