Warsaw reinvents its center with a new museum of modern art

Today, in the midst of transformation, the Polish capital and its 1,8 million inhabitants did not until now have a modern art museum worthy of the name, the collections being exhibited only in temporary premises.

"Shoebox", "container" or "bunker" for some, "pearl of minimalism" for others, the new, refined building with simple lines, the work of American architect Thomas Phifer, arouses passions.

But while its architecture may be disconcerting in its simplicity, the museum and its surroundings aim to transform the heart of the city.

"Warsaw was changing in a very dynamic way, but the city centre had kept the look it had a few decades ago," acknowledged its mayor Rafal Trzaskowski during a press conference at the museum on Thursday, calling its opening a "historic event" both for Polish art and for the capital.

Ocean of Ruins

During the war, Warsaw was 90% destroyed by the Germans and when it was liberated, its centre was nothing more than a sea of ​​ruins.

The communists decided not to recreate it and built the Palace of Culture and Science there, a building in the style of "socialist realism" over 230 meters high, donated by Stalin, and which for a long time dominated the landscape in this city.

A place under communism for large political gatherings, the large empty square in front of the palace became, after the fall of the regime, a bazaar, a location for traveling fairs, then a car park with a broken road, all cut off from the rest of the urban fabric by a wide avenue.

The square was until now "anything and everything", a dilapidated place without vision, according to architectural historian Anna Cymer for whom "Warsaw has still not managed to neutralize this heavy historical legacy, this "spell cast by Stalin".

"In fact, the heart of Warsaw is still not developed and the capital still does not have the real city centre that it urgently needs," she told AFP.

"We are finally on our way to reviving this part of the city for the benefit of all. The museum is a big step toward forming a true downtown and revitalizing the neighborhood," Cymer added.

"Warsaw Light"

For the architect of this museum with a total surface area of ​​almost 20.000 square metres, the choice of location is significant and "very courageous".

"The municipality could have chosen any other location but decided to place it near the Palace of Culture despite all its history," he told reporters.

"It will be (...) the new forum, the new meeting place, meeting with art and meeting between us," he said, explaining that he wanted to create a place open to the city and its inhabitants.

The ground floor of this museum, a building whose total cost is 700 million zlotys (160 million euros), is glazed and invites passers-by to enter a large, bright hall.

Inside, a double staircase will take them to the exhibition rooms, which are currently practically empty.

Pending the inauguration of its permanent exhibition in February, the museum will only present around ten works of art to visitors but must, over the next two weeks, host around a hundred events, concerts, dance performances and workshops.

The entire interior of the museum is bathed in soft natural light that changes with the rhythm of the day. For Thomas Phifer, "this experience of light" is very important.

“It is the light of Warsaw that defines this place, begins to blend into the experience of art,” he noted.