Museum of Modern Art
Warsaw, Poland

Gareth Hoskins Architects were one of only three UK practices short-listed in 2007 for the International competition to design a new Museum of Modern Art in the Polish capital. The museum was to be sited in the historic centre of Warsaw adjacent to the Palace of Culture, between a public square and landscaped park.

The proposals by Gareth Hoskins Architects challenged the idea of a traditional museum. Rather than a single building housing traditional ‘black box’ gallery spaces, the practice proposed a framed structure of interconnected, flexible galleries, allowing variable configurations of volumes and conditioned space within an overall controlled environment, and access for movement of large objects and changeover of displays. The building itself was conceived as a street connecting the square and park that blurs the boundaries between ‘inside’ and ‘out’, and allows connections with the wider context. The gallery and exhibition would be scattered within the landscape and would provide opportunities for different activities throughout the day.