Warsaw Rotunda Entry by MUS architects

Polish firm MUS architects has shared with us the concept RTND 2.0, an entry to the ongoing competition Changing the Face 2013 Rotunda Warsaw which seeks to revitalize Zbigniew Karpiński’s iconic 1960s landmark building in central Warsaw.

The MUS architects design team included Anna Porebska, Karolina Kierner & Grzegorz Dalmata and was lead by Adam Zwierzynski.

Project Description from the Architects:

"We believe that the Warsaw Rotunda is a valuable part of the city landscape.
It is a building with a strong form, object with a hidden beauty.
While designing New Rotunda we tried to notice and extract synthetic traits of character and beauty of the original design of the building, while keeping fresh contemporary look, functionality, structure and aesthetic."

"We can build the "new" in the correlation and reasonable dialogue with the "old".
City and historical architectural mater is created by layering and multithreading. Similarly, the Rotunda 2.0 should preserve historical layer of his best traits of character : location, scale, shape, strong form and unique roofing. This set of features in a modern form and modern material is an exit point through which we design."

"The next step is to think about the group of new features and modern architectural forms derived directly from todays aesthetic sensitivity and the "pulse" of the city .
Reinterpretation of the form and function of the Rotunda must proceed so that the new heart of the building was modern implant , which establishes a symbiotic relationship interesting new connections with the old organism , together creating a valuable place in Warsaw both functional and aesthetic."

"RTND 2.0 is a modern design and a hybrid. It preserves the function associated with the place of
inception - PKO Bank, but at the same time create high-quality public space supplemented by a number of features that are generators of urban life. Amfitheatrical square shaped supplemented with low vegetation and high and small architectural forms the "Green Enclave in the City" . The result is a complex concentration of urban life. Under the Rotunda You can make an appointment and meet , but also relax, use a reading room, information center, cafes and pubs.
The internal design of the rotunda was changed. The new steel structure internal "cocoon" is a combination of function, form and structure."

"The loads from the roof and floor are transferred through the openwork structure (network of steel tubes) in the steel ring and trusses, new ground floor, then through the wall reinforced concrete poles on one side and on the other - on the foundation.
"New Face" of the Rotunda is a coherent and well thought hybrid between "Old" and "New".
It is modern, conceptual and functional - a place of symbiosis , multithreading and the culture of dialogue on many levels.
Place symbolic, metaphorical and unique.
Place of living.
Imagine this place and meet at the Rotunda!"