Sinfonia Varsovia
© Atelier Thomas Pucher

Sinfonia Varsovia

Atelier Thomas Pucher as Architects

ATELIER THOMAS PUCHER’s new seat for the world-renowned SinfoniaVarsovia Orchestra in Warsaw to be officially started by the mayor of Warsaw.


At a press conference in Warsaw’s city hall on March 4th 2015, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, the mayor of Warsaw, announced the approval of the budget and the start of design for the project which is due to open in 2020.


ATELIER THOMAS PUCHER, based in Austria, won the competition in 2010beating 137 international competitors.


The 28.000m² cultural centre is Poland’s most important cultural project as by today and will be the central element for the urban transformation of Warsaw’s eastern part. It inhabits a 1.800 seat symphonic hall with world-class acoustic properties, large rehearsal areas, hospitality and merchandise facilities, and the SinfoniaVarsovia Musical Academy, an institution dedicated to the spreading of music to the general public. The project gives a precise answer forthe program as well as to the complex conditions at the given site with its historical buildings. It envelopesthe whole site with a floating wall,delimitinga new park atits centre, and creatinga distinctive place of silence – the basic principle for an orchestra to perform – full of atmosphere and drama. At the same time, the park becomes a beautiful place for the public and the wall becomes the building to serve it.


The floating wall containsthe symphonic hall and all rehearsal areas. It floats above the foyer, and is seen as a seamless extension of the park into the building, holdingseveral mysteries and miracles: hidden rooms and stairs, a narrow surveillance path at its top, large and tiny places with extraordinary view and atmosphere –scenery where fairy tales can come true.


The Concert Hall is a fusion of “Shoebox Hall” and “Arena” performance hall types. While the traditional Shoe Box Hall is still the mark forideal acoustics it offers all too much poor visibility conditions. The “Arena” on the other hand is developed solely to create ideal views and dramatic public atmosphere. When put together they create a special place of sound, intimacy, and drama, tailor-suited for the orchestra and the audience.


Architecturally, this fusion is created by choosing the main shape of a rectangular hall with ideal acoustic dimensions and inserting seemingly free formed bands of balconies with perfect angles for visitors into this volume. The three dimensional flow of the balconies and the specific relation to the rectangular volume allow the acoustic properties to be developed on a world-class level.


Compared to the second popular performance hall type –the Vineyard –our hall design provides the benefit of compactness, short distances, and a volume that is also suited for smaller symphony orchestras and chamber orchestras. For the audience this means that each listener is situated as near to the orchestra as possible thus creating an immense impression of being “inside the music”.

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