Headline:
We trust that order can secure peace and space to concentrate close to silence. Silence is the prerequisite for listening, and it makes us feel like approaching the essence of music.
“No artistic creativity can survive without roots. Let’s look at tree: it teaches us that a work of art must take roots in two things – the ground and the sky – and that the most sublimate and fundamental values are always the key. May therefore, this place become a ‘tree of knowledge’ for young musicians, and help them set forth in their further careers”
Krzysztof Penderecki to young musicians.
Brief description:
The facility has been built in the vicinity of a unique man-made park landscape with a beautiful Old Polish manor of Krzysztof Penderecki, at Luslawice in the Lesser Poland (malopolska) region.
The idea and the objective of the Krzysztof Penderecki European Music Centre are having most talented young musicians from all over the world inspired to improve their skills and to reach full artistic maturity in the ‘master – apprentice’ relationships.
The work on this exceptional project is an adventure which released particularly strong emotions. It was actually fascinating to cooperate with a great artist in his beloved place, a refuge for concentration. This place is endowed with its own tradition and style which is the fruit of time and the owner’s individuality. It would have been unbefitting to encroach on this tradition.
The open landscape aura implied an exceptional circumspection while forming the architecture of the building.
We were convinced that order and harmony are fundamental features to determine the building’s identity. A clear and simple form with minimum quantities of traditional materials is an attempt at a contemporary interpretation of classical tradition, basing upon a universal system of values.
Project description:
The rhythm of a wooden portico which constitutes the matrix of the design leads from the concert hall to the didactic part, the residential part and a roofed parking lot, combining thus the respective parts of the building complex in one. This guarantees a clear and simple organizational functionality of the design.
The heart of the Centre is a concert hall seating 650 people; the hall complies with the most severe acoustic requirements.
In consequence of enormous expectations, the hall attracted attention of all involved in this project. So as to guarantee the top-level acoustics, the interior design was based upon classical models once used in historic structures and architecture of concert halls.
The hall is built in the classical proportions of a rectangular room. The shoobox as a basic shape is particularly beneficial for large range of music interpretations, from chamber music to orchestral and choral works.
The crucial factor inside the hall is natural wood. Irrespective of the basic structure of the building, a precise, rhythmical structure was taking shape in strict cooperation with an acoustics expert. Wood has been consistently applied in the internal organization of the entire facility interrelated with its exterior look.
The technical equipment of the concert hall can provide as well suitable conditions for professional sound and audiovisual recording. The hall is encompassed by a vast foyer open towards the park and a courtyard which connects the concert hall with the didactic part of the Centre which, in turn, consists of a chamber hall, a conference room, a few dozen music training rooms, a library, a recording studio, dressing rooms for artists, a kitchen and a dining room.
In the Centre there is also provided a part with guest accommodations for more than 100 people.
The square in front of the hall, a roofed space in front of the foyer and the courtyard will be used for outdoor events.
Due to exceptional recollections from the inaugural concert as well as to extremely favorable reviews from the artists who have had an opportunity of giving a concert at Luslawice, we can feel that we have created a place in which music will always monopolize people’s attention.
Sustainable aspects of the work:
The entire complex is very simple even austere, subordinated to the overriding idea of order and calm.
The building, except the concert hall body, is raised above ground, is low and topped with a green roof, constituting thus a part of the surrounds. The green around the building is a part of the entire composition and integrates the structure with the adjacent old manor park. In the building were used and consistently exposed natural materials, wood and sandstone – a natural stone. Most technical equipment, burdensome to the environment and the building, but indispensable to secure appropriate conditions, especially in the concert hall, has been arranged underground.
