Frank Gehry Wins Competition to Design Krakow Academy of Music Campus in Poland

Frank Gehry has won a competition to design new Krakow Academy of Music complex in Krakow, Poland. The complex will include a new campus and a concert hall, and it will be located on a former military site, northeast of the city. The proposed design features a cluster of silver volumes with various angles and white protruded volumes, which will possibly function as windows and skylights. The silver volumes are surrounded by regular earth-toned volumes and landscape; one of these volumes houses the concert hall.

photography by © Gehry Partners LLP, courtesy of a f a s i a | archzine

The proposal by Gehry and his team from Gehry Partners LLP has been praised by the jury for its originality and integration with the site. The jury has also commended the unconventional design of the concert hall which offers spiraling views to the audience, in addition to new functional and acoustical possibilities.

photography by © Gehry Partners LLP, courtesy of a f a s i a | archzine

”The composition of the designed buildings of the Academy is created with a complex of pavilions respectfully introduced among the existing high vegetation. The proper zoning of the building and placement of entrances favor a clear separation between the public and educational spheres,” said the jury.

Gehry’s “park of music”, as his design team describes it, is expected to cost 160M Poland Zloty, which is about $40million. It has been selected among 10 finalist entries, and its conceptual plans are to be finalized in two years. It will be part of the urban revival plan for the city of Krakow, which is witnessing, in parallel, the planning of other new music performance-related developments.