The Philharmonic Building among the Most Important Works of Contemporary Architecture

Prestigious Group of Contemporary Architecture Icons

Nearly nine years after its opening, the Philharmonic Building continues to receive recognition and additional accolades. As the only Polish project, it has been included in the prestigious group of the world's 200 most significant works of contemporary architecture.

The global guide to contemporary architecture, C.guide, created the list, authored by the Spanish Foundation for Contemporary Architecture. C.guide offers a selection of 200 projects that, according to the authors, respond to the challenges and possibilities of contemporary architecture worldwide. The selection includes works created after 1975, which as a whole represent exceptional architecture, "architecture that would justify a journey in itself." The list aims to reflect the diversity of strategies and approaches to dealing with the complexity of the contemporary landscape.

A Modern Design Inspired by Music, Place, and History

Having been opened in 2014, the Mieczysław Karłowicz Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin had been designed by the Barozzi/Veiga studio (Fabrizio Barozzi and Alberto Veiga) from Barcelona. The construction lasted three years (2011-2014), and the investment cost amounted to 120 million PLN. Part of the funding came from the budget of the City of Szczecin, while the European Union provided the remainder.

The inspiration for its design came from organs, an instrument used by some of the most talented composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Stanisław Moniuszko, and Feliks Nowowiejski. At the same time, it references the history of the place and the shape of the Hanseatic architecture of the city.

These inspirations are visible in the monumental white form with a characteristic line of steep roofs with pointed tops and a three-dimensional aluminum-glass façade structure. The authors of this innovative architectural design won the international competition announced in 2007 for the concept of a new building for the Szczecin Philharmonic. Their vision surpassed 40 other competitive ideas.

This is a building created for the city in northern Poland, which reconstructs the intersection where the pre-war Konzerthaus was located and needed to regain its central and historical significance, say the designers in a commentary for the C.guide. It is a corner from which the Philharmonic could initiate the process of transforming the city, they add.