Museum of Polish Partisans "Osuchy 44"

Sylwia Bartoszewska

A small museum, funded by the local government, commemorates the largest partisan battle of World War II on Polish soil, which took place in 1944 in the nearby forests.
The project represents an attempt to delve into the essence of the material, seeking a unity between the substance and the architectural form. To capture this essence, the design employs wooden posts and slats of varying cross-sections and thicknesses. Light is admitted through the gaps between the posts—penetrating to varying depths. The wood thus becomes a transposition of the forest landscape. The façade features a palette of browns, greens, and blues. The true nature of the wood cannot be grasped from a flat plank; instead, one must engage with the capricious grain of the larch posts—experimenting with their arrangement in various configurations. A flat façade had to be avoided at all costs. In this project, the wood needed to possess the weight and solidity of syenite, while maintaining an unwavering rhythm in harmony with the building's massive, monolithic form. Inscriptions on the façade cut into the massive block, creating a relief that deepens progressively. The approach area was enlivened by a simple geometric pattern impressed into the wet concrete.
The museum stands on the exact spot where the partisans managed to break through the German encirclement. Following the tragic death of their commander—a career military officer—command was assumed by Konrad Bartoszewski (nom de guerre "Wir"), a Polish philology graduate not yet thirty years old. Despite his lack of military training, he succeeded in leading the unit out of the encirclement.

Project Gallery

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Sylwia Bartoszewska PL

http://aak.com.pl
27 Zina 27e/1 | 30-432 Kraków