Student participants:
Adam Novotník, Aleksandra Walczak, Katarzyna Maliszewska, Katarzyna Waśniowska, Matúš Peklanský, Merle Genc, Piotr Wiśniowski, Shanine Alpen, Táňa Hronovská.
Location: Cinema Muza
Muza Cinema boasts a very long tradition. The cinema hall has been functioning in this place for over 100 years, under many different names: in 1908 it was known as: „Theater Apollo”, in 1910 – „Colosseum”, in 1934 – „Europa”, in 1935 – „Świt”, in 1940 – „Zentral Lichtspiele” and in 1945 – „Wolność”. The current name – “Muza” – was given in the 50s.
The cinema has undergone a major modernisation: 160 new seats, an air-conditioning system, modern sound system and a pearl screen were installed in the cinema hall.
Muza Cinema is municipal institution, managed by the Poznańska Estrada.
ACTIVITIES
The primary activity of Muza cinema revolves around movies presented in a regular repertoire, during special movie screenings, festivals and cycles dedicated for all kinds of audiences. The screening of movies is usually accompanied with meetings, workshops and other events. Some of those events are held outdoors in the courtyard. The courtyard is now a lively place and new furniture could help to create a space for visitors to rest and engage in interesting conversations, a casual space where you could have a nice cup of coffee and taste the local sweet specialties served by the café or talk with your friends about movies while enjoying the local beer.
USERS
The customers of Muza cinema are people of various age and of different interests. The mornings are usually more family-oriented, late evenings are romantic and the mood during brunches is pretty much random. Sometimes the cinema is visited by only a few people, and sometimes there are crowds waiting waiting at the entrance.
NEEDS
Muza Cinema is currently in need of two things: seats, tables and portable tables. Seats and tables are intended for everyday use, for those people who wish to sit down for a coffee in front of the entrance to the cinema, while waiting for the movie to start or meet up with friends. The second thing which could be of use to the cinema are tables. Those should have the sizes of a traditional dining table. In addition to serving as space for food, this furniture could also be used during art workshops. However, it is very important that the tables are stable, easy to break down and light enough to be carried by two adults. It should be possible to store them.
FINAL RESULTS
Representatives of Kino Muza had many requests, for example the will to take the cultural message outside the building. The small facility is located at the end of a narrow yard, due to which people are often oblivious as to its existence. This chamber atmosphere has been taken advantage of by the students, and treated as an asset. The group based its design on a simple form of modules able to create various spaces depending on the need. Locating them in the narrow passageway makes the space feel organized and welcoming. On a daily basis, the forms constructed from square timber may be arranged in the form of a table surrounded by seats, creating a comfortable meeting place or a stop for tired passersby. But all it takes is a bit of moving and the modules create a small open-air stage, perfect for a chamber concert, or seats for an open-air cinema which can be arranged in the gateway.What’s most striking about the project is the simple but functional openwork form, and a very meticulous approach to details. Thanks to the openwork form, despite the solid and damage resistant body, the modules are relatively light.
Tutor: Atelier Starzak Strebicki
Architects from Poland
Jola Starzak and Dawid Strebicki – architects and urban planners. Following their studies in the Netherlands and many years of working for design engineering studios in Belgium and in the Netherlands, they established their own design engineering studio in 2011. Presently, they are working on furniture, interior, architectural and urban design projects in Poland and Belgium. What intrigues them about design is the diverse scale of design work: from furniture, through house and interior design, to the city planning scale – presently, the studio is working on the urban plan for the centre of Strombeek (located near Brussels). Atelier Starzak Strebicki’s architects are also fond of temporary architecture and experiments on the urban fabric, such as the project for the temporary space planning for Plac Wolności in Poznań, which the studio is implementing for the international Malta Festival, and the mobile urban furniture project, dedicated to the court space of Poznań City Hall. Since 2011, the architects have been cooperating with School of Form. Since 2013, they have also been working with the ‘Zawód:Architekt’ magazine, writing articles aimed at introducing Polish designers to the condition of the architect’s profession in Belgium and in the Netherlands. In 2016 the studio was invited to participate in the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture – one of the architects’ projects (“Kijgat”) is presently being exhibited at the Biennale in the Belgian Pavilion.