High art deep underground

Works by Malczewski, Witkacy, Makowski and pictures by Grupa Janowska will be displayed… under the former coal mine "Katowice".

Glass towers will be erected among the preserved historic buildings of the coal mine and the "Warszawa" mineshaft. An inclined drift will lead visitors underground to a large multi-level room, lit by glass clearances. The room will house the collection of the Silesian Museum and monographic exhibition devoted to the history of the institution. In the buildings on the ground level there will be a cafe, restaurant and space for temporary exhibitions.

The jury justified their verdict as follows: "This project is original and of great symbolic meaning. (…) Transferring the Museum underground emphasises the connection of its works with the mining past of Silesia. The black treasure, hidden deep down in the ground, is replaced here by treasures of culture and remembrance. (…) The glass, crystalline light towers, rising from the ground shaped in the form of a natural park, signal the coexistence of modernity and history. The spectacle of greenery, light and water, as well as conversion of the two existing, adjacent buildings into a cafe, restaurant and temporary exhibitions make the visit on the ground attractive, whereas, going down to the level of the Museum collection, visitors have a chance to discover the underground treasures, without losing contact with daylight, which is falling from above. (…)"

The winning project of the Silesian Museum in Katowice by Austrian architects: Florian Riegler and Roger Riewe