music academy

The design of the new Academy of Music in Kraków was conceived as an integral element of the urban landscape of the Vistula River valley. Rather than functioning as a closed institution, the building operates as an open and accessible public space, linking the world of musical education with the everyday life of the city. A key objective of the project was to create a city-forming structure that revitalises the degraded Grzegórzki area and initiates the development of a new, green cultural district.

The Academy’s massing takes the form of a horizontal, terraced band that gently descends towards the Vistula boulevards, drawing the surrounding landscape onto successive levels of the building. Roofs and terraces serve as publicly accessible recreational and viewing areas, becoming the building’s “fifth façade”. At the same time, the building acts as an acoustic barrier to the adjacent railway infrastructure and as a clear urban boundary for the newly emerging music district.

A significant component of the scheme is the system of external spaces - squares, courtyards, arcades and gardens - which together form a coherent sequence of public and semi-public urban interiors. The Academy is accessible from multiple directions - both from the Vistula River and from the more intimate fabric of Grzegórzki - reinforcing its openness and legibility within the city structure. These spaces encourage informal meetings, outdoor events and everyday use by students, residents and visitors.

The functional programme is clearly divided into concert and educational zones, while maintaining a strong relationship between them. The concert zone, accessed directly from a public square, was designed as a clear and largely autonomous area for audiences. The educational zone, located on the opposite side of the complex, organises academic life around internal circulation routes and shared spaces that also serve as places for integration and informal work.

At the heart of the building is the concert hall, designed as a space with outstanding acoustic performance and a strong architectural identity. The interior, focused around a centrally positioned orchestra, blurs the boundary between performers and audience, fostering a sense of community and direct engagement with music. Spatial solutions, materials and interior geometry arise directly from acoustic requirements, which became the primary tool shaping the architecture.

The architecture of the Academy is based on the use of durable, timeless materials - brick, concrete and wood - complemented by greenery integrated into the building form. The façades, articulated into clear layers, break down the scale of the building and give it a plastic yet restrained expression, appropriate to the institution’s status. The arrangement of windows and façade perforations refers to the rhythm and harmony of musical notation, emphasising the connection between architecture and function.

The Academy of Music in Kraków brings together education, culture and public space into a single coherent organism. Open to the city and the surrounding landscape, the building provides a framework for everyday academic life and artistic events, becoming a lasting element of the city’s structure.