Melody of space – urban planning and landscape. An opus yet to be composed. A multitude od tones, dissonant notes, and an absence of a limit setting bar. A scope of immense potential lacking in essence. The new home of our Music Academy will shape the dynamics of this expanse, imbuing it with a meter and melody. It will become the keynote in this part of the city, an element that will array its surroundings into a new masterpiece. Though the neighborhood is run-down and in need of rejuvenation, simultaneously, it possesses assets illustrating its singularity.

A brick and clay hut centers a mesh of pathways of this contemporary park. The renovated reservoir seduces all within reach. Water reflects the clear blue of the sky, breathing a refreshing chill in the summertime and welcomes sunbathers onto its wooden landing and steps. Kids and often college students compete in pebble throwing contests – with pebbles, surrounding stone slabs on some of the pathways, that are a favorite among champions of this discipline. Scattered throughout, we see garden patches, protruding occasionally and forming geometric patterns. This is where cornflowers and poppies bloom. Beyond it, rampant prairie grasses flourish and a manicured lawn stretches somewhere else. Surrounding the pond, a brush of stick-shaped shrubs innately softens its contour. Sections of this rugged shoreline can be accessed through a gently rolling path that is part of a patchwork of loosely set stone slabs surrounded by moss and higher grasses breaking the geometry of a typical strolling path or boulevard. The landscape is completed by clusters of delicate birches fluttering in the wind.

Another advantage of this setting is its location at the end of the urban axis stemming from the city’s center. It is by design that this facility’s stature is underscored on the planning map of the metropolis comprising its urban identity and character. The dynamic brick of the Academy shimmers on the horizon from as far as Paderewski Street, but it is at the intersection with Chodkiewicza that one discovers that the gleam isn’t a delusion or a coincidence. Intrigued, he ventures ahead to quench his budding curiosity.

At last, his perspective opens completely, remaining simultaneously at the horizon. A sizable park is contained by a glistening vertical brick suspended over the water. The Academy rests over the water is if leaning down. An ornate wall beckons inside. A once humble mud hut splendidly reflects the mirror facade. The shimmering structure over the water clearly makes an impression.

Reverberation of matter – the piano and forte of materials and forms. Forte, fortissimo. The glass frontage strikes a powerful chord. It’s truly unique with regard to its function within the planning aspect, as in regard to the rank of the overall facility. This very measure appeared all but inevitable once a contemporary garden revealed itself in the sketches – the mud hut took on a new life and became a mirror. A looking glass for the new Academy to flirtatiously peruse – at times expressive and sunny, other times rippled by wind or cloaked in a sheath of morning mist.

A love that is blissful and mutual. The pond can likewise throw glances and tease – it is a reflection of a glass frontage of the building facade. A geometric garden with a garden square discretely sneak into the space and before the evening concerts for music lovers, it’s as though twice as much… No random element can penetrate the plane that glistens from afar. The glass filter of the facade isn’t even or constant, but shimmering with the rhythms of either the mirror or its translucent elements. This tenet likewise applies to other sides of the building structure.

Piano, pianissimo. Components of the remaining building facades – brick in a light, subtle shade. It’s “muted” elegance and classic simplicity discretely underscore the gravity of the envisioned site. Inspired by the spirit of its setting – the former brickyard – and unique to the region; applied not in a traditional tone, but somewhat processed: light with several added elements of subtle, slightly darker pastel shades; buffed here and there, imparting the mass with a character of delicate, lucent glints shimmering in the sun.

The notion of the exterior – emerging from a dancing rhythm of glass planes and the accompanying vertical brick strips conjures a joyful melody frolicking within the rippling building facade and the wind roaming through the geometric recesses of the garden. Just like piano keys, congealed and awaiting the initial strike.

The integrity of architectural solutions was inspired by a graphic depiction of the splitting of a sound wave. The slab of glass along the exterior – undulates – as if already vibrating with resounding echos of music to be received in its midst. As if already composing a symphony in harmony with its surroundings. Only one of the elements comprising a grand orchestra – a city that is teeming with life.