Kraków park design not chosen

A total of 34 designs were submitted in the international urban and architectural competition for the development of the spatial concept and schedule of Park Zakrzówek. The competition jury included: Krzysztof Bieda and Maciej Skaza of SARP (the Polish Association of Architects) Kraków, Elżbieta Koterba, the deputy mayor of Kraków responsible for city development, Paweł Mleczko of Kraków’s spatial planning department, Tomasz Bobrowski, the chief architect of the City of Kraków, Jarosław Tabor, the city landscape architect, and Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak and Mariusz Waszkiewicz as representatives of the public. “Having assessed the standard of the entries submitted and the variety of the concept material supplied, the jury considered that none of the plans fully met the requirements formulated in the conditions. Thus they have decided not to award the first prize,” reads a SARP announcement. The second prize and an award of PLN 80,000 gross went to the team consisting of Aldona Kret, Katarzyna Elwart, Katarzyna Janicka, Alina Ziemiańska and Weronika Jaworska. “All the buildings within the area covered by the competition are architecturally interesting forms, which integrate harmoniously with their surroundings and minimise their impact on the landscape,” was the jury’s justification for its choice. The jury stressed that the provision in the plan for beach users around the lake to the south of the project and the design of the neighbouring swimming pool complex played a part in their decision for awarding the second prize. The jury suggests a ‘softening’, more ‘organic’ layout for the paths as well as adjusting their width for pedestrian and bicycle traffic (separating cycle paths from pedestrian routes in certain fragments). The competition jury also recognised the environmental approach used in the design, but due to its experimental character believes other technical installations should also be considered (e.g. heat pumps). The third prize went to two teams, one comprising Zuzanna Szpocińska, Tomasz Marciniewicz, Aleksandra Boniecka, Karolina Kayzer and Bogdan Dąbrowski, which impressed the jury with its plan for an educational path around the lake, which according to the designers would have constituted the backbone of the park. This soft path leads through the parks most interesting places without impacting the flora. The other third prize winners were Maciej Siuda and Marta Tomasiak, who described their concept as a “long-term transformation process, thanks to which the eco-system can adapt to ongoing changes... and develop”. According to the jury, it is important to divide each area of the project into their different functions, while allowing the paths to lead you freely between and among them. An honourable mention went to the team of Agnieszka Duda, Wojciech Kawalec, Laura Klimczak, Sebastian Kochel, Jan Kocieniewski and Miłosz Zieliński.