The most beautiful building in Poland...?

We say in Poland that beauty and taste should never be a subject of conversation. After all, we all like different things, shapes & colours. In the same time we also love to judge everyone and everything. A bit hypocritical, right? 

Holidays always give me a chance to catch up with news from Poland. On one of the websites, I found information that one of the buildings in my hometown had won an award for the most beautiful building in the country. I was very puzzled by this news because I did not have a clue which building this was. I quickly navigated the city mentally, to identify all new buildings. After 2mins I gave up and decided to check for myself. I was even more surprised when my eyes noticed the name 'Baltik Tower'. Especially, when I had just criticised this building to my father only a few hours ago. Nevertheless, I decided to give the building one more chance. I took my camera and went for a walk across my city to check what makes the new Baltik so special. 

Why did I say 'new Baltik'? To find out we need to go back to the past. The skyscraper took its name from the perished 'Cinema Bałtyk'. The cinema was located in a 4-storey building which was built for Polish General Exhibition in 1929 and designed by Sylwester Pajzderski. For years, Cinema Bałtyk was a cultic place in Poznan. I saw my first movie in this cinema so have a lot of memories and emotional connection with the place. Thus, my heart was broken when the building was demolished in 2003. I am certain, I was not alone with this feeling. 

You need to know that in this area the Cinema Baltic wasn't the only important building. Next to the cinema, until now, existed the Concordia, a building of printing, erected in 1910. Now it is a house of design and cultural center. Next to the Concordia, is a modernist hall of residence 'Akumulatory' erected in 1964. 

Of course, we can not forget about the Poznan International Fair whose characteristic tower was designed by Hans Poelzig. 

The Cinema Baltik left an undeveloped area in the heart of the city. Suddenly, the hole in my heart had a real equivalent, which reminded all of us about the unhealed wound. The pain needs to be dull and the best solution is to cover it by something new. Like a plaster, which we put on a hurt knee of preschooler. 

The first try of retrieving the undeveloped area was hotel Sherston, erected in 2006.

The year 2017 brought the new Baltik, protagonist of my story. The building is designed by MVDRV- the Netherlands based practice founded in 1993. The building has 16 floors and its shape is a summary of existing context. Thanks to that, the building has a really original and irregular solid figure. 

Exactly - original.... I am not sure if 'original' is always synonym to word 'beautiful'. The building looks from each side differently. So we have very skinny and dynamic facade of North side. The huge cascade facade which looks a bit like a mountain on the East side and square facade wich is an extension  of hotel Sheraton on South side. Definitely, the south facade is the most boring side and does not look impressive. On the other side, this is a proof that architects respect existing setting and try to write their building to ubanscape. 

Architects took inspiration from one of the  most iconic, modernist building based in the same city. Namely, from Okrąglak (okrąg means circle ). 

The Baltik Tower is repainting the facade of Okrąglak. Whole walls are made by windows based in the heavy, strong, structural frame. The big windows, overspread from bottom to the top, take its color from the sky on a sunny day; in the evening it looks like a giant lantern. 

On the back of the building, between Baltik Tower and Concordia is designed a public square called Przystań (polish for harbour). The idea of this space is to create new harbour for citizens to spend their leisure time. I was very interested in this space and to be honest it disappointed me the most. The square is small and unwelcoming. I did not feel invited to spend time there. Maybe this is the reason why it was empty when I visited it. The other thing is a conversation between buildings. Even if the architects convinced that Przystań would be a new high value space, full of cultural event, I do not see predisposition to make it. The Concordia is located on lower level than the Baltic and is significantly smaller. This creates an impression that the Concordia is just an uninvited guest which should be pushed out; it is not the host of area which it should to be. After all the Concordia is a cultural center and the Baltik Tower is just an office building. 

The unpropotion in the scale of building made me feel lost and worried. I wanted to run away. The huge Baltik was looking at me like a huge monster who wanted to squish me like an ant. Definitely, the office building lost its human proportion and the square next to it, is too small to make visitors feel save and comfortable. 

The Baltik Tower is an original building. Definitely, it may become the icon of the city. Nevertheless, in my opinion it will look good only in the photos. The huge scale of building, much bigger than another buildings in this area makes him a lonely Guliver in the country of Lilliput.