NIFC

A design for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute's International Music Centre in Żelazowa Wola, next to Chopin's birthplace and its 1920s memorial park. We looked for analogies between music and architecture: like staves, notes and rests, separate "cubes" and the open spaces between them compose the site. Four above-ground volumes, linked underground, match the scale of the village and follow the natural topography, while courtyards, paths and squares keep a constant dialogue with the manor. Visitors move through the building as if through a small town.