MUSEUM OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN IN CRACOW

Nizio Design International developed the concept for concours for the adaptation of the former Cracovia Hotel as the home of the Museum of Architecture and Design in Kraków — an institution conceived not only as a place for presenting heritage, but as a space actively responding to the challenges of the present.

The defining architectural gesture is a box-in-box strategy: a new structure of glued laminated timber — one of the lowest-carbon building materials currently available — is inserted into the preserved historic shell of the hotel, retaining its original proportions and fenestration rhythm. The timber structure serves as the carrier of all functional relationships within the building and as a scaffold for environmental systems. The most prominent element of the extended building is a vertical garden running the full perimeter of the former restaurant facade — on the inside an active skin regulating the microclimate, on the outside a seasonal migration corridor for fauna connecting the Błonia meadows with the building’s ecosystem. The exhibition spaces bring old and new fabric into direct dialogue; the linear foyer across successive levels doubles as an additional display zone. The journey through the building — from the historic entrance hall, through the layered green galleries, to a wild roof garden — is a consciously choreographed sensory experience.

The southern grounds, slightly sunken, form a cultural activities garden — a space for presenting large-scale design and architecture objects, educational workshops and open events.