Niezrealizowany gmach Muzeum Rzemiosł i Sztuki Stosowanej w Warszawie .......... 825

THE UNREALISED BUILDING OF THE MUSEUM OF CRAFTS AND APPLIED ARTS IN WARSAW

The Museum of Crafts and Applied Arts in Warsaw was founded in 1891, but an attempt to build its own headquarters was not undertaken until 1923. In 1927, the museum’s board received a plot of land on Wawelska Street. A functional program for the building was developed, and the first, very conservative architectural sketch was prepared by Stefan Szyller. His concept was based on the 19th-century tradition of museum construction and was based on the forms of Polish Neo-Renaissance, considered a Polish national style in the late 19th century.
However, the board decided that the design would be selected through a closed competition, to which Szyller was also invited. In the 1930 competition, the avant-garde design by Czesław Przybylski was unanimously selected. At the time of its conception, this project was not only Przybylski’s boldest idea but also a unique phenomenon in the architecture of public buildings in Poland. However, the outbreak of the Great Depression dashed any hopes of constructing such an ambitious project. Poland faced enormous financial difficulties during the interwar period, with only three major museums entering the construction phase, and none were fully completed and opened before the outbreak of World War II.