Centre for Science and Music Education “Symfonia”

The Centre for Science and Music Education “Symfonia” is a building with a concert hall and a library and administration wing, part of the complex of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice. It stands at Wojewódzka 33, in the city centre (Śródmieście). It was built in 2005-2007 and officially opened on 11 December 2007.

Architecture

The design came from the Konior Barysz Architekci studio (after 2005 the work was continued by Konior Studio) and won a national design competition. The lead designers were Tomasz Konior, Krzysztof Barysz, Andrzej Witkowski and Aleksander Nowacki. The inspiration came from La Scala in Milan and Sibelius Hall in Lahti, and the look of the building refers to the existing architecture of Katowice.

The building consists of two blocks on an L-shaped plan between Damrota and Zacisze streets: the concert hall, and the library and administration wing. It extends the historic building of the Academy and is joined to it by a glazed atrium, so that part of the neo-Gothic rear façade now lies inside. The façades are made of brick, with an irregular ornament of projecting bricks, and the windows are set in narrow recesses that echo Gothic details. The building has three storeys above ground and an underground car park for 70 cars.

Concert hall and atrium

The hall has 470 seats and was designed as a two-part space: the auditorium and stage are surrounded by a “reverberation space” that can be joined to the hall by movable doors. The acoustic ceiling is a grid of glued laminated timber, partly filled with adjustable wooden screens, which makes it possible to change the reverberation depending on the type of music. The interior is finished in laminated pear wood.

The atrium between the new part and the old building serves as a foyer, winter garden, café and meeting place. There is also an amphitheatre for chamber concerts and an exhibition space. Not far away stands the home of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the other Katowice building noted for its acoustics and architecture.

Awards

The building has won, among others, the Grand Prix of the Architecture of the Year of the Silesian Voivodeship competition (2008), the SARP Award of the Year 2007 for the best completed building, a first-degree award of the Minister of Infrastructure (2008) and a nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Award.

Practical information

• Address: Wojewódzka 33, Katowice. Concert audiences enter from the Damrota street side.
• The building is part of the university, so you will usually see the interiors during concerts; check dates and entry rules on the website of the Academy of Music.
• Nearby are the Silesian Theatre and the Cathedral of Christ the King.