Culture
inverted cone clad in aluminium scales, a concert and sports arena with an ice rink and a pool
Culture
a library founded in 1922, since 1998 in a building designed by the ARAR group
Culture
Socialist Realist complex from 1948-1951 with a swimming pool, a theatre and an iron gate
Culture
modern academic library from 2012 in the Culture Zone, with reading rooms and exhibitions
Culture
cultural centre in an Art Nouveau villa from 1910, organiser of the Hawthorn Blossom Festival
Culture
an art gallery in a 1915 pithead building left by the Wilson shaft of the Wieczorek mine
Culture
an exhibition pavilion from the 1960s with a frieze of bas-reliefs and green glass mosaics
Culture in Katowice: the Spodek arena, the Silesian Library, the Youth Palace and galleries. Seven addresses that show the city's institutions.
This list combines concert and sports halls, libraries, community centres and galleries. These are places where the city studies, reads and looks at art, and which also show interesting architecture from modernism to Art Nouveau.
The most recognisable is the Spodek at 35 Korfantego Avenue in Koszutka. The arena was built in 1964-1971 to a design by Maciej Gintowt and Maciej Krasiński. Its main hall is an inverted cone clad in aluminium scales, and there are also a skating rink and a pool on site. It is one of the best-known symbols of the city.
Two libraries represent the world of books. The Silesian Library at 1 Rady Europy Square is a research library for the voivodeship, set up in 1922 and moved into its current building in 1998; it collects material on Upper Silesia and the Dąbrowa Basin. The CINiBA library, shared by two universities at 11a Bankowa Street, opened to readers in September 2012 and stands in the Culture Zone.
The Art Exhibition Bureau pavilion at 6 Korfantego Avenue is a two-storey functionalist pavilion designed by Stanisław Kwaśniewicz, decorated with reliefs and glass mosaics. In Janów-Nikiszowiec, Szyb Wilson Gallery occupies a brick lamp-room building of 1915, the former back-up of a Wieczorek colliery shaft, and is a private contemporary art gallery.
A major architectural curiosity is the Youth Palace at 26 Mikołowska Street, ten buildings erected in 1948-1951, listed as monuments in 2010. It was built as a centre for out-of-school activities for children and teenagers.
The Ligota Municipal Cultural Centre at 33 Franciszkańska Street works from an Art Nouveau villa dating to 1910, put up for the head of the Ligota Chemical Works. It became an independent institution in 1987, and the building also holds a library branch. It shows how old architecture can be filled with daily district life. A wider overview of interesting places is on the pages atmospheric places in Katowice and museums in Katowice. Read also about the Culture Zone.
It is the part of the city around the Silesian Museum, where the CINiBA library stands a few hundred metres from the museum.
Yes, there is a skating rink as well as a pool. The main hall serves entertainment and sports events.
At 1 Rady Europy Square in Katowice, in a building opened in 1998.
Yes, all ten buildings were listed as monuments in 2010.
