Last year brought a real rash of new investment in Poland, as proven by the recently closed contest for the best contemporary Polish architecture, implemented in 2010. Organized for more than four years by the most popular Polish architecture website—www.bryla.pl, the competition arouses strong feelings. Among the 10 candidates for the title were the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow designed by Claudio Nardi and Roedl & Partners office in Gliwice, designed by medusagroup.

The clear winner of the contest was the Polish Pavilion for the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, designed by young Warsaw architecture studio WWAA. The Polish Pavilion in Shanghai was one of the most visited national exhibitions and is due to the original structure of the building. The facade of the pavilion was inspired by the theme of folk paper-cutting, while the same block is characterized by many slanting planes, had to wake association with intricately folded paper card. Patterns that form the openwork cover the object, are a development of a code of aesthetics. Translating art guilds in the contemporary language of architectural design is a big advantage of this object. The result is a building which is an attractive, visually distinctive feature in the landscape among the other Expo facilities.
Marcin Sczcelina