European Film Center CAMERIMAGE (ECFC) Building in Toruń (PL)

The CAMERIMAGE is the festival of cinematography, bringing together people associated with the film industry from all over the world. Both film and architecture are important and universal forms of expression, as well as a source of entertainment and a powerful medium. Both fields create works of visual art that convey ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere through moving images or created spaces.

Our goal was to capture this wide range of possible messages in the new arrangement of the building of the European Film Festival CAMERIMAGE in Toruń. The dynamic movement of delicate organic forms almost like the metaphorical falling curtains illustrate the cinematographic and iconic character of the proposed building.

The appearance of the new building, which is synonymous with modernity, is at the same time respectful of the close neighborhood - the buildings of the Contemporary Art Center, the Prefectural Office and the Jordanki Concert Hall, as well as further - the historic buildings of the Old Town. The project brings a new quality of the iconic rank to the dialogue with the surroundings and history. Its dynamic, airy form, finished with custom designed ceramic façade tiles and plant-boxes, creates a poetic, delicate and organic composition, and at the same time expressive enough to become a new determinant of a place in the vicinity of existing and significant cultural objects. The new building merges and unites the place between these buildings, creating a public square that combines all activities, similar to the new cultural center of Toruń.

The perception of the ECFC building will provide sensations to the senses, with touch at the forefront, through the appropriate selection of materials, friendly ceramics and wood. It will also be inspiring due to the organic shape of the body, unexpected perspective openings and a multidirectional arrangement of entrances. The view of the main entrance and the stairs to the piano nobile, on which a red carpet will appear during the ceremonial inauguration, will be an introduction to the space of the art world. Crossing the square will allow you to focus on the amphitheater hill on the right, zones with freely composed greenery and a dynamic form of a film studio, as well as an outdoor stage with a multimedia screen on the left. This sequence of experiences related to the space will build an attitude of waiting for elements of the architectural scenario related to the building itself, deepening the feeling of extraordinary spectacle in which one participates. This space will become a new point of interest for residents, designed not only for the purposes of the festival, but also for everyday informal meetings and cultural events carried out by all partners participating in the cultural life of Toruń.



Kengo Kuma and Associates + Ingarden & Ewy