Neubau des Wissenszentrums „Cognitarium” in Koszalin (PL)

Project team: Barbara Grabczewska, Oskar Grabczewski, Marek Grąbczewski, Kamil Kajdas, Natalia Hołoś, Anna Ławecka, Kinga Bugaj, Marta Kalisz, Agnieszka Stasiak, Alicja Kowalewska, Natalia Wojtaś, Olga Domalewska

"I have always imagined a library in the form of a paradise" Jorge Louis Borges

The building of the Cognitarium Centre of Knowledge is to complete the composition of the campus of the Koszalin University of Technology and to become its main attraction.

Cognitarium is the library of the future - a place to work, study, and effectively acquire knowledge, but also a place for meetings, conversations, creative interactions, spending free time and relaxing.

So we decided that the Cognitarium should be more than a building. We formed them as an open urban structure, in which individual functional blocks, connected above and below the ground, create a system of friendly pedestrian routes, picturesque streets that can be used to go from the campus to the sports hall and from parking lots to the green area, which in the future, after building new laboratories will change into a science and technology park of the Koszalin University of Technology.

The open structure of the building will enable its trouble-free expansion, as well as flexible functional changes, if necessary - by changing the use, superstructure or adding additional spatial modules.

The building will be both simple, based on a very clear principle, and extremely rich in terms of space - the possibilities of connections and mutual relations between the modules are countless, allowing the organization of individual functions horizontally, vertically or in any spatial sequence.

At the same time, the orientation in the entire structure is very easy, because in the center of the Cognitarium, at the intersection of all paths, there is a multi-level hall, in which we move along a double ramp that surrounds it, adapted for the disabled.

It is particularly important to us that disabled people can use the building on full equal rights, and that the path of their movement around the Cognitarium is as close as possible to that of a non-disabled user.

In the hall, we place the Foucault pendulum, and then the intertwining ramp will be an additional spatial attraction, allowing you to watch the pendulum's movement from any position and height continuously.

The Cognitarium will be able to function around the clock, and the paths running through its area, as well as green terraces, can become a place for evening walks and meetings.

Of course, it is also possible to lock the building at night - in part or in whole, with gates hidden in the walls surrounding the building.

The Cognitarium will be built of brick. In this way, we refer to the tradition of the place and the history of the city - Koszalin is located on the European Route of Brick Gothic, but we also show the versatility and usability of this fantastic building material - durable, synonymous with high quality, which we can use in a completely modern way, creating an openwork coating surrounding the building by allowing light where it is needed, but protecting against its excess.