Polish American Congress The Voice of a Million Americans of Polish Heritage in the Garden State ================================================================== The Design Conception of the Christ’s The King Monument and The Polonia Unity Centre at St. Martin’s Hill in Tarnów
The authors crew: Arts Professor Czes³aw DŸwigaj Architects Zbigniew Jasak Krzysztof Rymsza-Mazur Piotr Lasek Pawe³ Lambert Marcin Markiewski
Olgierd Mi³oszewicz Kraków’ 2002================================================================= The Design Conception of the Christ’s The King Monument and The Polonia Unity Centre at St. Martin’s Hill in Tarnów =============================================================== 1. The raising idea – settlement program, history and location 2. The idea and sculptural assumption of The Monument 3. The town-planning conception 4. The architectural conception – functional assumption 5. The construction assumption
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1. The raising idea – settlement program, history and location
The intention of the raising The Christ’s The King Monument together with The Polonia Unity Centre has come to existence in Polonia circles as an idea of the Polonia unification all over the world. The idea was born from the necessity of gathering historical and chronological data of all polish exile from the beginning of the annexations; economical, political emigrations and duress exile or changing the borders. The Christ’s Monument at St. Martin’s Hill in Tarnów has to be a gift from Polonia – particular votive offering the gratefulness to The God for The Polish Pope – The Holy Father Jan Pawe³ II, for regained freedom, for preservation and persistence of Christian faith for over thousand years. Those exceptional events reinforced Polonia unity with the homeland. They inspired also Polonia environment to realise the common work of raising The Monument – the symbol which will unite Polonia in the whole world proving its attachment to the highest values and enabling to hand them down to posterity generations. It should be a symbol of unity, living structure emanating with the culture, art and tradition, being the nation school and also the exceptional set, “the historical archive of the polish emigration”. Where every emigrant or his family will be able to come back to the origin roots and its emigration lot. The ca 180 feet high monument will fulfil the role of the symbol raised over The Polonia Unity Centre and dominating over Tarnów city and its region from The St. Martin’s Hill. The scheme composition is arranged by main axis on which were situated both The Monument and The Chapel, where from its interior one can see Christ. The composition axis is set to enable the best perception of The Monument from the centre of Tarnów, The Old Town, The Cathedral and The Town Hall and also from the main circular road of the city pointing from Kraków direction. The functional program of the settlement foresees the group of the accommodations connected with The Monument and The Polonia Unity Centre. There have been foreseen accommodations supplying the needs of meetings, mayor celebrations as well as didactic purposes. Congress hall and audio-video rooms will enable to run meetings and language lectures, to organise Polonia school sessions and small groups meetings in private atmosphere. There will be located also individual rooms for Polonia circles from different regions of the world, the group of representative accommodations for founders’ clubs and accommodations of The Museum. And moreover the exhibition documenting the Polonia history, containing the set of remembrances showing the past and contemporary achievements of the compatriots in foreign lands. Common spaces like hall, foyer and gallery they connect particular functions and make possible communication to The Monument and outer environment. The Polonia Unity Centre in its program assumption is going to be the place where to older and younger generations will be returning to know better their own history, culture and language. The Christ’s The King World’s Saviour Monument together with The Polonia Unity Centre will poses an unique location in historic, cultural and landscape context. The settlement has been located on the western side of The St. Martin’s Hill, at the northern edge of The Carpathian Treshold raising ca 240 feet over proglacial valley in the southern part of Tarnów. The Monument location area has its specific character, it is placed in the neighbourhood of the early medieval guard colony recovered in 1994 connected with one of greatest castles dated on IX-XI century. This place has been archaeologically explored as a task charged by The Millennium 2000 Foundation. And conservator’s requirements are held in this conception. St. Martin’s Hill is placed in the zone of unique cultural and natural values like old beech-tree forest and relics lying in close neighbourhood of the hill: Tarnowski family castle ruins, medieval wooden little church in Zawada and perfectly preserved, readably guard fortifications of the castle placed on the steep hill in a distance of about 1000 feet south from The Monument location. The Monument, which is designed in this location, raised over surrounding region and situated near the guard rampart gains its prominent dignity, becoming a significant symbol of the nation’s Christian roots.
2. The idea and sculptural assumption of The Monument
In its iconographic concept The Christ’s The King World Saviour Monument contains several effigies picturing and granted with the cult Jesus’ personages in Rome-Catholic Church. As follows: Christ The King – who is symbolised by two-ranked crown and the chasuble put on arms and torso; Christ The World Saviour – who is symbolised by spread and gently weighted down hands, expressing the gesture of the chasuble; Christ The Redeemer – who died crucified for human faults, therefore visible crucifixion signs on hands; Jesus’ Heart – on sculpture’s chest there appears the symbol of the heart horizontally cut with the crown of thorns; and Jesus Merciful – who is expressed by lightly signed with folds beams floating down from the heart to the object’s canopy. For the leading idea of the raising The Polonia Unity Centre Christ is the only one, and the main keystone of the whole concept is the covenant rainbow, the arc connecting heaven and earth. Over this arc there grows The World Saviour personage who as The King dominates upon the human kind on the Earth as the priest of the covenant, sent by His Father and The Holy Spirit. The whole sculptural settlement joins into one sculpture Christ’s personage and the covenant’s rainbow arc symbolising unity of the man’s earthly existence with The God.
3. The town-planning conception
The Christ’s The King World Saviour Monument and Polonia Unity Centre design spatial scheme attaches to the early medieval colony outline and its guard rampart and moat in western part of the location parcel. This scheme inscribes into the natural landscape of The St. Martin’s Hill, leaving in natural state the forest complex in the ridge part and northern hill-side and forest clearing with an opening sight to the city and The Cathedral. The natural character of forest narrow-paths is preserved too at the northern hill-side covered with the old beech-tree complex. The Monument is situated in organic connection with its basement symbolising the terrestial globe, which is constituted by the arching of the spherical canopy segment, connecting with this arc the eastern and western part of the rampart. The rampart division in the place of situating The Monument with the main pilgrims’ entrance is the symbolic gate connecting the outer clearing’s space with the entrance square and with the wide landscape opening from southern side and castle hill direction. The effect is enforced extraordinary by the forest peak line which outline reduces the level in the sky background opening the sight of the city. Here appears The Monument from the city viewpoint and from The St. Martin’s Hill approach. The luminous, majestic in the sky background Merciful Christ’s personage stands on the wide canopy arc as on the symbolic rainbow. Jesus’ personage in the king crown and the priest chasuble unites with the object’s canopy covering, containing in its inner space sacral and national meanings and functions. The approach to the monument settlement for pilgrims has been designed at the hill base from the direction of the circular road and the new designed parking place with the steep forest climb through the Golgotha stairway and winding narrow-path to the lower clearing’s edge. From here the sight is opened to the Christ’s personage standing on the canopy arc at the former colony rampart place. Climbing the clearing on the way to The Monument basement one passes the wide set of the obelisk elements designed across the clearing’s area and having many symbolic meanings. Those are The Golgotha Stations as well as symbols of the spread all over the world Polish exile gathered around The Unity Centre. In outer space being the equivalent of the Jasna Góra rampart meadow, raising to the monument structure, there has been created the space for the religious celebrations. Around the clearing there is and will be the forest complex left in its natural condition. The spatial interference doesn’t foresee the change of the exploitation of the nearest neighbourhood areas leaving untouched enclave of the forest and the clearing from the side of the pedestrian approach. The designed monument settlement will be supported with hotel and parking complex located near the circular road in the scheme declared by The Town Hall. For the monument settlement there are foreseen parking areas for 400 cars and 30 buses with the connection to the existing communication system of the circular road and its double level crossing with The Tarnowski Alley communicating to The Old Town. The communication solutions of the monument settlement ensure the service and emergency traffic access only. It’s up to the road division from the castle ruins to The Tarnowski Alley. There will be no possible individual traffic access except the approach of the older and disable people, based on the authorised small-bus line. In the destination there is foreseen the communication by the rope-rail or overhead railway from the parking place at the circular road. There is also the necessity to raise at this place the lower railway station, the tourist information centre, the camping field, the catering and hotel complex for visitors and pilgrims. At the hill, on the southern side of the object there is foreseen the wide entrance square connected with the eastern part of the lengthen parcel, raising along the forest wall and arranged with the green terraces. In the eastern part of the hill there is designed the green amphitheatre with the scene circle based at the forest wall with the sight of the monument. This is the amphitheatre shaped in the ground using the natural soil conditions as well as the masses of the soil coming from the excavations. The amphitheatre will gather ca 3000 people. It will serve as the place for out-door performances, festivals and shows in the natural landscape. The scenery – the scene arena background is built by the high forest wall, which picturesque closes the space during the seasons from the spring to the autumn. From the amphitheatre to the monument there leads the sidewalk, which makes the connection with the level of the gallery and The Chapel over small eastern court. This small court enables the separate entrance to the commercial part and way out to the railway.
4. The architectural conception – functional assumption
The Christ’s The King World Saviour Monument and The Polonia Unity Centre has taken the contemporary expression of the sculptural and architectural work created out of the connection of the iconographic figural essence and the latest technical possibilities of raising constructions. According the national tradition this presented settlement is being penetrated with contemporary language of the art and architecture setting the bridge between the old and the new world, between heaven and earth. Designed shapes, proportions, colours, balance of masses are to be in the intention of authors the piece of the larger story – the mystery of connected tradition and abstract look at the created work. The inner spatial arrangement, function, scheme of accommodations and outer arrangement has been submitted to the main symbol – the sculpture of Christ. Christ raised from the dead stands up from the symbolic crack of the canopy in the shape of the cross – the transept in the surface of the covering, which is enfolded into two construction arcs featuring the letter “V”. The main functional interiors attach to the idea assumption of the object. The symbol of the pilgrim’s main entrance gate in trough the guard form of the colony former rampart connects the lower hall with the upper one having the sight of the city in the north and the huge piedmont landscape in the south. Located over the hall The Lorethan Holy Virgin Chapel – the patron of emigrants and the protector of pilgrims attaches with its quantity and proportions to well-known examples and symbols. It is designed on the main composition axis connected with the keystone to the Christ’s personage visible from The Chapel’s interior. The arrangement of the Polonia accommodations and the congress hall around central circles of the plan and the gallery placed under the arching of the construction allows to gain large interiors with the readable assignment of the object and the leading role of The Monument. Interiors of the particular parts and functional sets will be accessible for different approaches to the building. The main entrances for visitors and pilgrims will be found in the basement floor and ground floor of the object. The entrance from the clearing level will be predicted for those who will walk to The Monument from the parking place laying 1500 feet apart. They will climb ca 240 feet of the hill height – through the alley, steep forest, terrain stairway of The Golghota, the narrow-path gently climbing the hill and the clearing in front of The Monument.
· The pilgrims entrance
Pilgrims and pedestrian wanderers will come in the lower hall under The Chapel raising in the upper level place at the Christ’s sculpture axis. The entrance will be accented with the chapel’s form moving out the elevation with the front of the stained-glass opening, attaching to well-known examples and symbols. The lower hall is the huge space connected with the main hall at the upper level. The common interior is communicated by the escalator and opened staircase connecting every floor of the object. This interior opens from south with the glass curtain wall. It illuminates the hall interior and creates the panoramic background sight to the landscape and changing nature picture during the seasons of the year, giving to the interior the wide space and the opening – the symbolic “heaven’s gateway”. At the same time the hall interior opens upwards the arching containing the chapel raised under the canopy covering. The decoration of the hall space will attach to the contemporary reflection of the tradition descriptions, the parable of the “Lorethan little house on the angel’s wings”.
· The basement entrance hall
The lower hall constitutes the large interior opened in north to the city with the basement glass curtain wall. In front of the entrance there are accommodations and spaces containing information service for pilgrims and visitors. There are souvenir kiosks and also projection room, where one can know the history of the place, the archaeological explorations at The St. Martin’s Hill, the relics of the surrounding and region as well as the history of the object’s raising. The set of underground accommodations planned around the lower hall has the technical and support purposes of the building service. In the basement level there is designed special evacuation corridor from The Monument shaft, leading out the object’s outline to the outer space.
· The Monument
From the lower hall one can get into the main hall by the escalator. At this level there is the main entrance to The Monument, its lift shaft, where two fast-running lifts make possible entry to the first level of the view terrace inside the sculpture, at the height of the Jesus’ heart. This will be an unique moment of entering the most important place of the sculpture in its symbolic assumption, where to the visitors enter through the following symbols of the growing and applying atmosphere of the exceptional place. The apertures in the sculpture’s coating symbolise the crown of thorns of the Jesus’ heart. Through its prism it is possible to have a look at the surrounding world. In the coating cracks there are windows – view apertures in the crown of thorns, letting to see the city panorama with the dominant of The Cathedral Basilica and also the wide lowland landscape in north and the piedmont one in south. From here one can enter to the highest level of The Monument. This level will be accessible for small groups of visitors with the single hydraulic lift and the steel staircase. The sight through the glass dome will achieve the lights of Kraków and Tatra mountain peaks during good visibility.
· The ground floor main hall
The ground floor hall is the representative and communication space accessible from southern external side, where the representative entrance to the object is placed. This entrance will be used by official guests and also by all those who attach The Monument either from castle side or rope railway in the east.
· The congress hall and the accommodations of The Polonia Unity Centre
From the ground floor hall, which is place in the centre of the plan, there is accessible the western part – rooms and accommodations for founders’ clubs and Polonia groups. These are guest rooms, offices, representative accommodations with its own social and sanitary support on three levels, its own staircase, lift and service entrance. From the eastern side of the hall one can pass near The Monument shaft towards the representative accommodations set of The Polonia Unity Centre. Which are: the large congress hall for ca 400 persons with the scene subsidiary, the large foyer with the way out to the support square, the cloak-room and also the coffee shop with the possibility of the congress catering service. The catering subsidiary will serve only ready-made meals without the necessity of arranging catering technological installations, devices and store-rooms. The whole eastern part of the plan (the congress hall and subsidiary) is separated in the functional and communication way, what makes possible to use it for commercial and profit purposes without the harm to The Monument and Centre life.
· The Chapel
There is the possibility to come out the ground floor hall to the chapel’s level place over the lower hall at The Christ’s Monument composition axis. The access is ensured through the open staircase and the lift for disable people leading to the gallery in front of the chapel. The Chapel is placed over the hall attaches with its shape and proportions to the little house of The Lorethan Holy Virgin, the emigrants patron and the pilgrims protector. The 1000 sq feet large Chapel enables to contain in its interior ca 80 persons. Full three side cover and the stained-glass opening switched to the city panorama and to the green clearing enables to use The Chapel for religious celebrations in external space for ca 5000 faithful. The Chapel has the glass arching – the skylight in the object canopy covering showing the Christ’s sculpture raising 180 feet high over its level.
· The auditoriums
The gallery communication surface is connected with the balcony foyer over the congress hall. The balcony has the amphitheatre solution, has the access to the foyer and can be arranged with the mobile curtain walls into two lecture-rooms, audio-video rooms, where it will be possible to run the lectures, presentations, projections and language lectures. In front of balcony entrance there are management rooms and Polonia Unity Centre offices.
· The Polonia Museum
The Polonia Museum is accessible from the gallery level with the main staircase and the disable people lift. For the exposition requirements there is 30 feet wide gallery, which is hung up to the large construction arcs under the arching of the canopy covering. The Museum will run permanent exposition of the Polonia history as well as presentation of Polonia circles collections from different parts of the world. At the same time there will be placed the archive – the set of data enabling to search for relatives and to know their emigration lot. The illumination of the exposition area with the canopy skylights in the symbolic cross outline piercing with the Christ’s sculpture shaft enables to see The Monument from different places of the museum exposition area. In the southern course of the gallery there is foreseen the set of the Polonia representatives rooms with the sight to the southern direction. In the space of the gallery over these rooms there has been designed an exhibition entresol opened to the museum gallery.
5. The construction assumption
The Christ’s The King Monument is constituted by the communication shaft of the monolith reinforced concrete construction to which there is mounted the steel framework carrying the Christ’s sculpture coating made of the chromium-nickel plate. The canopy construction, being the sculpture basement, is created by two wide spread steel arcs strenghtened in the surface of the arching with the scheme of stiffening crosswise ribs. Containing The Polonia Unity Centre floors, with the steel and concrete slabs, are hung up to the main arcs. The basement floor and the ground floor have been foreseen as a monolith concrete and masonry constructions in the traditional technology. Northern and southern glass elevation walls are constituted of the glass plates, hung up to the rope curtains spread in many planes.
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