On Thursday, Henry Urbach, an American curator and architecture critic, visited the construction site of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra’s new building. Tomasz Konior, head architect of the venue, invited Henry Urbach to learn more about the project and to suggest artists who will prepare an art work to be designed specially for the building.
„This is a very important occasion as the Polish contemporary architecture is barely known abroad. Many architecture critics are not very well acquainted with our country. I invite Henry Urbach because I want to show him the transformation of Katowice, the modern architecture and its role in this process. I reckon on his remarks and cooperation” – Tomasz Konior commented.
Henry Urbach holds a degree in History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University, a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and a Master of Arts in History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University. He is experienced as a curator, teacher, lecturer, and published writer. Between 2006 and 2011, Urbach was a Curator of Architecture and Design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
„I came to Katowice to understand the City, the site and the orchestra’s new seat better. It is a very proud and very strong building, quite beautiful and I am just learning that there is a special meaning of this place – red brick that has to do with the Silesian tradition” – Henry Urbach said. „There is really a lot for me to discover here but the first impression is very strong, not only of the building but also of the entire space. There seems to be so much construction and change, clearly it is the time of renewal and transformation of Katowice”.
The scale and type of the art work is yet unknown. „What I would be proposing is an art work that can integrate and compliment this important building. We will be discussing during my visit where to locate the art work – inside or outside the building. I am a curator, so I will be suggesting artists for this project. At first I need to understand much more about the facility, then reflect on it and propose something really special. Over the next few months we will be developing this project” – he added.
The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra’s new seat is being built by Warbud under the contract with the City Hall of Katowice, an investor of the undertaking. The works are to be concluded by the end of May this year. Then, Nagata Acoustics from Japan will start its work on sound and excellence of the acoustics inside the great and chamber concert halls. The inaugural concert will take place on the 1st of October 2014.
