Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw

As part of the revitalisation scheme for Warsaw, Poland, the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw is undergoing a significant transformation with a newly constructed building. The Thomas Phifer and Partners designed museum and theatre complex is being built next to the Soviet-era Palace of Science and Culture. It will symbolise the new Warsaw – a city of culture, diversity and openness. The square in front of the Palace of Culture, previously used for parking, is being transformed into an area where locals and tourists can enjoy outdoor cultural events. The ground floor of the building will be free to all, including a small gallery with temporary exhibitions and a bookshop. The first and second floors will be devoted to permanent exhibition spaces. The building will contain 4,500 square metres of exhibition space, almost ten times the size of the museum’s previous building. Plans also include building educational spaces, a library, an auditorium, a cinema and a café. The project commenced construction in mid-2019, and in July 2022, construction reached the topping-out milestone. Work was anticipated to complete in 2022, with the new museum opening in early 2023. However, as of March 2023, construction is ongoing. New York architectural firm APA Wojciechowski is leading the project. The general contractor of the building is Burt Happold, with support from the Polish studio Portico Project Management. Construction is provided by a team comprising ECM Group Polska S.A. and Warbud SA. In 2018, the project was expected to cost PLN 324 million (approx $74 million). However, due to difficulties with construction arising from the site location, the Warsaw city council granted additional funds of PLN 180 million ($41 million) in 2019. As a result, the project’s projections for 2019–2023 included an investment of PLN 455 million ($104 million) for the construction work, engineering supervision, legal services etc., bringing the expected total cost of the construction up to PLN 504.2 mln ($115 million). In 2019, Warbud was awarded a PLN 417 million ($95.5 million) contract to construct the museum. However, no further budget updates have been announced since 2019. The museum expects the project to be complete and open to the public in June 2024. (Updated 21 March 2023)