Project at the promenade became a popular attraction of the riverbank, meeting point and a landmark location for calisthenics and gymnastics enthusiasts from all over Poland. It integrates a training facility with the Vistula river promenade used by over 1 million pedestrians per year. The bridge provides shelter from most weather situations, extending the period of comfortable use well over any outdoor facility.

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Currently there are a few transformative investments in progress around the PKiN after the long period of standstill, but we will focus on the scope built directly as a result of the participatory budgeting vote (Taras). We will also cover the two projects directly impacted by our 2013 prototype project which are located directly next to the projects' location.

The Taras project

Despite its location just at the interchange station, the space is separated from the noise by the line of trees and a small hill from the north and from the pavilion from the east. Building site of the Museum sheltered it from the south, so a specific, relaxed enclave has been created in high-density urban location.
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Ping-pong tables and sitting spaces in the entrance alley from the side of the Świętokrzyska street. For us it was especially important to build at least four tables which guarantee user circulation – usually in the Polish parks there are at most two tables at the same location thus users become frustrated about the long waiting time and finally discouraged from the use of the infrastructure. We have demonstrated how a larger number of tables results in an exponential growth of user count.

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The space became an instant success after its opening, especially as the COVID pandemic restrictions limited the social activity to outdoor spaces. It quickly became lively hangout space which attracted large groups of users, initially from every age group, using all elements of the space. It has become a favorite meeting place for freestyle football community in Poland and the location to show-off skills to the public gathering on the long bench, or the meadow.
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Public space signage systems usually don't offer much besides restricting activities and discipline the users. Keeping in mind our successful experiment
in the prototyping project, we have decided to include a friendly welcome message in Polish, English and Ukrainian, to celebrate the international heritage
of Warsaw's youth.
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The pavilion was supposed to offer a free rental of sports equipment and board games, also serve as an event space and shoulder the daily maintenance. Sadly, it has remained closed because of legal issues between the Warsaw Greenery Authority and PKiN administration. As the time has passed, youth and young adults overtaken the project and lesser numbers of other age group users are present there. This has especially increased after the start of the war in Ukraine. Every day hundreds of teenagers and young adults has flocked into the park, making it the favourite place to spend time in Warsaw.
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With the space isolated by yet another infrastructure building site and the pavilion still closed, the location has become vandalised by chaotic graffiti, overcoming the ability of the City Office to repaint it and remain in control. This has cemented the dominance of youth and young adults. While these groups did not have any particular public space in the city center, we fully understand why it has sparked such high levels of youthful energy and believe that such a numerous crowd has huge potential and energy to built upon in the coming years.
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Overall, the space has been greatly successful and has kickstarted the activity in this part of the park. The popularity has grown over even most optimistic predictions, overwhelming the authorities battling multiple other emergencies. The political realm was at that time dominated by the pandemic and currently is shaped by the Ukraine war and difficult relations with the central government changing the tax rules to the disadvantage to the city which strips the City Office of already lacking resources.

Impact on new public buildings in the PKiN area

One of the milestones discussed above and leading to creation of the network and the Taras space was the prototyping project held in the temporary building of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw in 2013. It has proved incredibly important for and multiplied the impact of our work, as discussed below.

Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw

The Museum building is scheduled to finish construction in 2023. It is borders directly with the plot revitalised by the Taras project.

The museum's leadership was inspired by the prototype project which was organized as a temporary exhibit in MoMA Warsaw building. To our delight, the Museum leadership has decided to include core ideas of the prototype project in the design of its new building. The ground floor of the new museum will be available for free, proposing multiple forms of sitting areas, unorganized educational and leisure activites, and events.

Emilia pavilion

Because we have been responsible for the highly successful prototype, we were asked by the City Office to prepare a conceptual brief for the architects. Emilia in the new role will be a freely accessible space allowing multiple forms of physical activity and support for activities in the surroundings, plus adding a very large underground kitchen which will allow to feed more than 1500 daily customers with healthy and balanced diet, along with providing microwave ovens to heat own food brought in by the users.

Our responsibility was to deliver initial brief for the architects and work along lead architects, BBGK Architekci. Full concept document is available in English here.‍

City Hall metro station is located at the one of the busiest transit hubs in Warsaw, just at the northern edge of the central district. The plot on which the square was built is a historical site, while the Royal Arsenal building is one of the oldest buildings in Warsaw. It is also the gateway to the Old Town district. Apart from the transit hub function, the new development is at the walking path between two very popular historical parks: Ogród Krasińskich and Ogród Saski.

Before the square was built, the space was a technical space on the top of the metro tunnel, kept as reserve for eventual use by Warsaw Trams Authority. As there was not enough soil for the plants to comfortably grow, there was only a low quality lawn present on site and some taller plants on the side.

The architects have added over 1 meter of soil on top of the tunnel and this has provided the ability to plant much more greenery. Twenty four trees have been planted, along with thousands of smaller plants. Native and insect-friendly species have been used to support the local ecosystem, including a protected sparrow habitat identified in the corner of the plot. All these decisions have positively impacted the plot's microclimate and the local water retention, both crucial in the light of Warsaw's climate adaptation strategy.

There are two parallel paths on the square - one built of permeable material and the second one made of concrete. The path made of concrete has been optimised to be as thin as possible while still allowing the comfortable simultaneous use by multiple athletes. Sitting spaces have been arranged in a way allowing comfortable interaction and prolonged use, while able to observe the activities. While the paths resemble historical fortifications of the Kings' Arsenal, we have managed to integrate the elements for roller sports in such a way that allows to go through all of them during a single ride through the space, which is greatly appreciated by the users.

The space has become the long-awaited "main spot" for Warsaw's skateboarding scene. A place to meet friends, perfect the skills, record te tricks and show-off to the eagerly observing public taking a walk to one of many green areas in the neighbourhood. While the central district has the largest population of seniors in Warsaw, we have seen many elderly spectators, spending time and enjoying the performance of advanced skaters gathering daily from all over the city.
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The decision about providing sunlight exposition was a conscious one. While we understand the realm of urban heat island, the space is surrounded with public parks offering tall greenery and plenty of shadow. Adding to the fact that the soil conditions are very challenging for any trees, the architects have decided to leave the square partially exposed, while still adding a lot of greenery which will provide some shadowed seating spaces in the future. This decision has already been appreciated by the users while apart from the summer there is not much sunlight in colder months in Poland and we can see the people taking regular sunbaths, just as in any European country with such weather conditions.

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While the Royal Arsenal falls under heritage protection rules, the design of the square had to combine the usability for users with the neutral visual design. All the elements for skateboarding are within the grid of the concrete surface, increasing their visual consistence. While the project was built during a challenging fiscal period, we have managed to use the thick layer of granite allowing perfect usability on a part of the ledges, while keeping the costs at the rational level.

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The apartment building are located over 90 meters from the plot and just as any transport hub the space is pretty noisy during the day. Despite this facts, multiple solutions to keep the place as quiet as possible: granite ledges with an edge cut reducing the noise of grinding, slick surface and greenery are among the most important. Another aspect is lack of lightning at night. The place has enough light to go around and use the street workout facility, but not enough to use skateboarding function. While there are other places for nighttime skateboarding in Warsaw we think this is a good and functional compromise, as no neighbour has complained about the project impact to city watch, police, or the greenery authority.

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The space confirms our earlier research and fulfils the promise and responsibility taken in the year 2010 when we have released social energy. While we would be very happy with a shorter timeline of the project, we are delighted to see it at work, delivering social interactions, personal development and progress in the light of important public policy goals.