Hala Stulecia we Wrocławiu (2006)

• Authors: GRAJEWSKI GRZEGORZ

Title variants

EN

Centennial Hall in Wrocław (2006)

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The World Heritage property known as the Centennial Hall in Wrocław is a symmetrically and axially planned area of the former Exhibition Grounds designed in the spirit of modernism by the architects Max Berg and Hans Poelzig. The most important feature of the whole composition is the Centennial Hall of reinforced concrete which stands on the intersection of the principal axes. Together with the Four Domes Pavilion, terrace restaurant and pergola enclosing a pond, the Hall forms the original complex from 1913. In the years which followed, new features were added in connection with the different exhibitions, some of which it can be assumed were only of a temporary nature. In the inter-war period two more exhibition halls were constructed together with a new entrance to the Exhibition Grounds with a colonnade. In 1948, a hundred-metre spire of steel was set in place as the main feature of the Polish Recovered Territories Exhibition. Other important elements of the complex include the Japanese Garden and the Szczytnicki Park, a part of a larger landscape park. Criteria: (i), (ii), (iv) Centennial Hall – cathedral to democracy In the autumn of 1910, the Municipal Council of Wrocław took the decision to construct an exhibition hall surrounded by exhibition grounds. This plan was occasioned by the approaching centenary of the victory over Napoleon in 1813 that changed the overall political balance in Europe. The main exhibition hall, named the Centennial Hall, was designed by the city planner Max Berg and engineered by Günther Trauer and Willy Gehler. Not content with its advanced and complex design, the constructors used the latest construction techniques to erect the building in just fifteen months. One of these techniques was a carousel cableway that hoisted the materials necessary to construct the framework, including the reinforcement bars and ready-mixed concrete. Another involved fitting elements of the roofing and curtain walls which were prefabricated right on the construction site. The opening ceremony on May 20th, 1913, was marked by the premiere performance of a play by Gerhart Hauptmann, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. At that point, the Centennial Hall was the largest reinforced-concrete assembly hall in the world at a time when the construction potential of reinforced concrete itself was still being tested. Thus, with his bold design, Max Berg paved the way for the application of that material in the construction of public utility buildings. The Centennial Hall was designed with priority given to the interior that, depending of the arrangement of seats for the audiences, could accommodate from 6,000 to 10,000 people. It has a symmetrical quatrefoil ground plan with a quatrefoil outline repeated by an ambulatory with four lobbies and the semicircular portico of the main entrance in the western elevation. The main assembly room is covered with a ribbed dome supported by four huge arcades that open up into semicircular apses. Seen from the outside, the body of the hall seems to be formed stepwise and be composed of ever-diminishing storeys with almost entirely glazed walls. This innovative construction and architectural solution made the light-filled interior of the ribbed dome look surprisingly delicate. The face of the walls was, for the most part, left in raw concrete on both the inside and outside. This, however, was not the architect’s deliberate intention but merely a result of the shortage of funds for the interior decoration. In the course of time, it was precisely this rawness of the material applied that became one of the characteristic features of the edifice, highly appreciated by experts in modernist architecture. In 2009-2011, the Centennial Hall underwent the first renovation and maintenance since the time it was built. Underneath the main hall, new storage and utility rooms were constructed in order to facilitate the efficient organization of mass events. The ambulatory was also renovated. All the maintenance works were carried out without disturbing the integrity of the original structure of the edifice. The Discovery Centre, a modern exhibition explaining the significance of the Centennial Hall as a milestone of modernist architecture, was set up in a portion of the ambulatory and the elevations and window frames underwent specialist renovation. It was the first time works had been carried out on such a large scale: the edifice was cleaned, any losses were replaced, and the reinforced concrete surfaces were re-profiled using professional monument protection techniques. During the work, the original structure was preserved together with the imprints of the framework boards and the traces of colouring revealed under the layers of grime. The renovation and maintenance was preceded by specialist research that demonstrated that almost 75 per cent of the original windows of the dome were still preserved. These were made using jarrah wood (Eucalyptus marginata), specially imported from Australia. This discovery led to their full restoration and preservation by carrying out the costly maintenance works that also included the reintroduction of the original yellow-gold glazing which allowed the interior of the dome to regain its intended colours from 1913. The Centennial Hall was erected as a venue for exhibitions, concerts, theatrical and operatic performances, and sport competitions. Max Berg himself called his work ‘a cathedral to democracy’ – a space shaped in an egalitarian spirit, conducive to a community of experience. The designer of the Exhibition Grounds, Hans Poelzig, created a public recreation area accessible to all and located in the centre of a rapidly developing city. Indeed, both mass, and cultural, events are still frequently organised here. The Centennial Hall and the other buildings, as well as the garden complexes of the Exhibition Grounds, currently face similar problems and challenges connected with their efficient functioning and the need to adapt to the latest technical requirements related to public utility buildings. Since they were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, the only permissible modifications have been such that respect the historic value of the buildings and their historic fabric, and ensure the preservation of those features that turn the Centennial Hall and its surroundings into one of the world’s most important monuments of 20th-century art and architecture.

Keywords

PL

Hala Stulecia we Wrocławiu; Wrocław; budowa Hali Stulecia; opis konstrukcji; architektura moderni¬styczna; konserwacja Hali Stulecia; katedra demokracji

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 2017
• Issue: Dodatek Specjalny. Dziedzictwo w Polsce.
• Pages: 136-140

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

GRAJEWSKI GRZEGORZ

• Oddział Terenowy NID we Wrocławiu
• National Heritage Board of Poland, Regional Office in Wrocław

Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247