These Circular Seating Shelters are both a Place for Relaxation as well as an Open Air Museum

Project TItle
The Times Circles
Location
Cieszyn, Poland
Architects
RS+
Collaborators
Arch. Jakub Zygmunt, Arch. Jarosław Zieliński, Arch. Joanna Kujda
Structural Engineers
Lechprojekt, Marta Weszke, Leszek Weszke, Piotr Weszke
Planting Plan and Landscaping
Tomasz Kurtek Landscape Design Studio
Photography
Tomasz Zakrzewski

Designed to be an ‘Open Air Museum’ of sorts, these circular seating platforms dubbed ‘The Times Circles’, encourage people to relax and enjoy the view, but at the same time, they also provide a moment to learn about the history of the area.

Robert Skitek of RS+ designed these series of public seating shelters that line a walkway along a river in Cieszyn, Poland, that’s also the border with the Czech Republic. Provided with a very narrow and abandoned strip of land on the steep bank of the Olza River, the aim was to create an attractive public space and to design carriers for an exhibition about the history of a divided area.

At night ‘The Times Circles’ are illuminated to attract the attention of pedestrians and provide information about important events in the history of the city. This information can be seen on the plaques that are attached to the exterior of the circles.

“the most important challenge was to create a characteristic element – a symbol of the Museum, which would link areas belonging to two different countries. We decided to create a kind of appeal for those walking on the other side of the border river: “hey, here we are, it’s worth coming here, we invite you warmly”.

Robert Skitek of RS+
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