Banialuka Puppet Theatre building with a branch of the Beskid Library in Bielsko-Biała

Description

The competition concept for a new Banialuka Puppet Theatre building with a branch of Książnica Beskidzka (Beskid Library) in Bielsko-Biała treats the theatre not as a single edifice but as a ‘theatre village’ embedded in a park. Most of the building is hidden below ground; only entrance cubes of white through-coloured concrete emerge from the greenery. Their facades bear reliefs cast in formwork, referencing the work of Jerzy Zitzman, the theatre’s co-founder. The main entrance has a bold, whimsical form — the only literally ‘theatrical’ gesture in the calm park setting. The surroundings form a gradation of places of different character: the main square, a shared foyer for theatre and library and a venue for events and markets; a ‘fairy-tale garden’ with a summer stage; and a workshop yard by the studios. The library section, named the Green Library, comprises two volumes joined by a glazed link, housing an entrance hall, the main lending library with a summer reading room and winter garden, separate children’s and teenagers’ lending libraries, a conference room, offices and a top-floor café with two terraces. Two apartments for the theatre’s guests complete the programme. The park is an equal part of the programme, not a backdrop: it organises the approaches, sets the sequence of spaces and decides how audiences reach a performance.