City Aquarium

My master thesis’ subject is "Leisure and education in architecture – Warsaw Aquarium". Architecture is a reflection of the processes taking place in society. Activities that combines leisure and education are important element of social life. The author have chosen this topic because of the phenomenon of interactive museums that constantly attracts crowds of visitors. Warsaw is the largest Polish city, with population of 2 mln people, but it does not have any recreation or entertainment center. The city is seperated from the river, over which there are large , undeveloped areas . One of the places that combine leisure and education in Warsaw is the Zoological Garden and the Copernicus Science Centre. ZOO is a very popular place, but it’s the most attractive during warm days, when people willingly choose to wander with their kids, and the Copernicus Science Centre enjoys extremely high popularity constantly regardless the weather condition. In the era of new media, especially among young people, movies about animals are very popular. In the theoretical part of the work, author study how people choose the forms of spending free time, what affect this change in customs and culture of the society. The author explains the concepts of free time, briefly introduces the theories related to this issue and present the different aspects of this phenomenon over the centuries. Using the CBOS "Leisure Poles", the paper presents the problems of free time currently exist in Poland. The theoretical part focuses on the cultural and educational aspects related to recreation and describes the types of buildings associated with the entertainment and education. The idea of the project is based on the creation of oceanic educatorium – the attractive place that combines education and entertainment. The building is located in Warsaw upon Vistula River – on the slot adjacent to the Copernicus Science Centre and Warsaw University Library. The building has a footbridge connecting the two banks of the Vistula on the roof. And can be a part of newly designed cultural-educational path, which is an alternative to the path of historical museums extending along the historic Royal Route. The building combines the functions of education and entertainment in the form of City Aquarium. In addition, the project provides the possibility to rent part of the building to organize activities for children and adults, so the building can also exist as a cultural center. Public hall can be rented for events, and part of the exhibition can be a bookstore, the place where you can read books without having to buy them. The building is designed to tell visitors a complete story about oceans and animals which live in water, there which will be displayed films and lectures about animals. The interior of the building is designed as a thematically organized tour starting from the top floor (accessible from the main lobby with movable ramps) or directly from the footbridge. The goal of the design was to create a continuous story, supported the presented animals, interactive exhibition and interior design. City Aquarium is open to people of all ages, and its main aim is to raise awareness among visitors about oceans in an attractive way and to provide good entertainment.
Thesis advisor: mgr inż. arch. Paweł Grodzicki

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