From Past to Present

CHALLENGE:The “Unfinished Theatre” is the name that the inhabitants of Lublin nicknamed the old building that has occupied the city center for more than 40 years. With construction starting in 1960, it was set to be Europe’s largest opera palace. Funding problems at the start, together with the economic crisis of the 1980s and political changes at the end, left the unfinished building as a metaphor for a society that went down in history. The center’s program is composed of artistic events and the building has been adapted to its new uses. To be highlighted is the great central avenue—the Avenue of Culture—that runs through the building and that takes in various public institutions, art galleries, charity areas, cafés, multimedia rooms, and that acts as an internal communication channel between the areas. The other functions of the building are an auditorium, conference room, multi-purpose room, cinema screen, seminar rooms, media room, library, galleries for local artists, the Club Room, musical theater and administrative zone. INFLUENCE:After an intervention from the Stelmach Partnerzy architectural studio, the new Centrum Spotkania Kultur—Center for the Meeting of Cultures— was created to convey a single idea: Lublin is part of the Europe of 21st century. SOLUTION:There are two rooms in the Centrum Spotkania Kultur that needed a unique, high range product for two specific functions. First, the center has a multi-purpose room in which events are performed for small audiences. The center required a seat that could serve as a hard wearing yet comfortable chair, and that would offer a unique attractive look to the room. For this reason, they opted for the Bonamusa seat, a Figueras classic designed by Antoni Bonamusa, which in addition to its robustness and design can also be stacked to clear the room and leave it unobstructed. Upholstered in purple leather, the room has ended up being named after the color: The Purple Room. For the room dedicated to showing films, the center chose the original Rhombus Excellence, basically for its exclusivity. Having space and guided in the search for a distinctive seat, the directors of the center decided to furnish this room with the Rhombus Excellence seat, which has a wooden and leather effect finish. Thanks to the diamond shaped upholstery in the back, the seat is comfortable. null