conceptual design	The idea of extending the MNK by FTA In 1930 the City Council of Krakow resolved to construct the National Museum in Krakow. This decision was influenced by the city's growing art collection which had just exceeded 200,000 works. After four years of preparations, study trips and nationwide money collecting, on 1 June 1934 the corner stone of the building was laid. 70 years later the present Management of the Museum is facing a similar problem. The number of exhibits is almost 780,000 and despite having several branches the National Museum in Krakow urgently needs to extend its main building since it does not possess sufficient areas to exhibit most of the collection. What is more, the Museum lacks modern storage facilities which could secure the valuable collections of international significance. It also lacks rooms and facilities for providing open educational activities for children and disabled persons. In July 2004 the Polish Architects' Foundation (FTA) made an agreement with the National Museum in Krakow concerning cooperation in the scope of constructing a new wing of the Museum. This has received the working name of Wyspiański's Museum. The agreement was preceded by a year's preparations which included meetings, discussions concerning the function of the new edifice and the conditions which had to be met in order for both parties to carry out their tasks. The main idea and objectives of the agreement were included in its preamble: "The Parties are interested in cooperating in the field of promoting culture and undertaking activities aimed at the cultural development of the Polish society. This cooperation is aimed at completing a project which includes marketing and promotion of the conceptual design for the new wing of the National Museum in Krakow, i.e. Wyspiański's Museum located in Krakow at al. 3-go Maja. The new wing will be the seat of art exhibitions and educational activities in the field of culture aimed mainly at young people and disabled persons." After holding an internal competition the FTA bestowed the task of creating the conceptual design of the New Wing of the National Museum in Krakow to the Atelier Loegler Design Studio of Krakow who presented the most interesting concept of the new building. As you will see Atelier Loegler has proposed a very modern design which will definitely contribute to increasing the interest in culture among the younger generations. The New Wing of the Museum will mainly host the works of Stanisław Wyspiański. Although the artist never had a permanent address in Krakow, his life and works were strongly connected with the city. The significance of Stanisław Wyspiański in Polish national culture as well as the quality and size of the collection of his works made it necessary to found a separate branch of the National Museum in Krakow in 1983. This was the Stanisław Wyspiański Museum located in a leased tenement building at 9 Kanonicza Street where it remained for 20 years. In 2004 the National Museum moved the Wyspiański Museum to its own premises, i.e. the renovated Szołayski House at 11 Szczepańska Street. Currently the Museum covers an area of almost 2,000 square metres exhibiting a diversified and relatively full scope of the artist's works (with the exception of his large-format works) reflecting his life as a student, traveller, and private person as well as a draughtsman, painter, playwright and designer of church interiors, murals, stained-glass windows and stage sets. Both in Poland and abroad Wyspiański is known as an artist who created works in monumental scale, e.g. the large-format designs for decorations in the Franciscans' Church and the Wawel Cathedral as well as the records of conservation works in the St. Cross Church. In 2000 the Opus Magnum series exhibition, which mainly presented such large-scale works, made the society aware of Wyspiański's impact on Polish culture. So far there is no exhibition area in Krakow which could host the complete works of the city's most renowned artist. The exhibiting difficulties relate to the format of many of his works, e.g. the mural and stained-glass window designs which require very large and non-standard surfaces as well as complicated lighting and the great diversity of his art: from drawings, through paintings to monumental formats (e.g. the design of the God the Father in the Act of Creation stained-glass window is three storeys high). The objective of the National Museum in Krakow is to build premises which will fulfil the requirements of displaying the complete works of Stanisław Wyspiański including a modern exhibition area with the possibility of walking from one field of his works to another with respect of chronology, conservation needs and access to information as well as display changes, educational activities, recreation and easy access for disabled persons. Apart from exhibiting the monumental works of Stanisław Wyspiański the Museum is also to provide other functions, i.e.: 1.Premises for educational activities for children and exhibiting their works 2.Premises for a disabled artists' club 3.storage area for part of the Polish Painting Department's collection 4.storage area and studio of old photography 5.study and storage area as well as a workshop for furniture conservation 6.library, reading room and book storage area 7.storage area for exhibition equipment 8.multi-functional room 9.Outdoor sculpture display area 10.Reception, catering and shop premises Constructing the premises for displaying the complete works of Stanisław Wyspiański requires close cooperation between the team of architects and the author of the scenario (an experienced museum organiser and art historian) as well as the layout designer and lighting director. The project also requires vast expenditure. The Management of the National Museum in Krakow who is the initiator of the project strongly believes that providing a new architectonic framework for the works of Stanisław Wyspiański is also the will of the inhabitants of the city. The creative combination of the universal value of art and the modern achievements of architecture will become Krakow's showcase in the European Union.1 The present publication, which focuses mainly on promoting the project, completes the first stage of extending the National Museum in Krakow with the conceptual design and model of its New Wing. We wish to thank all the people who were involved in achieving this objective and hope that in the near future we will all be able to admire the results of our work in full scale. Adam Nizio President, FTA Katarzyna Baranowska Vice President, FTA The point of view of Mrs Zofia Gołubiew - director of MNK The National Museum in Krakow is an institution which for a long time has not received sufficient funding. One of the most disadvantageous consequences of this are the insufficient premises which do not fulfil all the exhibiting needs. As the Manager of the Museum I have observed these on a daily basis and have realised that they are becoming increasingly problematical. The windows of my office in the New Building of the National Museum face an area with barracks which were once erected on the Museum grounds for temporary purposes and are no longer fully used, but which successfully spoil the surroundings of our respectable institution. The view from my office window gave me the idea that the area should be used more effectively and that is how the concept of building the New Wing came to life. We began talks with the Foundation of Polish Architects (FTA). Its President Adam Nizio and Vice President Katarzyna Baranowska not only shared my enthusiasm towards the new project, but also reassured me that it was feasible. For this I owe them my gratitude. I trust that our cooperation, which commenced on the 70th anniversary of constructing the New Building, will successfully lead to the opening of the New Wing. The text provided by Mr Nizio and Ms Baranowska lists the new premises' basic functions. I only wish to add that not only will these briefly presented functions fulfil the Museum's most urgent needs, but will also make it possible to better utilise several areas in the New Building and in our other premises on the principle of shifts and moves, as in the Rubic Cube. The changes, which I will not enumerate here, have been presented to the Board of the Museum who has approved them. In the year of the 125th anniversary of the National Museum in Krakow together with the FTA we are presenting our project to the authorities and citizens of Krakow. We will soon ask many people and institutions to sponsor the project and to establish a Committee for Constructing the New Wing of the National Museum. As the manager of the Museum I hope that constructing the New Wing will make it possible to adapt our institution to the requirements of the 21st century - both in terms of protecting our collections as well as becoming more open to the needs of our visitors. Zofia Gołubiew Manager National Museum in Krakow