MSN Warsaw Opens a New Chapter for Polish Art

The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, the first permanent institution of its kind in the capital city, sits on a plot known as Plac Defilad, or the intersection of Poland’s present and potential. On one side of the sleek structure is a chrome commercial arcade. On the other side is the Palace of Culture and Science, a Stalinist skyscraper originally dedicated to the Soviet dictator.Thomas Phifer and Partners, the architects behind this new modern art museum, known as MSN Warsaw, were clear: