Southbound railway – the best designs rewarded in FarU and PKM competition | Gdańsk University of Technology

The task of students was to prepare an architectural and urban study of the passenger railway on the new section of PKM South line, planned by the Pomeranian government, taking into account functional and spatial solutions, social and environmental aspects and containing innovative technological solutions.

Students of the first semester of master degree studies in architecture were invited to develop an architectural and urban conceptual designs of the planned PKM South train stops in the first stage of the competition. The Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk Tech was the technical organizer of the competition, and the main coordinator was Magdalena Podojewska, PhD, the vice-dean for student affairs and promotion at the Faculty of Architecture of Gdańsk University of Technology.

The final of the first stage of the competition took place on June 29 at Gdańsk University of Technology. Students and guests were welcomed by Prof. Krzysztof Wilde, rector of Gdańsk Tech, Grzegorz Mocarski, president of PKM S.A. and Prof. Lucyna Nyka, dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk Tech.

Innovative urban solutions

Students submitted 18 works in total, 16 of them met all formal requirements and were admitted to the competition. The authors of the three best projects received financial awards amounting to PLN 15,000 funded by PKM S.A.  Additionally, five distinctions were awarded.

– It is very important to use the potential of young people with emerging projects, while giving them a chance to improve the space in which they live. In the future, it is them who will use the solutions that they propose today in their often futuristic, but most of all modern visions of the new, planned PKM South line - said Grzegorz Mocarski, president of PKM S.A., who handed out awards to the winners, together with the rector of Gdańsk Tech – Therefore, I am glad about the solutions proposed by students showing that the railway infrastructure can be modern, ecological and creating new functional and recreational spaces for local residents. Consequently, each future PKM South stop has a chance to become a kind of local center, which is currently missing in the south of the metropolis. I believe that if this project is implemented, student visions will become an inspiration for future designs.

The competition committee, which included the representatives of PKM, the Marshal's Office and Gdańsk University of Technology, emphasized the very high level of competition entries, their diversity and students' courage in creating new solutions.

The first prize in the amount of PLN 7,000 for „Change to culture" (in Polish „Przesiądź się na kulturę” ) was awarded to Patrycja Stawska and Małgorzata Maina in recognition of their bold, comprehensive, urban solution combining a bus stop with a rich functional program and an effective public space.

The second prize and PLN 5,000 went to Urszula Całusińska and Klaudia Chorobińska. The work, entitled "Connection" (in Polish „Połączenie”), was awarded for the urban solution combining the currently isolated parts of the district with a public park space.

Ludmiła Matsisovich and Marta Kloch are the third place winners. The "Yellow Ribbon" (in Polish „Żółta wstążka”) design was appreciated for the consistent and coherent implementation of the spatial concept linking different parts of the district while maintaining its green character.

Distinctions wen to:

• Natalia Buć, Milena Mroch, "Balance" (in Polish „Równowaga”) - for restraint in interfering with the space, obtaining green space in a difficult communication location.
• Robert Maskos, Jelizawieta Miakotina, „The new center of Orunia Górna" (in Polish „Nowe centrum Orunii Górnej”) - for courage in creating an urban, multi-level communication junction with a cultural function that integrates the community.
• Anna Pliszka, Agnieszka Kowalik, „Railway to the south" (in Polish „Kolej na relację z południem”) - for referring to the existing elements creating the visual identification of existing PKM stops and the feasibility of adaptation in other locations.
• Dominika Wodeńko, Sylwester Wilczak, „Flying Carpet" (in Polish „Latający dywan”) - for an interesting form, spatial solutions and proposed eco-friendly solutions, as well as the attractiveness of the drawn message.
• Joanna Kreft, Julia Lebioda, „Fusion” (in Polish „Fuzja") - for interesting functional solutions and real connection of above-ground and underground floors

Second stage of the competition in autumn

The second stage of the competition is ahead of us. Students will prepare detailed concepts of innovative environmental, social and economic solutions that enhance the attractiveness of passenger railways for users, for eight projects selected in the first stage. This task will be performed by at least five-member interdisciplinary teams. A representative of each of the universities that make up FarU must be present in all teams – Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk University of Technology and University of Gdańsk. At this stage, PKM S.A. funded financial awards for the winning teams amounting to the total value of PLN 20,000. The details of the second stage will be announced before the beginning of the new academic year on October 1, 2022.

– This competition is an opportunity to develop cooperation between our universities and the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway, but most importantly, it is an opportunity for students to develop new competences, including work in metropolitan teams. I also think that the fresh look of young people will allow for creation of a modern and visionary concept of stops on the new PKM line - emphasized Prof. Adriana Zaleska-Medynska, director of the Fahrenheit Union of Universities.

– When we combine the ideas of our architecture students with the ideas and competences of students of the Medical University of Gdańsk and University of Gdańsk, I am convinced that innovative, creative solutions will be created, taking into account a number of social, ecological and health aspects, which, designed now, will also work well in many years - summed up Prof. Lucyna Nyka, dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Gdańsk Tech.

PKM SOUTH – about the project:

It is a joint initiative of the government of the Pomeranian Voivodeship and communes associated in the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area. The project prepared by the local government company PKM S.A. forecasts construction of a new railway line from SKM Gdańsk City Centre (in Polish „Śródmieście”) stop to the planned Kowale junction, providing for the possibility of its subsequent connection both to the existing railway line No. 248 (PKM) and the currently closed railway line, requiring modernization line 229 (Pruszcz Gdański - Stara Piła). Currently, the Technical, Economic and Environmental Study of PKM South is being developed, which at the end of 2023 will not only define the recommended course of PKM South, but above all will be the basis for making financial and material decisions regarding the future implementation of the project and the optimal stages of the entire investment.

For more information on the project visit:

https://pkm-poludnie.pl/