Work De Musica Mundana

Research

Type: research by design, winning competition
Client: Board of Government Advisors
Location: Groningen, Naarden, Amsterdam
Collaborators: ABT engineers, Obscura 
Link: Rijksdienst Cultureel Erfgoed
Exhibitions: Architecture Triennale, Lisbon and New European Bauhaus, Brussels, 2022

The project rethinks the symbiosis between sustainability and the design process, allowing for non-human-centered architecture. It aims to transform former churches into a seed that responds to climate change and bring together different believes including human- and bio-politics, naturally embedding them within the tissue of the city.

A dialogue between climate urgencies and the sublime experience finds new life in contemporary society while maintaining the intrinsic beauty of three monuments. Fascinated by the experience of the technical sublime, the proposal disassembles its processes and turns them into sublime experiences.

Three churches, all centrally located in the dense historical city. Can they open up possibilities for contemporary challenges? On the social layer, we reactivate the role of the church in society. Building upon the history of the growth of the churches we propose to continue that tradition to respond to the current times of climate change.

The plan opens up the church and provides space to meet new generations by bringing its interior towards the outside in the form of transparent extension. This extension not only helps to adapt to the new functions and diversity of visitors but also to establish relationships with sustainable processes and new rituals. The shape of each intervention is inspired by the architectural features of the churches and expressed in a void form.

Technical and social layers overlap each other, manifesting in a sublime experience. Pavillions are self-sufficient, collecting energy with their outer shell, purifying air, collecting water, and providing space for the co-existence of men and nature. Under this framework, each intervention responds to the specificity of the context and architecture of each monument.

Amsterdam Oudekerk: The Oude Kerk has an impressive rainwater collection system on the roofs. We decide to redefine how water is captured and transform this into a water installation.

The plan is to open up the church and create two new entrances on the southside, which brings the interior of the church towards the outside and provides new functional areas, such as art chappel, the hydroponic system, rainwater curtain, herbal garden, spice cafe. The existing chapel of Oudekerk is expanded towards the square becoming an art space. On the other side next to the water and bridge, we made another extension where herbs are grown for the cafe.

The water from the roofscapes is collected into new pavillions and it manifests in the sublime encountering with water in the 'rain' curtain.

Der Aa-Kerk: In Groningen, we aim to give the church a more prominent place in the city and create a more functional space for different age groups that is self-sufficient and attractive to society.

We open up the church by creating new visual access and new entrances creating space for new functions. To complement the existing church programme we added a cafe garden, silence room, bat tower slash art gallery, office space and winter garden.

The pavilion is a microclimate system. Located on the north and south side of the church entrances have opposite climates. The coexistence of people, plants and animals is facilitated by a controlled climate that is maintained by the pavilion, and fluctuations in humidity and temperature are then regulated to provide different levels of comfort. This creates a secret garden that runs through the church and opens at its entrances.

Grote Kerk Naarden: New intervention in Naarden is aiming to expose ceiling artworks of the church but also to create an elevated and enlightened experience for different age groups within the neighbourhood including small children.

On the exterior, there is a freestanding pavilion, inspired by the church tower. This tower is a self-sufficient pavilion that generates energy from the integrated solar cells in its double-skin facade. Inside the tower, we create a new social space to discover and learn about sustainability.

The new tower generates energy to illuminate the interior of the church. Here you can see the connection between the free-standing tower and lifted passage on the inside of the church, from which you can observe paintings. The idea of this promenade was inspired by the current temporary platforms for the renovation of the church.

The free-standing tower is inspired by the city of Naarden as a fortress and monumentality of the church. Moving through the vertical garden new visual relationships are established with the church.

In the interior in order to bring people closer to the painted vaults viewing platform is created. It is elevated in the centre of the church and crowned with a chandelier that lightens up the artwork.

Project

Biography

The Prix de Rome is the oldest and most prestigious Dutch award for visual artists and architects below the age of 35.

Lesia's work has been published in ArchDaily, E-Flux, STIRworld, NRC, Het Financieele Dagblad Persoonlijk, Metropolis, Mister Motley, Blauwe Kamer, AD, and more.

Honors & Awards:

2024 - Residency at The Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art (SCCA) and Studio of Ibrahim Mahama (Red Clay), Ghana

2024 - Residency on Governors Island, New York

2023 - IABR Agent of Change

2023 - Financieele Dagblad Top 50 Talent 2023

2022 - Winner Prix de Rome, the Netherlands

2020 - Talent Grant, Creative Industries, Netherlands

2020 - Young Talent Architecture Award, nomination (by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe and the EU Commission)

2019 - Winner Archiprix Nederland

2019 - Winner Archiprix International

2019 - Winner Tamayouz International Award

2014 - AHK Talent Grant

Selected Exhibitions:

2025 - Solo exhibition at MAGAZIN, Vienna, Austria (upcoming)

2025 - Lisbon Architecture Triennale, Portugal

2024 - Work presentation at RedClay (Studio of Ibrahim Mahama), Ghana

2024 - Mobile installation, exhibition, Governors Island - Lower Manhattan, New York

2024 - OMI, "Rotterdam Culture City", alongside significant works by OMA and West 8.

2024 - International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR)

2022 - Prix de Rome, NI, Rotterdam

2022 - Architecture Triennale, Lisbon

2022 - New European Bauhaus, Brussels

2021 - Dutch Design Week

2021 - Biennale, Venice

2020 - Dutch Design Week

2019 - Biennale, Santiago

2019 - Archiprix International

2019 - Archiprix Netherlands

Portrait for Prix de Rome 2022

Lesia Topolnyk is an architect who pushes the boundaries of her field, exploring architecture’s role beyond the act of building. Her goal is to foster a holistic perspective and stimulate systemic transformation. Rather than simply creating structures, she is deeply invested in the potential of architecture within our constructed reality—whether physical, social, or political. "It's about ideas that take shape during the research and design process, generating new typologies," she explains. For her, architecture is not a reactive discipline but a tool for reshaping the world by questioning its existing frameworks. "Architects are often seen as designers of spaces, but we also design relationships. Especially in these turbulent political times, it is crucial to examine how the world itself is designed to understand the larger forces at play. Sometimes, I reflect on major global issues; at other times, I focus on the space inside someone's mind.”

Lesia founded Studio Space Station to tackle urgent societal and planetary challenges beyond the traditional scope of architecture, bridging global and local perspectives. She uses spatial tools to shape ideas, uncover hidden narratives, and forge new relationships—whether through installations, interventions, architecture, or film. Rooted in deep research, each project uniquely responds to its context, provoking thought, stirring emotion, and sparking dialogue. Her approach to architecture, art, and design is fundamentally collaborative, drawing on diverse perspectives and expertise. She actively works across disciplines, believing that "you can learn from others, and they bring valuable insights and viewpoints.”

Lesia effortlessly navigates between different scales and realities, having studied art and holding master’s degrees in Architecture (NL), Urban Planning (PL), and Environmental Design (UA). She also has a decade of experience working at internationally renowned architecture practices. Her work has received numerous Dutch and international awards and has been exhibited and published worldwide. She also teaches and lectures in the Netherlands and abroad.

For her final project at the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam, Topolnyk, who grew up in Ukraine, addressed the situation in Crimea, proposing a building that serves as a counterpart to the United Nations Headquarters—UnUnited Nations Headquarters—exploring architecture’s role in absorbing conflict within a divided society. For this work, Lesia received both the Archiprix Netherlands and Archiprix International awards.

Her Prix de Rome-winning project, No Innocent Landscape, expands on this vision, exploring how architecture can operate in politically contested territories, using spatial interventions to navigate instability and create new narratives. Through speculative research and design, she examines architecture’s role in decision-making and power structures, revealing the invisible forces that shape our built environment.

Lesia's current research, extending to sites in the Netherlands, Africa, and New York, focuses on the crises shaping our world, with a particular interest in how governance has historically been designed and how architecture has supported, symbolised, and shaped these systems. "It’s about how we can design change and how we can govern the world better together," she concludes. For her, architecture is not just about constructing spaces—it is about constructing possibilities.

Text: Vincent van Velsen

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