In the center of Warsaw is a building where you can be inside and outside at the same time, or vice versa. It’s a modern structure that can still reflect its past.

A space where knowledge is no longer confined, where it’s free to flow out to the rest of the city. Locals know it as MINI, the Polish acronym for the Department of Mathematics and Information Sciences.

The building, built by Ferrovial just over a decade ago, is located in the heart of the Warsaw University of Technology campus. Glass and transparency are its façade’s main features, allowing the interior to be seen from its surroundings and giving the impression that, when you’re inside, you’re outside.

In addition to making it a light, almost neutral building, the glass makes the most of natural light and brings balance and comfort to the interior spaces. Transparency is also what integrates the department with its surroundings: all around it are the historic buildings that shaped the campus and whose figures are also reflected on the MINI’s walls.

The aluminum curtains on the outside shatter the monotony of the glazed reflections, dispersing light and giving the building an elegant, somewhat abstract look. At night, when the department lights up on the inside, the curtains seem to float around a structure that becomes diffuse, its lines blurring to such an extent that it’s impossible to know what’s a reflection and what’s reality.

The overall effect achieves what the structure was designed to do. It’s a focal point, a structure that stands out in this very classic setting. At the same time, it doesn’t become a barrier, instead showing respect for its past and fitting in with the world around it.