Fabryka Trzciny - Reed Factory

@. Otwocka 14
architect. Bogdan Kulczyński, Joanna Kulczyńska and Agnieszka Chmielewska (renovation)
finished. (renovated 2003)

To begin, what a great name, after the owner, Trzcinski (a musician and composer, organizer of Poland's most well known music festival in Opole). The full name of this endeavor is Centrum Artystyczne Fabryka Trzciny (CAFT). As a reporter for Gazeta Wyborcza said when the place first opened in 2003, it functions as a house of culture, a 'dom kultury', a miniature Palace of Culture. It supports many forms of artistic expression: theater, music, photography, literature. It hosts shows, festivals and discussions.

The building is one of the oldest factory buildings on the East side of the river and was once a marmalade factory and later, under communism, a rubber plant. It's located in Praga, East of the Wisla, in the neighborhood Szmulki. I think it's important to go into the history of this part of the city because it is so telling of Warsaw's cultural heritage. The name comes from the owner of the land Szmul (Samuel) Jakubowicz Sonnenberg (1756-1801) who was a Jewish merchant, banker, financier of King Stanislaw Poniatowski and the progenitor of the Bergson family (including the philosopher Henry Berson). During the uprising of 1794 against Russian occupation he hid many Warsoviennes, saving their lives. In the late 19th century this rather rural area was surrounded by railroad lines (to Petersburg and Terespol) and it was built up with factories, including the Koneser Vodka Factory. It became a part of Warsaw in 1908. After WWII many poor Poles took over apartments left abandoned by the decimated Jewish population and the neighborhood came to have a very bad reputation and fell into disrepair. Today it is experiencing a renaissance with artsy cafes, bars and galleries beginning to open.