Urban Space
@. Krakowskie Przedmiescie 87/89
architect. Henryk Stamatello
finished. 1949
The first escalator in Poland debuted, along with the East-West Way, 'Trasa W-Z', in 1949. It was constructed in a Soviet factory along with those used in the Moscow metro. The escalator bridges 12m of the Warsaw bluff, 'skarpa', the equivalent of a 5 storey buillding. An engineering feat at the time. The entire passage is worth a look. There are relief scultptures depicting Russian-Polish brotherhood. And supposedly a machine room to visit.
The East-West Way was amongst the first large post-war reconstruction efforts. The idea of running traffic under the Castle Square already existed in the 30's and after war this clever solution was implemented. I really appreciate that mobility through the modern city is maintained at no expense to the old city fabric. When you're standing infront of the castle it's impossible to imagine that the equivalent of a freeway is running underneath. The escalator is just icing on the cake.
Before the renovation.
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