Lightgush/Swiatlotrysk

@. Gwiazdista
artrist. Maurycy Gomulicki
finished. 2009 

Lightgush, Światłotrysk, created by Maurycy Gomulicki is an exuberant 17 m (56ft) tall neon set in a park between a neighborhood of communist era apartment blocks and a main artery into the city. Pink bubbles light up irregularly as if they were fizzing in a giant glass of soda. The sculpture is an excellent example of the artist’s admitted obsession with communist era aesthetics. While communism evokes everything gray and drab, this sculpture is happy and light. Gomulicki retells the story of the Polish People’s Republic. Lightgush questions our memory of what was considered a harsh regime, whose symbol, the Palace of Culture, is to this day reviled. The artist dares to ask the city if those could have been carefree, good times, or, even worse, if today’s times so gray that they’ve tinged the past pink?

Skarpa. Bluff

Urban Space, Park

@. Aleja Na Skarpie

architect.

finished. a work in progress

This is more than a little dead end in the center of town. The 'skarpa', bluff, is the most characteristic geographical element of the terrain on which Warsaw is situated. It runs along the entire Western edge of the wisla river and most of it is is green. It was certainly a deciding factor in the first settlement built here (remnants found dating from the 8th c.) as its steep cliffs provided protection from invadors and flooding, good views, and healthy breezes. It's no wonder many palaces lined it (and still do).

Recently it's been in the news. There is a movement to invest in it as an important tourist/monument axis of the city. It's a great idea, there's many slightly off the beaten path but very cool places that are off of it as it snakes along the river for kilometers. There's a network of paths and pedestrian bridges which make it relatively easy to cross the city from north to south without stepping outside a park.

The street Na Skarpie is a dead end close to the Senate buildings. There's several villas from the 20's and 30's on it. As well as the Earth Museum.

Parking posts

Public space

@. ubiquitous

architect. if i only knew (fist shaking)

finished. a work in progress

Parking in Warsaw is 'wolno amerykanka', literally a free American, basically a free for all. The more clever the space you find (in other words the more it gets in everyone elses way) the bigger balls you have. It's a blight on the city. It really multiplies the schizophrenic feel of the urban fabric. The only form of regulation that the city seems to have is to put up decorative posts to block essential zones (like cross-walks) from turning into parking spaces. However there is a silver lining...the city is becoming more interested in creating well defined urban zones (like Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Nowy Swiat). So with time that same thoughtful strategy will tricle down to neighborhood streets as well.

Oficers Żoliborz. Żoliborz Oficerski

Square

@. Plac Sloneczny
architects. square: Antoni Aleksander Jawornicki and Kazimierz Tołłoczko, houses: Romuald Gutta and Adolf Świerczyński
finished. 1925

This round urban space at the heart of Oficers Zoliborz, was meant to function as a sun-dial, with the shadow of the tree moving along the twelve row-houses that surround it. Unfortunately instead of a tall and straight poplar there is a sprawling maple. The houses around Sun Square (Plac Sloneczny) are reminiscent of traditional country-residence (dwór) architecture that was popular in the inter-war period and which is experiencing a renaissance today. It is understandable that in this oficer's quarter near the Cytadel a strong, traditional style would dominate. The streets are charming, green and quiet; a counterweight to the style overload of the city center. And if you pay attention you'll also find a handful of lovely modernist villas amongst the traditional pitched roofs.

Memorial Plaques

@. everywhere, keep your eyes peeled
artist. I'm not sure, I think they were a citizen-based initiative
finished. I think it's an ongoing project, it started in the 50's

There are 300+ plaques located on walls and small monuments throughout the city. They are ubiquitous, you can easily pass them by without seeing them but when you start paying attention you see they are everywhere. And once you understand what they commemorate the horror of occupation becomes a little more understandable. They commemorate places related to the Warsaw Uprising and the lives lost in Warsaw due to German occupation terror, especially street executions. These mini war memorials are actively remembered and often have fresh flowers and candles placed on them.

Housing Slodowiec

@. Slodowiec 3

architect. ??

finished. probably 60's

Housing under socialism was a right. The government would give you an apartment, eventually. It just had to be built, and the people inline in front of you had to get theirs first. Babies were put on a list at birth to have an apartment when they turned 21. It was not a perfect system.

 

But that is why socialist housing is ubiquitous in Warsaw. No matter what direction you're traveling in you'll come across graying apartment buildings very quickly. Warsovienes hate them. They are 'ugly' and gray and usually poorly taken care of. They were made using cheap materials and have outdated infrastructure. The apartments are small - a bare minimum, to fit as much of the ever-expanding city population as possible.

And even though the apartmetns themselves frequently have low ceilings and small kitchens they are extremely efficient. No square centimeter is wasted. They are well designed well to satisfy the minimum. However it is the relationship between the buildings that is truly worth experiencing. The government owned the land that was being built. They wanted efficiency but they were not constrained by plot size. This means that the buildings are well proportioned with respect to each other and the open space around them (of which there is always plenty, the same cannot be said for parking). Definitely worth a visit. And if you can get inside and are lucky enough to have been in a low-income housing studio in Architecture school you'll definitely smile. Ah those stairs...

Metro

@. metro centrum

architect. ??

finished. first line in 2008

The Warsaw metro has had a long history. Plans for the metro began in 1925. Work officially started on the first line in 1983 and its last stations were opened 25 years later in 2008. The various stations are quite different in style. The southern ones, up to metro Politechnika, are pragmatic and without grandeur. They use simple color schemes and basic materials to differentiate them. Starting with Ratush-Arsenal the style becomes more high-tech. The materials used are lusher, these are the newer stations. Plac Wilsona is the most baroque of them all and has been voted prettiest metro station in the world at the 2008 Metrorail convention. The final stations are more demure, almost ascetic with just a single richer material as an accent. Currently work has begun on the second line which will run perpendicular to the first, leading from Wlochy to Praga. Hopefully it will take less time to complete than the first.

Residence on Niegolewski Street. Dom na Niegolewskiego

Residence

@.Niegolewskiego 8

architect. Barbara and Stanislaw Brukalscy

finished. 1928

The designers and owners of the home were members of Praesens, an architectural and artistic movement similar to De Stjil and Bauhaus. It was the first avantgarde building in Poland. The facade of the house is a composition of various planes and small rectangular windows, an anomaly on the qaint street populated by traditional villas.