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Discussion starter · #721 ·
Yes, I hope the Karasia Palace gets rebuilt as is planned.
 
I came upon a book in the main Toronto Library, called "Warsaw, a city destroyed and rebuilt", by Adolf Ciborowski.

To show you how far Warsaw has come, here are some facts:

Road and railway bridges - 100% destroyed
Industrial buildings - 90% destroyed
Health service buildings - 90% destroyed
Historic buildings - 90% destroyed
Theatres and cinemas - 95% destroyed
School buildings - 70% destroyed
Residential buildings - 72% destroyed
Power stations - 50% destroyed
Tramway lines- 85% destroyed
Tramway stock - 75% destroyed
Gas mains - 46% destroyed
Water mains - 30% destroyed
Street paving - 30% destroyed
Trees in parks and gardens - 60%
 
In the 1930's, Professor Oskar Sosnowski, holder of the Chair of the History of Polish Architecture in the Department of Architecture of Warsaw Polytechnic, gave an obligatory exercise to every undergraduate - to make a record of architectural monuments. Before the war broke out, his students had recorded a great many monuments of historic value, in Warsaw and elsewhere. Professor Sosnowski lost his life in September 1939, during the siege of Warsaw.

But beginning from 1940, the Department of Architecture continued its work in the underground movement, and aspiring architects secretly continued to record in detail the existing monuments. All these drawings were hidden in the cellars of the former Department of Architecture. During the Warsaw Uprising, the drawings were moved to a safer place.

After the defeat of the Uprising, the guardians of the drawings managed to hide them in the piles of official documents belonging to a legal organization for refugees. This is how the precious drawings were smuggled out of the burning capital. Their last hiding place was a tomb in a small town church (Piotrkow), where they remained until the liberation. The restoration of the Old Town was mainly based on these drawings.

Source: "Warsaw, a city destroyed and rebuilt", by Adolf Ciborowski.
 
Discussion starter · #724 · (Edited)
del
 
Discussion starter · #728 ·
Like this photo, shows a few holdouts from the old pre-war city sticking out like sore thumbs engulfed by modern Warsaw. That kamienica at the corner is also gone now - in its place the 40 storey Novotel. Only a small wall was kept where victims of the Nazi terror were shot during a round-up:

 
Discussion starter · #731 ·
Then



Now



Thanks katar
 
Restoration/Reconstruction/Homage to the Bank of Poland

The footprint and to some extent the massing of the earlier building has been restored but with a modern skin. You may note that the red sandstone base ties in with the original to the south. This is a signature project of Ewa Nekanda-Trepka's term as city conservator. The massing seems to work ok, the asymmetrical entrance is awkward, poor contiguity with the extant historic structure a big problem, fenestration looks cheap and doesn't line up well with surviving structure, horizontal articulation doesn't break up the mass to harmonize with the building to the south - cornice lines could have been more robust. I will withhold final judgement until the corner is finished and revealed, let's hope they didn't cheap out on beautifully sculpted red sandstone base at the corner. On the plus side, the building will bring in lots of people into this area and help revitalize it as well as hopefully attract better quality projects in the future:

Location:



Original:



Today:



Do not understand the reason for the assymetry here



Original



Today - the line where the limestone tile cladding ends at the corner is the height of the original building





Surviving Part to be restored:



Interior bankers' hall is being reconstructed as part of the new project:

Thanks for these interesting photos concerning the rebuilding of the old Bank of Poland. I take your point about some of the detailing of the new structure but overall I think it's a good looking new design and the restoration of the original part is great news indeed, especially if they rebuild that marvellous Banking Hall. Look forward to seeing it when I next visit. Do you know what date they have for completion?
 
Discussion starter · #733 ·
Thanks, I think interior work should be completed by end of year. I take it you would like to see the restored bankers hall as well :). There will be a glass floor through which you can see some of the presered ruins of the old bank and the even older foundations of the oldest Warsaw mint that once stood here. There are rumours that this glass floor won';t happen and that there will instead be an access to this preserved underground - may need to request permission for access, but public will be allowed.
 
Discussion starter · #734 ·
For all you die-hard Warsaw fans, here's a link to an amazing thread put together on the Polish forum by a buddy named Polex. He does before and afters, pre and post-war almost exclusively. Amazing thread, worth a visit or more.

[Warszawa] Dawno, dawno temu...i nie tak dawno
 
Discussion starter · #735 ·
Not pre-war, but the post-war very modern and well done stadium train station has been restored and updated. I refer to this style of architecture as Polish organic modern, very Polish, looks much better cleaned up:

























Thanks Polex :)
 
Discussion starter · #736 · (Edited)
HERITAGE DESTRUCTION IN WARSAW

The barbarian destruction of many parts of Warsaw's historic fabric continues. It appears that the office of the conservator of Warsaw has allowed the housing co-operative that lives in this grand and very representative building at 22 Ujazdowski Avenue in the historic core of Warsaw along the Royal Route to remove their balconies because they don't have the money to renovate them.

This is just one example of a piecemeal destruction of Warsaw heritage that has been occuring in Warsaw for years under such innocuous terms as simplification and harmonization. Not only has the the office of the conservator discouraged the restoration of historic buildings but allowed for the destruction of the Art Deco Koszykowa Shopping Galleria, the old steam engine shed in Praga and countless survivors of the war in Wola district (war-time Warsaw ghetto), but is allowing or turning a blind eye to the gradual chipping away of this surviving pre-war heritage of the city, as in this case. This death by a thousand cuts will ultimately have a tremendous impact on the city.

Poland is a signatory to the UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape adopted November 10, 2011, which requires greater sensitivity and preservation efforts in historic areas such as this one and a public consensus on such matters as what historic values are to be preserved. Might be time to consider placing Warsaw on the UNESCO Danger List.

If you are appalled by this, please contact:

International Relations, City of Warsaw: mkoper@um.warszawa.pl or tgamdzyk@um.warszawa.pl

Office of Conservator: zabytki@um.warszawa.pl

UNESCO (World Heritage Threats): World Heritage Centre UNESCO
E-mail: wh-info@unesco.org


Now - these historic balconies are being removed.









Before the war



I totally support the Warsaw mayor Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz in her efforts to build roads, subways, bridges, hospitals, airports etc, very important work, but a few million more to preserve the unique heritage of this city would not hurt the city budget. Warsaw wants to move forward very fast, and that's great, but it's forgetting the value that even a small fragment of history can have in place-making, identity-making and giving Warsaw a unique sense of place that will also make it economically more competitive.

In this picture by AdamMa we can see three intact pre-war kamienice that can easily be incorporated into a new development, even if just the facade, to give this area a sense of history. I know many Poles would like to forget what happened, but the next generations will be asking questions and such islands of history enrich the urban landscape so much. Sadly, I believe these buildings are slated for demolition.

 
Removing balconies?? I have never heard of this! It's so stupid. Besides, don't the people have a right to keep their bloody balconies? Also, wouldn't the manual labor of removing the balconies be more costly then simply giving them a paint job?
 
Also, the picture from above of the construction site, isn't it a good idea to let those old buildings at the background stand, with all the new constructions around it, to remain as what this part of Warsaw looked like before the war?
 
Discussion starter · #740 ·
^^
that's exactly my point - atleast leave something to remind people of the history of this place, which is required according to the Venice Charter.
 
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