Modernity and Compromise: The Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Warsaw and its Designer Władysław Pieńkowski

Despite the considerable influence he exerted on post-war church architecture in Poland, the designer Władysław Pieńkowski (1907–1991) is today an altogether forgotten figure. The current paper outlines his biography and his early oeuvre; this is because his experience in designing office blocks and industrial plants gained while working under the supervision of the most outstanding Polish architects of the mid-20th century, was to be of key importance to his later, independent designs for ecclesiastical buildings. The paper focuses on a particularly important work, one which in many ways constitutes a breakthrough in the architect’s career, namely the church of St. Michael the Archangel in the Mokotów district of Warsaw. This was the first entirely new church to be erected in the capital of Poland after the year 1945. Its construction depended on the dynamic changes in the balance of political forces. The church could be built owing to the support of the PAX Association circle, including the direct involvement of Bolesław Piasecki. In spite of their patronage, however, construction works were repeatedly halted and extended over several years, and the architectural design had to be reworked. The paper contains an analysis of three fundamental designs for the church, now held in the St. Michael the Archangel parish archive and in the architect’s records preserved by his heirs. The first design dates from the period of 1948/9–1951, the subsequent one from the year 1954, and the final one from 1956–1961. The evolution of the design moved from the initial continuation of forms typical of the pre-war Modernised Revivalism, through a peculiar reference to Socialist Realism, to rigorous Modernism. The church of St. Michael the Archangel became Pieńkowski’s testing ground; there, he tried out several solutions which he would consistently utilise in the subsequent years of his career, e.g. the large-scale application of prefabricated elements in both the construction and the decoration of the edifice. The construction of this church was concurrent with important events of a political (the Thaw) and religious nature (the Second Vatican Council). Tracing the history of the design for the Warsaw church and clarifying its connections with contemporaneous church architecture in Poland and in Western Europe made it possible to present the key problems faced by the Polish designers of ecclesiastical architecture in the first decades of the People’s Republic of Poland.

Modernist Architecture in Illustrative Art for Children and Teenagers in the People’s Republic of Poland

Books and periodicals for children and teenagers constituted an important instrument of education and also social persuasion in the People’s Republic of Poland. In such publications, illustrations played a crucial role. Printed in several dozen or even several hundred thousand copies, such publications circulated among great numbers of young readers, therefore becoming a very effective medium for disseminating certain desired views. There can be no doubt that the messages directed at the youth largely reflected the opinions held by the adult section of the society: the authors and the people ordering and authorising the publication. The numerous topics presented in a form suitable for young readers included architecture. The nature of architecture-related themes was varied indeed; at times architecture (historical or contemporary) appeared in the foreground, but most often depictions of buildings served only as a visual backdrop for the narrated story. However, even presented in the background, the forms of architecture chosen by illustrators were not received indifferently by the readers, since they conveyed a certain model imagery of houses, flats, housing estates, or entire cities. Since such images were published by the thousand, a thorough analysis of the issue would not fit the spatial constraints of a single article. The aim of the text is, therefore, restricted to identifying the possibility for expanding the source material for studies on architectural culture; it focuses on a single theme, namely the methods in which publications for children and young readers issued in communist Poland presented, and often even propagated, modernist architecture. Due to the choice of the subject matter, the article mainly concentrates on the period of the post-Stalinist Thaw when modern forms gained a true monopoly in Polish architecture. The tendencies observable in architectural theory and practice at the time were reflected with considerable fidelity in publications for young audiences. Popular images included the vision of a modern metropolis with heavy pedestrian and automobile traffic, full of high-rise buildings, lit by lamps and neon lights after dark. Depictions of modernist housing estates with blocks of flats, as well as modern schools or playgrounds were equally common. The message conveyed by such imagery may easily be summarised by the title of one of the children’s rhymes analysed above, namely Nasz dom [Our home]. Both the texts and the visual depictions of the day constructed a vision in which modernist architecture became the natural habitat of contemporary people. The present article describes numerous depictions which corroborate such an interpretation of the phenomenon under analysis.

Rubble Warsaw, 1945–1946: Urban Landscaping and Architectural Remains

This paper is a contribution to the contemporary discussions around architectural materialities and the history of the immediate post-war period in the urban areas of Europe. The opening paragraphs include references to the artistic action The Cut which took place in 2015, exposed the anthropogenic strata in Warsaw’s landscape and acknowledged the continuous material existence of the city’s history within its soil. Focusing on rubble, debris and post-war architectural waste, the author presents the theoretical approach by referring to a broad shift in the humanities towards approaches oriented towards objects and particular materialities. The subsequent historical narrative centres on the problems of rubble clearing and utilisation in the early reconstruction period of Warsaw. It shows the views and operations aimed at the removal of the mass of rubble proposed by the architects from the Bureau for the Capital City Reconstruction (BOS) and the inhabitants returning to the ruined city in 1945. Mobilising both narratives, the paper presents problems and discussions related to rubble utilisation and removal. Referring to Maciej Nowicki’s unrealised design for Warsaw’s city centre and contrasting it with the oral testimonies of the city’s inhabitants, the article reveals the struggles and discussions that raged during that early stage of city reconstruction. Finally, through the use of various sources from geological mapping to archival materials, the paper aims to locate, describe and document the rubble landscapes located around the city of Warsaw. In the conclusion the author points out how the subject could be expanded and how rubble relates to contemporary discourses in the humanities.

Turning “Polish Boxes into German Houses”: On the Transformations of Architecture in Poland during the Second World War as Exemplified by the Changing Design of the Zajdensznir Tenement in Radom

The issue of construction projects conducted by the Germans in occupied Poland is researched with increasing frequency by both historians and historians of architecture. One of the reasons for this is certainly the exceptional role of the works of architecture as historical documents that constitute a tangible reflection of the historical moment in which they were constructed. When viewed from this perspective, the case of one of Radom tenements acquires an almost symbolic significance. The Functionalist building was designed by the Lvov engineer Artur Haskler for Mr Hersz Zajdensznir and his wife, Róża; its construction began shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. It was intended to compete one quarter of the most prestigious sections of Radom’s city centre. The works were interrupted after the Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Both the architect and the owners of the tenement were Jews, which radically altered their position. The fate of Mr and Mrs Zajdensznir remains unknown. Haskler, who had been involved in the construction of the telecommunication network, which had begun in 1939 and was still unfinished, was allowed to stay outside the ghetto until the completion of the relevant works. In addition, he was ordered to alter the design of the Zajdensznir house, which was already under construction, so that it could be used as quarters for the staff of the German Postal Services East. The architect entirely changed the concept for his design. The original Functionalist form, representing a type of architecture not condoned by the Nazi authorities, was altered in keeping with the principles of Heimatschutzarchitektur; the building acquired a much more conservative form inspired by traditional architecture. The arrangement of the interiors was altered as well, attesting to the fact that Haskler had familiarised himself with the German norms regarding residential construction. The residence of the staff of the German Postal Services East, together with other edifices built in Radom by the Germans during the Second World War, as well as the very history of its construction, constitute a telling testimony to the history of the era. In the context of the urban design of Radom’s city centre, these edifices are valuable as historical monuments and they certainly enhance it as an original urban structure with successive morphogenetic units discernible with remarkable clarity.

Edward Trojanowski: The Search for Style in Early 20th-century Furniture Design in Poland

Three sources of inspiration are discernible in early 20th-century Polish furniture design and especially in the output of artist-designers associated with the Polish Applied Art Association (TPSS), namely, folk art, the historical styles, and the modernistic/geometrical current. Edward Trojanowski’s oeuvre in that area combines all these three tendencies and embodies the evolution of a Polish approach to designing furniture; hence it may serve to illustrate the history of Polish furniture design in the early 20th century. Although initially Trojanowski turned to folk art, he did not passively copy its decorative motifs. His study of folk craft persuaded him to simplify the forms of pieces of furniture and to experiment with the use of colour in furniture design and interior decoration. Later, his search for a national style encouraged him to seek inspiration in Biedermeier furniture design, which added elegance to his designs, as evident in the proportions of the pieces of furniture and in the use of decorative veneers or sophisticated geometric ornaments. In this manner Trojanowski, while following his own artistic path, developed forms of furniture that effortlessly bear comparison with the avant-garde designs of the Modernist geometric current, as proposed by the Wiener Werkstätte and the Werkbund, which heralded the arrival of Art Déco.

A Church for the Polish People: On the Contest for the Parochial Church in the Warsaw District of Praga

The present article discusses the architectural contest for the design of the Praga parish church in Warsaw, announced in 1886. The author aims to establish whether this event had any significant impact on the development of Polish architecture and its theoretical principles. He reviews the reasons for its importance and attempts to establish whether it constitutes suitable material for more thorough studies, the results of which would merit a prominent place in the historiography of 19th century architecture in Poland. The critical interpretation presented in this article is based primarily on texts published in Przegląd Techniczny, which discuss the successive stages of the contest, as well as selected press articles and essays written in direct connection to this enterprise. The author analyses texts by Karol Matuszewski, Franciszek Ksawery Martynowski, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and Józef Pius Dziekoński, which are crucial for understanding the complex nature of the issue of the contest. The analysis leads to the conclusion that it was not the ultimate form of the church, but rather the combination of emotions, hopes, interests and controversies provoked by the announcement of the contest and the phrasing of its requirements that determined the crucial role of this event in the history of Polish architecture in the latter part of the 19th century.

Above Standard: Villas Designed by Jan Dudek-Kornecki as a Contribution to the Study of the Housing Culture of Affluent Residents of Poznań in the Last Decades of the People’s Republic of Poland

In the 1970s both sociologists and experts on housing culture correctly noted that a tendency towards consumerism was developing in Polish society. These tendencies were described as the neo-bourgeois lifestyle. This lifestyle was supposedly characterised by a focus on material possessions and prestige. The achievement of affluence was pronounced to be the life aim of this group, and the outward marks of affluence (and the acts of demonstrating them) to be an important element of favourable self-assessment. It was noted that these consumerist aspirations resulted from the citizens’ acceptance of Western models. It was also stated that the main indicators of this style were the apartment itself, its standard and equipment, and the culture of leisure time. Poznań in the last years of the communist government in Poland seems to be a particularly fitting place to exemplify the phenomena characterised herein. It has for a long time been associated (not only in popular perceptions) with the bourgeoisie, the entrepreneurial spirit, and affluence; scholarly research points to the same fact. In those days, a detached house for one family, or a villa – especially one constructed to an individually commissioned design and with equipment that exceeded standards in various aspects – was a clear and socially distinctive signal of status to a far greater extent than it is at present. Such buildings were commissioned by members of the affluent intelligentsia, but also by numerous private entrepreneurs. Jan Dudek-Kornecki (b. 1928) was particularly fashionable and sought after as a designer of such villas. His designs were a compromise between the aspirations of his clients, the restrictions imposed by construction law, and the availability of building and finishing materials. Nevertheless, in terms of equipment they differed significantly from contemporary residential quarters, mainly due to the presence of antiques and works of art, as well as unique pieces of contemporary furniture acquired from exhibitions at the Poznań International Fair or from the furniture factory in Swarzędz. The essay offers an analysis of the practices and strategies of deluxe living in Poland in the period before the 1989 breakthrough.

The Memory of Opulence and the Freedom of a Pauper: The Constructionmaterial Discourse in the Polish Construction Industry in the Period of the Thaw

The issue of construction materials was one of the essential topics that determined the architectural discourse of the Thaw era. Reminiscences of designers regarding the pre-war wealth of construction materials on offer, as contrasted with current scarcity, revealed the critical and ideologically subversive potential of this topic. This was because such statements not only questioned the “excellence of the way today’s construction site is organised”, eloquently promoted by the Stalinist propaganda, but also highlighted the actual meaninglessness of slogans regarding technological progress and the introduction of new materials into construction practice, which had been tooted since the latter half of 1953. In reality, the central point was cost-cutting, as shown by the parallel campaign undertaken by the authorities, advocating the use of “locally obtainable and waste materials”, i.e. materials that could be acquired without putting a burden on the inefficient state industry. At the same time, however, this campaign, initiated at the threshold of the Thaw, contained some interesting ideological themes, since in return for the dearth of materials, it offered the citizens a legal prospect of conducting – individually or cooperatively, but in each case independently from governmental control – activities aimed at assuaging their housing needs; this constituted a departure from the centralised model of housing construction as promoted in the Stalinist period. Also, small-size houses made of reed boards, which began to be manufactured at that time, turned the general attention to the applicability of lightweight prefabrication – significantly different from large-size concrete block prefabrication promoted at the time following the Soviet models – in contemporary housing construction. A growing interest in, or even fascination with, individual house-building activity of the Polish population soon became evident in the milieus of construction experts and engineers. These feelings found their expression ca. 1958 in, on the one hand, numerous handbooks promoting the notion of a do-it-yourself house, and on the other, in far-reaching analyses of the “wild”, i.e. unauthorised, housing construction in Warsaw, treated as socially detrimental activity, but also as a testimony to the citizens’ spontaneity and creativity. However, in a long-term perspective, it was hard to believe that “local and waste materials” would reduce the chasm between the still unmet needs of the population and the construction policy of the state. In the period of Gomułka’s government, the cost-cutting measures continued to be implemented, but the aspirations and needs of the citizens who undertook to build their own houses, as well as the ambitions of architects, were growing. This is well-documented by the 1964 contest for cost-effective single-family houses, where industrially produced construction materials predominated. Private construction was thus entering a grey zone, not covered by any economic concepts developed by the state; the time of fashioning houses out of clay was over and the époque of cement-stealing had begun.

The Kabbalistic Alphabet of Libeskind: The Motif of Letter-shaped Windows in the Design of the Jewish Museum in Berlin

The present article attempts to analyse and interpret the structure of windows in the Jewish Museum in Berlin, designed by Daniel Libeskind and constructed in 1989–1999. Elongated, narrow, irregular window openings arranged at different angles like a tangle of cuts and grooves span the entire structure and resemble Hebrew letters and the kabbalistic notion of the “scattered alphabet”, which functions in Jewish tradition as a visual metaphor. The assumption of such a perspective of interpretation, based on the visual form of the building which was, in its principle, meant to partially refer to the Holocaust, leads to the hypothesis that the chosen motifs of letter-shaped windows (the scattered alphabet) is connected to the kabbalistic postulate of the “repair of the world”, known in Jewish tradition as tikkun olam. The characteristic chaotic arrangement of the window openings is not, as it might be assumed, simply a symbol of the civilisational “fragmentation” resulting from the Holocaust. On the contrary, the design manifestly embodies the nostalgia for the mythical (and messianic) times of harmony, order and regularity, as well as the longing for clear structure and symbiosis. This manifests in the kabbalistic interpretation of the motif of letter-windows understood as a mystical (or even theurgical) element of restoration. Concentration, contemplation, perception and consideration of the forms and shapes of the letters is a notion known from the Kabbalah; in this case architectural references to Jewish mysticism are more than just a strategy for interpretation, but a declarative assumption made by the architect himself. Libeskind’s design in Berlin, therefore, involves the matter of language as the elementary material and instrument of salvation, while the context of the Kabbalah ought to be regarded as a certain symptom or a specific modality shaping new meanings manifested by the work of art that this museum undoubtedly is.

“Mary has filled me with amazement that she gave milk to the One who feeds the multitudes”: Notes on the Byzantine Iconography of Maria Galaktotrophousa

The image of the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the Christ Child belongs to the most fascinating and yet least researched themes of Byzantine Marian iconography. In the past it has been assumed that the images of the Virgin Galaktotrophousa derived from the art of the Italian Duecento and Trecento in the post-Byzantine period. However, there is sufficient ground to assume that these images were known already in the Middle Byzantine period and were popular during the period of the Paleologian dynasty.