A year of triumph, join us for a look at some of the citywide projects implemented last year…
A year of triumph, join us for a look at some of the citywide projects implemented last year…
Erected in September to celebrate Polish-Belgian friendship, Mokotów’s Belgijska street welcomed a replica of Manekin Pis. Ordered online from a gardening portal, the installation has drawn a steady stream of sightseers, including curious Belgian tourists. A spontaneous grassroots initiative, an application has now been made to make the figurine a permanent addition complete with fountain and flowerbed. Fingers crossed!
Works on Plac Trzech Krzyży finally came to a close in 2023 with the end result meeting widespread approval – aside from introducing more bike paths and greenery, the project also saw the unexpected addition of a little bit of history. Back in 2022, work found itself briefly paused after a pre-war cobbled pavement was unearthed underneath the asphalt, as well as fragments of a tram track that once ran down the street. Covered from view for around sixty years, a small stretch has now been left open in homage to Warsaw’s past.
September saw a trio of pink dogs appearing across the Ochota district. Designed by Olga Prokop-Miśniakiewicz, the pups were created to beautify the area’s public space whilst simultaneously reminding residents of the importance of cleaning after their pets. Depicting a pooping dog, the works were placed in Park Pięciu Sióstr, Park Szczęśliwicki and by Primary School No. 97 on Spiska street. Sucking up PLN 45,000 of public funds, they divided the public and got off to a tricky start when officials turned up to one unveiling only to find the dog had vanished. Fortunately, the stolen stray was recovered soon after.
Reinvented as the luxury Hotel Verte, the restoration of the Branicki and Szaniawski palaces bordering the Old Town deserves raucous applause. Rebuilt after the war on the basis of Canaletto’s paintings, this year saw their full glory revealed following a sensitive renovation that has preserved historical details and blended them with chic, design-forward modernity. Complete with a glazed, all-weather pavilion, stunning courtyards and curious niches, the Verte has proved a victorious project.
Upping Warsaw’s headcount of world class institutions, the last months of the year saw a double whammy to remember: the opening of The Polish History Museum and the first sneak peaks of the Polish Army Museum. Whilst the latter is currently closed ‘for technical reasons’, and the former remains a work in progress, both have done enough to earn praise for their design and message. Occupying a part of the Citadel complex, whilst the investments remain incomplete, enough has been achieved to allow visitors to walk temporary exhibitions and beautifully designed grounds that include the staggering rooftop of the history museum.
A unique product of its time, the Sobieski Hotel on Pl. Zawiszy found itself at the centre of a storm after its operators forged ahead and repainted it white. Opened in 1992, its façade had been originally designed by Hans Piccottini, an Austrian artist that sought to evoke the spirit of Warsaw’s Old Town through his use of bold, striking shades. What the public got was a bizarre riot of colour that later saw the hotel named Warsaw’s “worst building to be built between 1989 and 1995”. The more subtle colour palette that’s been adopted has been welcomed by some but criticised by those who fear that Warsaw is in danger of homogenising and losing all connection to its vibrant, crazy 90s.
While some are covering up traces of the PRL era, others are seeking to renovate and restore. That’s been the case with the Pallone ice cream stop at Puławska 51. Working with the conservator, the property’s owners sought to uncover and rehabilitate the former interior elements, and the result has seen an abstract 1960s mosaic glimmer anew. Created using pebbles, glazed ceramic tiles, polychromes and liquid terrazzo, the work was initially installed decades back for a showroom that sold the restorative mineral waters of Konstancin.
It could be argued that the most eagerly awaited development of the lot was Pole Mokotowskie. Finally opened in mid-December, soaring costs and budget cuts meant that only a fraction of its projected changes were implemented, but these have nonetheless been enthusiastically greeted. Often called “Warsaw’s favourite park” due to its user-friendly nature, the redesign saw thousands of metres of concrete ripped up and replaced by greenery and wooden decking. Walking trails and recreation zone have also been added, though possibly the most notable change has been the magnificent redevelopment of the lake at its heart. Summer can’t come soon enough.
Twenty-one years after her artificial palm tree outraged Warsaw (yes, the one that stands centre stage on Rondo de Gaulle’a), Joanna Rajkowska returned to the limelight with the unveiling of a decorative egg measuring 2.1 metres in height and three metres in length. Emitting a hatching sound, according to the artist her project was intended “to place Varsovians into a completely different space-time. Specifically, the kind of space-time only birds know.” Forming the anchoring element of the revamped Plac Pięciu Rogów, the egg has felt like the final piece in the jigsaw. Initially criticised for its disappointing reliance on concrete, Plac Pięciu Rogów already feels successfully absorbed into the fabric of Warsaw. The egg, weird as it is, has added that final flourish of character that the project needed.
Thirty-five metres in height, the Uprising Mound (Kopiec Powstania Warszawskiego) was created in the post-war years from tons of war rubble removed from the centre. Whilst designers saw it becoming a symbolic ‘tomb’, for decades it was little more than a rubbish dump until, that is, the 90s when it was crowned with a giant Kotwica – the anchor-style emblem adopted by Poland’s wartime underground. Even so, while it became seen as a place of memory, it remained scraggly and unkempt. Not anymore. Improvements include an outdoor exhibition relating to Warsaw’s post-war clean-up and, up top, a circular viewing platform. Behind, a network of steel walkways slash through the trees and along the way visitors will discover several wooded groves, spidering trails, fragments of rubble and boards informing of the area’s wildlife.
