Is a palace too much for Warsaw?
Updates from Warsaw
Sign up for myFT Daily Digest to be the first to hear about Warsaw news.
Traveling through Warsaw between two meetings, my path sometimes takes me to Pilsudski Square, a huge open space in the heart of the capital, flanked by hotels, offices and the Saxon Garden.
Until 1944, the western fringe of the square housed the Saxon Palace, an elegant building with two wings connected by an archway topped by a colonnade which was one of the most striking architectural elements in central Warsaw.
The palace was destroyed by the Nazis following the Warsaw Uprising. But now, after years of debate, Poland is ready to rebuild it. A bill, introduced by President Andrzej Duda, is making its way to Parliament. Once approved, the Saxon Palace, the neighboring Brühl Palace and some buildings on the adjacent Krolewska Street will be reconstructed.
For supporters, the plan is loaded with symbolism. “This is the last stage in the reconstruction of Warsaw after WWII,” says Wojciech Kolarski, a senior Duda collaborator. “[The Saxon Palace] was a building in the center of Warsaw that was a silent witness to our history.
More than 80 percent of Warsaw was destroyed during the war, and its subsequent rebirth from the ashes is anchored in the city’s identity. The old town has been rebuilt, inspired in part by the paintings of Bernardo Bellotto, an 18th century Venetian artist. Polish citizens funded the reconstruction of the Royal Palace, which was finally completed in 1984.
However, when I solicit the Varsovians on the Saxon Palace, I encounter a range of opinions. Some are delighted. But others oppose the 2.45 billion PLN ($ 636 million) price tag or the vagueness of how the palace will be used. Others are concerned about the impact the reconstruction will have on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The monument is located in the only three arcades of the palace that survived the war and stands alone on the side of Pilsudski Square as a poignant memorial to the dead.
Kolarski says the reconstruction will leave the tomb intact, with a small, but symbolic, gap between the new palace and the existing monument.
But others believe that the reconstruction will deprive the emptiness of Pilsudski Square of its intense symbolism. “This place was supposed to show the destruction of Warsaw and show the emptiness, and give an idea of the emptiness and the feeling of loss of the war,” says Jan Spiewak, a city activist and sociologist.
“Warsaw is developing in a very chaotic way, and this place is a place of order, of deeper reflection. I’m afraid when they rebuild it. . . it won’t have that unique vibe.
Grzegorz Piatek, an architecture critic, argues that the restoration is too late. “[The Royal Castle] was the last great monument rebuilt by the generation who remembered pre-war Warsaw, and who saved all these monuments during and after the war, ”he says. “Now hardly anyone remembers the Saxon Palace, and I think we should look to the future. If we want to solve urban planning problems, we have to look for new solutions.
But supporters say one of the reasons the palace was not rebuilt earlier was that the Polish Communist authorities lacked the funds or inclination to rebuild a palace that could symbolize independent Poland, and that the country now has a chance to remedy this.
“Today, we have economic growth, we have the means to rebuild it. We don’t know what the economic situation will look like in 10 or 20 years, ”says Jan Kowalski of Niepodlega, a program set up to mark the centenary of the restoration of Polish independence in 1918.“ If we have a chance to do it now, we should take advantage of it.
Similar debates have taken place across Europe over the past half century. Sir David Chipperfield, who led the reconstruction and refurbishment of the Neues Museum in Berlin, said the old buildings gave a sense of comfort and connection with the past, with the streets becoming “a catalog of styles and stories”. But he added that the urge to rebuild destroyed buildings could also stifle the ability of new generations to embark on their own projects.
“The important thing is to have a good debate,” he said. “If the debate is used well, this is a good opportunity to have a discussion about the story and what we think about it.”