The architecture firm Aedas - responsible for the Empire Tower in Abu Dhabi, the Welsh parliament, the North Star in Beijing or parts of Honkong's airport - has now presented a plan to reconstruct the Plac Defilad in the heart of Warsaw.
The square, which qualified as a typical non-location due to its vastness, complexity and a lack of structure - is primarily emotionally occupied because of the history of the Polish capital: the square harboured the ghetto that was razed to the ground by the Nazis during the German occupation (1939-1944). After Poland's liberation, the ugly Palace of Cultures and Sciences, which was conceived as a landmark of socialist Warsaw, was erected as a gift of Stalin. The square in front of it was converted into a huge urban desert, which served exclusively for the Communist Party's parades.
No impressive square, but extraordinary emptiness
The years after the fall of the Wall saw the construction of a whole series of spectacular skyscrapers in its immediate surroundings, which gave birth to a new, dynamic Warsaw, a Warsaw that systematically distanced itself from its past. Nevertheless, the Plac Defilad remained a huge urbanistic problem, but it also contained a tremendous potential for urban development with 25 hectares in size. However, its reconstruction was postponed time and again.
The recently published new master plan comes from of a renowned globally active London-based architecture firm. Michael Kus, one of its directors, says, "We think that none of the previous concepts focussed on the question of why that part of Warsaw could not fulfil its role as an actual city centre - the answer is simple: because it does not stand in any connection to the rest of the town. Our intervention wanted to point this out and make clear that it does not necessarily have to remain that way; moreover, we wanted to bring the debate back to the essential points."
Aedas' concept introduces two elemental innovations to enhance communication with the neighbouring urban environment, where there will be, amongst others, the spectacular new skyscraper by Daniel Libeskind, Zlota 44: on the one hand, one of the city's main thoroughfares, the Marszalkowska, will be slightly lowered, thus creating a pedestrian crossing between the square and the Old Town in the East, which has been completely renovated by now. On the other hand, an elevated arrival platform will be constructed in front of the central station to raise above Emilia Plater Street , where there are the new office and shopping centres such as Zlota Tarasy, Lumen and Skylight. This means that an authentic square will be created in a dense environment, surrounded by numerous new office and service buildings, where there are several railway and underground stations, which provides for a high volume of pedestrian traffic.
Condensation guarantees urbanity
The height of these new constructions does not only takes into account the various underground buildings, but also the Palace of Cultures and Sciences - in spite of everything, a landmark of the city, to which the Warsowians have established a peculiar love-hate relationship.
While the project by the Aedas group pays a certain tribute to the building in the style of Stalin Baroque, it also tones down its dominance - contrary to all previous projects: the crucial element of the master plan for the Plac Defilad is the square's constructural condensation and consequently the creation of a new central urban area - if the project will be realised, the square could well develop into a new city centre for Warsaw, which is something still missing in the Polish capital.
