Warsaw – Warszawa, 25 – 27 October 2013

The town where I was born has grown (I do not know if it has grown up). It has a skyline now.

The first addition was made 1955 and it was the Joseph Stalin Palace of Culture and Science. This was the official style of SOCIALIST REALISM. National in form and socialist in content. The national form must be some of its parts resemble a city hall in some small Polish town, some a 15^th century city house  ; and I am inclined to see a similarity of some details to details in the Kraków cloth hall .

This would be the national form. But what is the socialist content??? A pint of Paulaner to anybody who explains this to me.

The entire structure is rather weird, and I have long been thinking of it as a monstrosity, but now I think it is not without some sort of a crazy charm.

  











 But together with the new additions it really has acquired a new character. When I look at these pictures I wonder what is better – or maybe this is how it should be? The city is alive at last, growing spontaneously.

 The entirely new structures are the landmarks of the new capitalist Poland. They are something in form and something in content. What exactly can be a matter of discussion over a drink.

The picture below was taken in a place where the state censorship office used to be back before 1989. The text says "Square of the free word". Cute.

The architecture is 1960s, an attempt to fit in with the 19th century buildings characteristic of this part of Warsaw. So, no socialist realism here.