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Warsaw

By Alexander Schlosser

Anti

Contemporary architecture and socialist classicism, Pierogi and Asian fusion kitchen, Fiat 126 and Nissan Leaf – Warsaw unites extremes, confuses and excites. And it wants to be a little bit of everything: as metropolitan and bursting as New York, as lively and raw as Berlin and as posh as London. Sometimes it seems to forget its own identity though, seems to hide its eventful history in a melange of various cultural influences.

What makes Warsaw unique, what is the Polish heritage it is built on? One can stroll through the alleys of the beautiful old town with its pastel-colored houses in the morning and get lost in a maze of generic glass facades and concrete formations in the evening. All without really understanding Warsaw as a whole, without getting a feel for where the city is heading. Maybe that is how it wants to be seen though, maybe Warsaw’s uniqueness lies in all its controversies, in all its contrasts that define architecture, food and life in general, in all its vagueness. A vagueness that surprises and excites – and that makes the city a must-see.

Expectations

It was my first time in Warsaw, yet not my first trip to Poland. Since my mother grew up in Silesia I spent many summers in the country’s south in a small village near Opole. That is why I had a certain image in mind when it came to Warsaw, I had expectations about what the city, its people and even the food would be like. And I had to realize pretty quickly that those expectations are worth nothing when confronted with the diversity Warsaw has to offer.

If there is one thing that stood out in particular – besides the sheer abundance of impressive architecture – it was the food that was delicious and surprisingly multifaceted without any exception.

Biblioteka Uniwersytecka w Warszawie

The university’s library is one of the city’s highlights: not only because of its industrial architecture that celebrates utilitarian components of the building such as air vents rather than hiding them, but also because of an amazing rooftop garden that is open to the public and boasts some of the best views on the city and the Vistula river.

Pałac Kultury i Nauki

Built in 1955 the Palace of Culture and Science is still the countries tallest building and the cities signature landmark – a building so extreme and captivating in its presence that it defines the cityscape from every angle.

Flashback

Various flea markets across the city cover nearly every product category one can think of: from furniture to fish and toothpaste to agricultural machinery and house pigs. And those markets were actually among the few places where I felt taken back to my childhood summers in Poland: back to this unique mix of temporary looking yet permanent architecture, the sheer variety of products and the reserved yet hearty sellers that had already excited me when I was young.

Made in Poland

Be it Marek Budzyński, Zbigniew Badowski or RAr-2 Laboratorium: Various local architects have shaped Warsaw’s cityscape – and with recent additions from international offices like Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Oy the city slowly becomes a showcase for inspiring contemporary architecture embedded in a history-rich surrounding.

Footnotes

Sony RX1r II

Button Label

FootNotes

Sony RX1r II

Breathe In, Breathe Out

East

Warsaw

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