Rubble Warsaw, 1945–1946: Urban Landscaping and Architectural Remains

Journal Title: Ikonotheka - Year 2018, Vol 28, Issue

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the contemporary discussions around architectural materialities and the history of the immediate post-war period in the urban areas of Europe. The opening paragraphs include references to the artistic action The Cut which took place in 2015, exposed the anthropogenic strata in Warsaw’s landscape and acknowledged the continuous material existence of the city’s history within its soil. Focusing on rubble, debris and post-war architectural waste, the author presents the theoretical approach by referring to a broad shift in the humanities towards approaches oriented towards objects and particular materialities. The subsequent historical narrative centres on the problems of rubble clearing and utilisation in the early reconstruction period of Warsaw. It shows the views and operations aimed at the removal of the mass of rubble proposed by the architects from the Bureau for the Capital City Reconstruction (BOS) and the inhabitants returning to the ruined city in 1945. Mobilising both narratives, the paper presents problems and discussions related to rubble utilisation and removal. Referring to Maciej Nowicki’s unrealised design for Warsaw’s city centre and contrasting it with the oral testimonies of the city’s inhabitants, the article reveals the struggles and discussions that raged during that early stage of city reconstruction. Finally, through the use of various sources from geological mapping to archival materials, the paper aims to locate, describe and document the rubble landscapes located around the city of Warsaw. In the conclusion the author points out how the subject could be expanded and how rubble relates to contemporary discourses in the humanities.<br/><br/>

Authors and Affiliations

Adam Przywara

Keywords

Related Articles

Looking Back at Looking Forward: Art Exhibitions in Poland for the 1975 AICA Congress

The above text examines the 11th Congress of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) organised in the People’s Republic of Poland in September of 1975 upon the initiative of Professor Juliusz Starzyński, who...

A State of Latent Life: The Paintings of Olga Boznańska

Olga Boznańska’s painting is the epitome of a new approach to the physical matter of painting, refl ecting the late nineteenth-century myth of the organic communion of work and life. The artist herself declared her art a...

The Icon of the Holy Unmercenaries (Greek: Άγιοι Ανάργυροι) Cosmas and Damian, as Bequeathed by Zofia Ruebenbauer, in the Collection of the National Museum in Cracow

In 2011 the National Museum in Cracow received a bequest that had been specified in the last will and testament of Zofia Ruebenbauer from Ottawa. The gift was described as a 19th century Russian icon. Comparative stylist...

“Ethnology Has Introduced Law and Order”: Remarks on the Works of Bronisław Malinowski as a “Hybrid Activity”

This essay is an attempt to look at the work of the eminent ethnologist Bronisław Malinowski as an artistic creation. His work could be of interest to visual arts researchers. In this essay, his work is treat ed as a col...

“Perceived with Hebrew Sense and Hebrew Instinct” – “Close to the Christian Ideal”: Polish Art Criticism on Maurycy Gottlieb’s Christ Preaching at Capernaum (1878–1879)

The views of Polish art critics regarding Maurycy Gottlieb’s painting entitled Christ Preaching at Capernaum (1878–1879) are analysed. The canvas, which was fi rst exhibited in Cracow in 1879 and subsequently in Warsaw,...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP640826
  • DOI 10.5604/01.3001.0013.3354
  • Views 89
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Adam Przywara (2018). Rubble Warsaw, 1945–1946: Urban Landscaping and Architectural Remains. Ikonotheka, 28(), 121-137. https://europub.co.uk./articles/-A-640826