The current burgeoning interest in Modernism, as expressed through new publications, exhibitions and artistic projects, is extending as far as Poland.
Not so long ago, architecture of the early 20th century – never mind that created after the Second World War – wasn’t highly valued: it was widely believed that Modernism was something of a failure which brought prefabricated architecture and neglected to address social needs. Still, time is a great healer… In 2007, the 12th instalment of the Documenta exhibition in Kassel in Germany posed a question fundamental to contemporary culture: Is Modernism our new antiquity? Since then we have seen a worldwide boom in interest in contemporary architecture; over the course of a single generation, its perception has shifted from something undesirable and therefore erased from urban landscapes to that which brings us together and becomes a foundation of modern civilisation.
In Poland, the focus of attention has been the architecture of the interwar period, gradually shifting to that of the communist era. Kraków underwent something of an urbanist revolution during both periods. During the 1920s and 1930s, the vision of Great Kraków, formulated in the early 20th century by Mayor of the City of Kraków Juliusz Leo, became reality. The city boundaries were expanded beyond the original mere 5.5 km2 before the outbreak of the First World War, the railway line running along today’s Krasińskiego, Mickiewicza and Słowackiego avenues was pulled up, and the nearby fortifications were gradually demolished. Soon after, new residential districts were created in Zwierzyniec, Czarna and Nowa Wieś and Krowodrza on the western outskirts of the city. Industry blossomed in Grzegórzki and Zabłocie on the eastern side, and new, extensive officers’ quarters were built along the route to the airfield in Rakowice.
The axis of new Kraków and its most important urbanist element were the Krasińskiego, Mickiewicza and Słowackiego avenues – a magnificent boulevard and the precursor to the city’s second ring road. In 1905, as Stanisław Wyspiański was sketching the Kościuszko Mound from the window of his studio at Krowoderska Street, he captured the railway tracks running along the present-day avenues and the rolling fields and meadows at today’s Inwalidów Square. Just two decades later, the Słowackiego Avenue was lined with elegant, contemporary tenement houses. Similar urban residential buildings were erected along the Krasińskiego Avenue near the Vistula. The two streets were joined by Mickiewicza Avenue, which was lined with the city’s most important public buildings, including the Mining Academy (Adam Ballenstedt, Sławomir Odrzywolski, Wacław Krzyżanowski, 1924–1935), the Jagiellonian Library (Wacław Krzyżanowski, 1929–1939) and the National Museum (Bolesław Szmidt, Juliusz Dumnicki, Janusz Juraszyński, Edward Kreisler, Czesław Boratyński, 1934–1939). The National Museum is a particularly notable example: originally it was intended to be two separate pavilions on opposite sides of the former Wolska (now Piłsudskiego) Street, connected with a massive triumphal arch with the distant Kościuszko Mound framed by it; however, a smaller and more modern architectural design was eventually selected. The ambitious plans also included a sports and recreation centre spanning both sides of Błonia Meadows near the Sikornik Hill; during the interwar years, the site was also home to a zoo and a small open-air museum, and the Piłsudski Mound was erected there between 1934 and 1937.
Around the same time, many monumental buildings – mainly housing banks, public offices and hospitals – were erected near Planty Garden Ring and the city centre. The history of architecture of the time is in line with the cultural and artistic changes occurring throughout Central Europe: as countries in the region were regaining their independence, local building projects strived to showcase the strength of each reborn state. The PKO Bank building at Wielopole Street (Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, 1922–1925), Bank Polski at Basztowa Street (Teodor Hoffmann, Kazimierz Wyczyński, 1922–1925), stock exchange at Gródek (Ludwik Wojtyczko and Rajmund Meus, 1921–1926, now the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music) and the Tax Chamber (Wacław Krzyżanowski, 1921–1925, now the Józef Dietl Specialist Hospital at Skarbowa Street) are adorned with columns and decorations recalling historic forms.
Since the mid-1920s, Kraków’s architectural style became simplified and incorporated geometric forms. A notable example is the buildings around the Inwalidów Square, in particular the imposing White Collar-Workers’ Insurance Company (Wacław Nowakowski, 1927–1929) and the two homes of Jagiellonian University professors at the square itself (Ludwik Wojtyczko, Stefan Żeleński, Piotr Jurkiewicz, 1924–1926) and at Słowackiego Avenue (Ludwik Wojtyczko, Stefan Żeleński, 1929–1931). By the late 1920s, the main architects working in Kraków were representatives of the Young Poland movement, including Franciszek Mączyński, Ludwik Wojtyczko, Wacław Krzyżanowski and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, whose designs intertwined contemporary solutions and elements of local traditions. Their designs were known as the Kraków School. In the wake of the financial crash and the collapse of the construction market in the early 1930s, Kraków’s architectural style was becoming increasingly Modernist, and newly-erected buildings were mainly designed by young architects, trained in independent Poland and well-versed in European avantgarde styles. This is clearly visible in the villas and residential buildings constructed in Kraków around that time. The tenement houses designed by Stefan Landsberger, Alfred Düntuch and Zygmunt Grünberg near Krakowski Park are some of the finest examples of Cracovian architecture of the period. Villas designed in the Cichy Kącik district by Wacław Nowakowski and Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz are further evidence of Modernist ambitions of local architects.
Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Kraków was preparing for a major leap forward, including building new highways and a tram tunnel under the Main Market Square and Wawel Hill. The war put an end to these visions and closed an era of Cracovian architecture. What made it special? From the perspective of time, it is doubtlessly its dedication to decoration and the high quality of artistic solutions. Prior to 1939, Kraków’s architectural trends featured sophisticated ornamentation, with an obligatory relief emblem placed above the entrance. Kraków’s distinctive Modernist style changed the local cultural landscape and enriched the city by adding fresh elements to buildings erected between the Middle Ages and the 19th century.
Much has been written on the different styles and periods of Modernism in Kraków. The topic is explored by the Kraków Modernism Trail website (szlakmodernizmu.pl) created in 2014 by the Institute of Architecture Foundation and the Space-People-City Association, showcasing the most important buildings, introducing architects, artists and designers, and presenting little-known elements of Kraków’s 20th-century history. (Michał Wiśniewski)
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Dr Michał Wiśniewski
Works at the Kraków University of Economics and the International Cultural Centre, is a member of the board of the Institute of Architecture Foundation and an author of publications on Cracovian and Polish 20th-century architecture. Curator or co-founder of exhibitions dedicated to the history of architecture such as Impossible Figures, first shown at La Biennale di Venezia International Architecture Exhibition in 2014.
The text was published in the 3/2021 issue of the “Kraków Culture” quarterly.
You can read more about Kraków’s Modernism after the Second World War in the next edition of “Kraków Culture”.
