Communism and the Renaissance in Nowa Huta: a pinch of socialist realism.

In one of my previous posts, I wrote about Nowa Huta, a district of Krakow, where I live. I showed a few pictures and briefly told her the story.

The architecture of the old part of the district is an example of real socialism, that is well known to residents of the former Soviet republics and Eastern Bloc countries. I guess, it will not impress, for example, the inhabitants of Moscow, who have their impressive buildings such as the Seven Sisters. They are a group of skyscrapers designed in the Stalinist style. The biggest of them is the main building of Moscow State University. They are impressive, at least on me, I would like to see them someday.

Let's return to my modest Nowa Huta, which I like so much. Today I want to show you some more photos from this place, and write a little about what is characteristic of the architecture of the old part of Nowa Huta.

Among other things, you will find out, why the administration buildings of the Sendzimir (formerly Lenin) steelworks were called the "Doge's Palace" or the "Vatican"? And why residentials in the center have the form of closed polygons?

Let's start from the administration buildings of steelworks. I have already written a little about their interiors and shelters. Let me remind you - the Administrative Center includes two twin buildings, called "S" (social, for use by ordinary employees) and "Z" (for the management).

Twin buildings of the administrative center, in the background you can see the Sendzimir steelworks:

_{By Piotr Tomaszewski fly4pix.pl [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons}

The buildings were constructed in the mid-1950s on a square plan with a side of approx. 50 m, and have internal courtyards.

The fourth floor has the shape of a pseudo-Renaissance attic, with the elongated windows are incorporated. The shape of the attic may evoke associations with the attic of the Cloth Hall on the Main Square or other Renaissance buildings in Poland.

The entrance to the building is noteworthy. On the ground floor, there are three big gates decorated with openwork, bent bars. Above, on the first floor, there is a wide, representative loggia.

In the corners of the building, there are representative, round staircases. Above each of them, there are flat domes with decorative turrets.

View of the turrets from inside the courtyard:

During the Cold War, observers were on duty in these turrets to alert the center management in the event of a hostile aerial attack.

The buildings have the form of closed quadrangles, easy to defend. Early estates in Nowa Huta were constructed similarly, look at the picture below:

_{Central Square By TomRollauer - Praca własna, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51972795}

This is Central Square and buildings around.

You can see closed polygons, with narrow spaces between buildings or gates leading to the courtyard. Some look a bit like fortifications. Practically every building complex had a shelter, many of which can be visited today.

Such a gate is easy to defend from inside:

Looking at these buildings, we realize how much people were afraid of another war, this time with the capitalist west.

This place was supposed to be safe but also impressive, look at these arcades. All buildings around Central Square look similar.

These are not the only examples of socialist realist architecture in Nowa Huta. There are many high schools here that look like this:

And entertainment places for workers. This is the cinema "Świt" (The Dawn), I have been working here after school as a teenager. I could watch movies for free :)

The old cinema with two screens could not stand the competition from multiplexes, and now there is, among others, a hypermarket, café, and gym. But the original neon remained :)

As I mentioned earlier, the administrative buildings of Sendzimir steelwork were called the Doge's Palace or the Vatican. Of course, with a wink, because is there no larger contrast between Renaissance heritage and the communist worker's city? But now these buildings are also cultural heritage, even if we don't like the times in which they arose.

The architecture of the old part of Nowa Huta, which is a combination of modernism and socialist realism, is currently appreciated by specialists and residents. Large, orderly spaces, wide streets, and lots of greenery make this place friendly to living in.

Let me finish the story about the buildings with a picture of jasmine, which grows next to the "Z" building. We need to strike a balance :)

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I am the only author of the text and all photos except for two pictures that has been assigned.

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