The pressure makes sense. A complex of academic buildings dating back to the 1950s has been entered in the register of historical monuments. This will prevent the demolition of the buildings in Poznan's Winogrady district, which began in January . Both the buildings and the urban layout are protected. Just why at the last minute?
We wrote about Poznan's student dormitories in the Winogrady district between Dożynkowa, Starowiejska, Jęczmienna and Ozimina streets in January. At the time, demolition began on one of the seven dormitories that had formed a campus for several thousand students since 1954. The demolition was started by Wroclaw-based Vantage Development, which bought the two buildings from the University of Life Sciences in 2020. It intended to build new residential houses with ground-floor services and underground parking in their place. The city agreed to the demolition last summer. The company also applied for development conditions, but the proceedings were suspended a year ago - incidentally, at the request of Vantage Development. The college town was not included in the local plan.
A complex of student houses on Dożynkowa Street in Poznań - block A with a demolished corner, view from Starowiejska Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
the only one of its kind, but demolished
However, city (and neighborhood) councilwoman Halina Owsianna fought for the preservation of the coherent complex in its original form, the topic was taken up by the media, and was later publicized by the facebook fanpage Gemela Poznańska profile, sensitive to matters of aesthetics and the city's heritage. In December, the councilwoman called for the dormitories to be placed under protection and entered in the register of monuments. So, in January, the investor began - in accordance with the permit he had - hastily dismantling the first building (the office of the City Historic Preservation Officer agreed last year to demolish it). In January, the MKZ, alarmed by a councilwoman, halted demolition for two weeks. During that time, the Provincial Historic Preservation Officer began the procedure for registration. This permanently halted the work, which resulted in the disappearance of part of the building on Starowiejska Street.
A complex of student houses on Dożynkowa Street in Poznań - former student houses of the University of Life Sciences designated for demolition, now entered in the register of monuments
photo: Jakub Głaz
Finally, last week Radio Poznan reported on the July 16 decision of the Provincial Conservator of Monuments, Jolanta Goszczyńska: the entire complex has become a monument. Both the masses of the buildings, their facades, as well as the spaces between them and the entire urban layout are protected. Goszczynska, quoted by the radio, said of the
the only student housing complex of its kind, a phenomenon on the scale of Poznan.
The decision is invalid. It can be appealed by as many as several owners: the developer and the universities. This is because two abandoned buildings (including the main one - with space for culture) still belong to the University of Life Sciences. The others are operational and in the hands of the Universities: Adam Mickiewicz University (DS "Babylon") and the Economic University (DS "Devizka" and DS "Phoenix"). The time for appeal is two weeks after receiving the decision. Regardless of the conservationists' actions, work on the local zoning plan has finally begun. Councilors decided on it in March.
A complex of student houses on Dożynkowa Street in Poznań - blocks A and C, which have already been sold, were earmarked for demolition; blocks G and E are closed; the others (Babilon, Devizka, Feniks) still serve as dormitories
source: openstreetmap.org
consistent social realism
The preservation of the entire establishment is gratifying, because it is a coherently designed space that is the first academic complex built in Poznań after the war. The architecture here is not outstanding, as the rather modest dormitories are maintained in the conservative spirit of simplified Socialist Realism. What is valuable, however, is the coherent character of the whole, the successful spatial relationship between the three-story buildings and the spacious green courtyards, and the apt integration into the neighboring buildings. To the east are single-family houses, to the west - steep-roofed blocks of flats of similar form and scale. The complex on Dożynkowa Street is also a preserved testimony of the adaptation of the Socialist Realist doctrine to academic needs without - as was the case in other cases - further expansion in the spirit of modernism.
Also worth noting is the aspect of intangible heritage associated with the academic enclave. It went down in the city's history with the activities of the esteemed Nurt club and the award-winning theater of the same name, the Kosmos cinema and the Winogrady academic radio station. Student culture flourished here more or less until the mid-1990s. In the most impressive building on Dożynkowa Street, intended for artistic activities and student integration, the academic Song and Dance Group Łany also operated in recent decades. A few years ago it moved to one of the halls of the Poznan International Fair. Thus the Winogrady district lost one of its places of cultural integration.
The complex of student houses on Dożynkowa Street in Poznań - a representative entrance to block G
photo: Jakub Głaz
it should have been done earlier
What is worrying about the registration, however, is its mode: hasty and - above all - very late. It only took social, grassroots intervention for the academic quarter to be placed under conservation protection. What seems to be lacking in Poznań, then, is a comprehensive view of old architecture, so that what is or is just becoming valuable heritage can be grasped at the right moment, and then legally secured.
If the value of the dormitory complex had been recognized a decade ago, the buildings would probably not have ended up in private hands. An entry in the register would also probably have forced the three universities to think together about the future of the dormitories and seek funds for their revaluation. It would be (or at any rate - should be), a starting point for developing a joint concept for the areas between the dormitories. Yes, they are green and spacious, but they could serve the tenants of the dormitories in a much more interesting way.
A complex of student houses on Dożynkowa Street in Poznań - "Dewizka" - the operating dormitory of the University of Economics, 9D Dożynkowa Street; visible mural "Students"
photo: Jakub Głaz
Are we waiting for the fire?
Such a late entry into the register of monuments will entail complications that could have been avoided. The dilapidated dormitory will probably deteriorate, and the investor may delay action, waiting for the buildings to slowly disintegrate. It probably won't be without protracted legal disputes either. Thus, there is no shortage of mocking entries in online comments about imminent fire, which - not only in Poznan - "solves" the problem of troublesome monuments.
In addition, the mixed form of ownership (universities and a private developer) will make it much more difficult to think about a comprehensive revaluation of the entire ensemble and re-filling it with cultural and integration functions. All that is known is that the University of Life Sciences (UP) has abandoned plans to sell the remaining two buildings. In January, the university was considering adapting them into an assistant's house or housing for doctoral students. It would have been good if UP had consulted with the other universities on plans to revalue its facilities. Meanwhile, the City and preservationists have an urgent task to do : securing other valuable building complexes, so that they don't have to act again belatedly - alarmed by concerned residents.
