In December - a promise to save. In April - a change of mind. The future fate of the well-known Jowita student house in Poznan still depends on not quite clear analyses and decisions. One thing is known: an architectural competition is to be held. But what will be its conditions? Will it be preceded by decent consultations?
Another twist in the ever-lengthening series under the working title "Peripheries of the modernist dormitory Jowita in Poznan." The last episode, from last December, ended with an optimistic cliffhanger. At that time, Dariusz Wieczorek, the newly minted minister of science, came to Poznan and announced that his ministry would provide money for a thorough modernization of "Jowita " - a well-known student house in the city, standing in the very center at the Kaponiera traffic circle. This put an end to the protests and occupation of the dormitory by students and organizations who demanded that the building be preserved and that it retain its current function. They had been fighting for this since last May, after Adam Mickiewicz University announced the closure of the dormitory and - essentially - its liquidation. The building was to be sold. New places for students were announced by UAM at the peripheral campus in Morasko, where, incidentally, the new Meteor dorm opened last fall .
Jowita Student House, Poznań (designed by Witold Milewski, Zygmunt Skupniewicz, construction: 1965) - entrance to the canteen from Zwierzyniecka Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
UAM no longer sells
We have described the issue several times. The primary problem for the protesters was the elimination of an affordable dormitory in a very good location. The second issue was the fate of the building itself - erected in 1965 to a design by respected Poznan architects, designers of many university buildings - Witold Milewski and Zygmunt Skupniewicz. The modernist form has grown strongly into the surroundings of the traffic circle, although it can hardly be considered an outstanding work. It is a correct building, and owes its fame mainly to its exposed location and the life that took place there for decades, including - the activities of the thriving Akumulatory club and gallery in the 1970s and 1980s. The architects themselves wanted to erect taller and more spectacular forms to close the scenic axis of Swiety Marcin Street, but the authorities of the time did not agree.
Jowita Student House, Poznań (designed by Witold Milewski, Zygmunt Skupniewicz, construction: 1965), view from Swiety Marcin Street in April 2023
Photo: Jakub Głaz
The occupation and protests in defense of the dormitory were accompanied by dynamic and not entirely substantive discussions. On the one hand, the communication of intentions by the university was very flawed, on the other hand, the emotionality of the protesters can be judged as excessive. But perhaps this level of emotion was necessary for UAM to change its arbitrary position. It abandoned the sale and decided to modernize the closed Jowita. Also helpful, of course, was the change of authorities in Warsaw. The previous government team did not want to subsidize the renovation, estimated by the University at approx. PLN 100 million. The money (up to 80 percent of the investment) and the preservation of the dormitory at Kaponora were only promised by Minister Wieczorek.
Jowita Student House, Poznań (designed by Witold Milewski, Zygmunt Skupniewicz, construction: 1965) - view from Kaponiera traffic circle, on the left: Baltic and Concordia printing house
photo: Jakub Głaz
UAM will dismantle after all?
Now there has been another twist in the case. As Alicja Lehman reported in Poznan's Gazeta Wyborcza,the university is allowing the old building to be demolished and replaced with a new one - with the same function. The reason is said to be cost. The rector of UAM, Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska, who has just been elected for a second term, informed that the modernization would be more expensive than erecting a new building, and that the transformed Jovita would have fewer seats than before the renovation. Hence the change in plans, although - the rector believes that this does not break the resolutions reached with students in December: the function of the dormitory will be preserved. Professor Kaniewska also announces that an architectural competition will be announced again. Only that it is unclear whether it will be for the reconstruction or the design of a new building. Pointing additionally to technical problems in carrying out the renovation (the impossibility of erecting scaffolding on an adjacent private plot), Kaniewska informed laconically:
We are waiting for the architects' opinions and will define the terms of the competition any moment.
However, there was no information on which designers were asked, whether SARP, researchers and historians of architecture, associations concerned with the city's space , etc., etc., were asked for their opinions. In communicating the decisions, the university consistently behaves as if Jowita is solely a matter for the university, without being embedded in the cultural and urban context of the city. The announcement of the competition sounds sensible, but it is not the organization of the architectural competition itself that is important, but its conditions, both formal and, in this case, above all, substantive.
Jowita Student House, Poznań (designed by Witold Milewski, Zygmunt Skupniewicz, construction: 1965) - view from Zwierzyniecka Street, western elevation, "rear"
photo: Jakub Głaz
student house under the Baltic Sea
Before launching the competition, therefore, well-organized meetingsshould be held with students, residents, and researchers in various fields (of which the university is not lacking). It also seems reasonable to organize conceptual workshops. The whole process must also creatively involve the City itself and its agencies responsible for architecture and planning. In recent decades, the context in which Jowita stood has changed dramatically. First, the failed Sheraton hotel sprouted up next door in 2006, and then - in 2017 - the iconic and now spatial dominant Baltic office building. The historic Concordia printing plant was also restored . A friendly walkway operates between it and the Baltic.
Sheraton hotel and Bałtyk office building, Bukowska Street
photo: Jakub Głaz
Thus, if Jowita were to disappear in its current form, the issue of the hotel, which, according to unofficial information, would be demolished in the future and replaced by a more interesting building, also needs to be worked out. What kind of building? Of what scale? The competition should provide answers to this question as well, although probably on a more general level than the solutions for the future dormitory. It is worth mentioning at this point that there is no local zoning plan for the area next to Kaponiera. A wider competition should help in its elaboration. It is also high time - by the way - that the City of Poznań develops a coherent and unambiguous list of post-war buildings in need of preservation and protection.
