Nowa Huta's youngest district surprises with its rich history of social movements, transformations, interesting urban planning and architecture. It is told through the just-opened temporary exhibition "Osiedleni. Mistrzejowice" at the Museum of Nowa Huta, a branch of the Cracow Museum, located in the former Światowid Cinema.
photo. Maciej Miezian / Museum of Krakow
The exhibition "Settled. Mistrzejowice" is a continuation of previous exhibitions at the Museum of the New Steelworks, both those showing the past and cultural heritage of the land on which Nowa Huta grew, and its present. The exhibition begins by showing the history of Mistrzejowice, Batowice and Dziekanowice, i.e. the land on which the current 15th District of Mistrzejowice grew after 1968. The next part shows the "republic of artists," i.e. profiles of artists who in large numbers had studios here or lived in the surrounding neighborhoods.
solidarity
photo: Maciej Miezian / Museum of Krakow
The next section is devoted to the 1980s, when Mistrzejowice became known as the "Westerplatte of the South" due to its anti-communist activities. This was, of course, linked to the activities of the St. M.M. Kolbe Church, and in particular the charismatic priest, Father Kazimierz Jancarz.
The exhibition ends with an urban-architectural section, as Mistrzejowice is a living example of the development of Polish architecture from the late 1970s to the present day.
mistrzejowice
photo: Maciej Miezian / Museum of Krakow
Construction of housing developments on the site of the former village of Mistrzejowice, stretching from the northern side of Krakow, began in 1968. The urban planning concept and designs for the housing estates were developed by Witold Cęckiewicz. In 1963, he and a team of architects won a competition to develop the area. The estate plan was based on the form of a quadrilateral or tree and envisaged the creation of four estate complexes, which were originally named "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn" and "Winter", as well as "Center" - by the main artery. The architects planned the settlements in a comprehensive way - in addition to residential blocks, the settlements were to house commercial premises, clinics, schools, kindergartens, nurseries. The buildings were to be surrounded by greenery - parks, squares, playgrounds.
the youngest of the districts
photo: Maciej Miezian / Museum of Krakow
In 1990, when the last of the blocks of the Mistrzejowice-Zachód housing estate (today's Osiedle Oświecenia) wascompleted, the most important and longest-lasting stage of the development of Nowa Huta - understood as a conglomerate of five districts - came to an end. Along with the commissioning of the last building in large-panel technology, the construction of subsequent housing estates based on plans dating back to the 1960s was also discontinued. The youngest of Nowa Huta's neighborhoods, Mistrzejowice, while still only a partially completed establishment, became an arena of transformation, a testing space for the new system and the resulting architectural typologies. Local trading houses began to overgrow with stalls, slowly transforming into regular marketplaces. Settlements were filled with small kiosks, and supermarkets and shopping malls began to spring up on their outskirts.
The exhibition is open from: 16.10.2021 - 18.04.2022
Exhibition curator: Maciej Miezian
More information about the exhibition: LINK
