Work is expected to finally begin on Poznan's Old Market Square this November. The square will get an even floor, better lighting, new trees and replacement of underground utilities. The selection of the new pavement was conducted almost as a model.
Poznan's most important public space has been demanding a comprehensive renovation and revaluation for more than a dozen years. The uneven cobblestone p avement laid in 1964 has for decades made it difficult to get around the Old Market - not only for people with disabilities or cyclists, but also for "rowdy" pedestrians. There is a lack of good-quality benches, the square's lighting is also inadequate, and there is no greenery. Underground utilities also need to be replaced, especially the water and sewage network, whose frequent failures have led to damage to the pavement after ad hoc and careless pipe repairs.
The first and unsuccessful attempt at changes in the Market Square took place in 2008. The results of the competition announced at the time were disappointing, and repair work was not started. Later, after EURO 2012, go-go clubs and vodka drinking establishments entered the Market space, and the forms of café gardens also haunted the area. Jacek Jaskowiak, running for the 2014 presidential election, likened the former "living room of the city" to a shabby "port district." No wonder, then, that after the elections, which were victorious for Jaskowiak, the new ruling team took on comprehensive work on the revaluation of the square. The renovation, the start of which has been repeatedly postponed due to formal reasons and problems with selecting a contractor, will begin this fall. It is expected to be completed within two years. The cost, twice as much as expected a few years ago, will reach PLN 130 million. The city will offer the restaurateurs operating at the Market Square space for gardens in Liberty Square and the newly created square at the Fairgrounds at that time.
Visualization of the Old Market Square in Poznań after renovation
© Poznan City Hall
level the pavement!
The process of change began with public consultations. In 2015, a series of discussions was held, each devoted to a different aspect of the Market. The open debates were attended by officials, specialists and interested Poznanians. Caterers operating in the Old Market and residents of the Old Town were carefully invited. However, their representatives were almost absent from the meetings, even though they were held in a prominent and exposed location: behind the glass windows of the modernist Arsenal gallery in the mid-market development. The debates helped set priorities for the restoration, and also helped decide on a more expensive but comprehensive revaluation: including the replacement of underground utilities preceded by archaeological work. The office also established an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary working team for the Old Market. The boundaries of the study included the entire market square and most of the market streets up to the first block.
What were the demands made during the discussion series? First, to improve the quality of the pavement, with an emphasis on preserving its existing character. Second, relieving the market of an excess of temporary and sometimes substandard events. Third, there were calls to improve the quality of small architecture and significantly increase the number of benches. Fourthly, there were calls for greenery, essentially absent from the Market space. Finally, there were objections to the inadequate lighting of the square and the outdated and partially non-functioning illumination of the townhouses.
The city decided not to hold a competition. Subsequent versions of the revaluation were therefore prepared by the DEMIURG and APA Jacek Bulat studios by tender. The decision to abandon the architectural competitions (with which Wojciech Krawczuk, head of the Poznań branch of SARP, still argues today), was dictated by the opinion that the historic space of the Old Market is not a place for revolutionary show-offs, but for discreet functional modernization. While, with many reservations, such a point of view can be accepted, the lack of a competition for the renovation of the modernist Arsenal building with a decapitated walkway running through its center is a mistake.
Visualization of the Old Market Square in Poznań after renovation
© Poznań City Hall
first touches
Even so, the most electrifying issue turned out to be that of the uneven pavement. The Office of the City Historic Preservation Officer promoted leaving the pavement, described by preservationists as historic, in its entirety. However, a trial repositioning of the pavement on a small section of the market showed that this was not enough to make the surface finally even and comfortable. A new idea emerged: grinding the top surface of the cubes. Such a solution worked very well on the market streets of Wodna and Wozna. The surface is even, but the irregular shape and color of the cubes give an "antique" impression. Conservationists, at first moderately favorable to the idea, put up a veto and again lobbied for the repositioning of the old cube. The argument? Irreversible destruction of the "historic pavement," although it's worth noting that the granite and basalt pavement in the market translated into the market more than half a century ago from the streets of the 19th century downtown presents a very different quality.
Fortunately, decision-makers did not agree to return to the old cobblestones, especially since the EU funding granted for the modernization was for improving accessibility, among other things, for people with disabilities and mobility dysfunctions. A compromise was therefore worked out. The mid-market block will be surrounded by a strip of carefully selected old cobblestones. Most of the market, on the other hand, will be paved with new stone pavers selected after lengthy analysis and testing. The difference in level between the market's slab and sidewalks made of, among other things, new granite slabs will be reduced to two centimeters. At the exit of each street, the difference will be reduced to zero.
chop mayonnaise into street paving
Visualization of the Old Market Square in Poznań after renovation
© City Hall of Poznań
In selecting the new paving, the city rose to the challenge: it set up a test plot in the Pulaski Street parking lot, where the appearance and durability of different types of paving and joints were tested. In the end, granite won over porphyry, and attempts to combine the two materials were abandoned. The paving of five types of granite of different colors will be laid in a manner similar to the positively evaluated solution used in Potsdam. This will make the new pavement visually similar to the old paving. The materials from the test plot were also put to the test. They were soiled with ketchup, kebab sauce and grease, and then - tested to see how to remove the dirt most easily. Regardless of these efforts, to this day the voices of "monumentalists" calling for the old uneven pavement to be re-laid - without sanding.
Thanks to the work of the Old Market team, great importance has also been attached to lighting, creating a comprehensive solution for lanterns and facade illumination. The current lamps will be raised slightly, and there will be new stylized lanterns around the now dark mid-market block.
finally, trees
Visualization of the Old Market Square in Poznań after renovation
© Poznań City Hall
Finally, last but not least, in the course of the work of the working team, it was possible to find space for trees - hitherto absent from the public space of the square. Skeptical conservationists were persuaded to the idea by photographs documenting trees growing next to Odwach at the end of the 19th century. Three groups of greenery will therefore be created in the square : by the City Weigh House and Odw ach - on the western side of the square, which receives strong sunlight in the afternoon. In addition to trees, there will be shrubs and low vegetation, and benches with contemporary forms incorporated between them. There will also be a vertical garden on the windowless wall of the Arsenal City Gallery. The gallery itself will also undergo changes. The building, dating from the late 1950s and early 1960s, will be renovated and modernized, and the alley running down the middle will be given the option of a temporary roof. We will write about the details of this revaluation and the general controversy surrounding the Arsenal building and its future in the coming weeks.
