On August 15, President Andrzej Duda signed a controversial law on the preparation and implementation of a project to reconstruct the Saxon Palace, the Brühl Palace and the townhouses on Królewska Street in Warsaw. The Association of Polish Architects has joined the many voices of public opposition to the planned investment. The architects have sent an official letter to the mayor, expressing concern over the rapid pace of work on the investment and recommending that a competition be held.
Recall that the issue at stake is the draft "Act on the preparation and implementation of investmentsin the reconstruction of theSaxon Palace, the Brühl Palace and the townhouses on Królewska Street in Warsaw," which provides for the reconstruction of the buildings. They were destroyed during World War II. Only the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier has survived. For 77 years there were no systemic attempts to rebuild the palace, only discussions among architects, who proposed various concepts for reconstruction. Concrete steps were taken under the current government, which prepared the aforementioned project. Kacper Kepinski wrote about it in detail in the pages of A&B in the article "A special law will make it possible to rebuild the Saxon Palace." The plan to rebuild the edifice, which Culture Minister Piotr Glinski claimed is a matter of Polish identity, cultural and historical heritage, is part of the government's "New Deal" programs.
On July 7 this year, President Andrzej Duda published a bill for the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace, which prompted critical comments from experts. They referred not only to the concept of reconstruction (including the allocation of the newly built facilities to the needs of the Senate Chancellery and the Mazovian Provincial Office in Warsaw, as well as to the needs of other entities conducting cultural, educational or socially useful activities), but also to the estimated cost of the investment. Nearly PLN 2.5 billion is expected to cost the reconstruction of the historic building, to take 10 years, and to be supervised by a specially established company. At the end of July regarding the reconstruction of the Saski Palace, people of culture and science signed a letter of objection, which was addressed to President Andrzej Duda. It was written by Grzegorz Piątek, Marta Lesniakowska and Andrzej Palys. The experts' objections were mainly raised by the concept of the palace's reconstruction and its costs, as well as the express pace at which the bill was drafted. We wrote more about it here.
SARP officially responds: many concerns and an appeal for a competition
These appeals, however, did not have the desired effect. On August 15, President Andrzej Duda signed the bill into law. In turn, a few days earlier, representatives of the Association of Polish Architects decided to speak officially on the matter. The General Board of the Association of Polish Architects, as well as the Board of the Warsaw Branch of SARP, sent a letter to the president, in which, like the above-mentioned experts, they express many concerns about the whole issue. On Sunday, August 22, the contents of the letter to President Andrzej Duda were published on the Facebook profiles of SARP and SARP Warsaw.
(...) we are publishing a letter submitted to the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda expressing concern over the reconstruction of the Saski Palace along with the Piłsudski Palace frontage in Warsaw ," the architects wrote in the post.
The authors of the letter list several aspects of the planned investment that cause them particular concern.
We express concern about the investment currently being made, with the support of a speculative law, to reconstruct the western frontage of Piłsudski Square in Warsaw. We are concerned that the express mode of this investment, assuming the omission of many important procedures, including detailed conservation agreements, may lead to the creation of buildings of questionable architectural quality, which will both lack historical value and, by their standard, diverge from contemporary needs and expectations ," the letter reads.
They suggest that the project, which assumes the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace, was not created based on the conclusions of the public discussion on the subject - something that should be particularly careful in this type of investment.
We would like to point out that the decades-long social discussion on the development of Pilsudski Square in Warsaw has not yet been completed. Living in a time of serious reevaluations regarding building and sustainable development, as a society we are beginning to view large public investments differently. Decisions related to them should be made on the basis of a substantive discussion, in circumstances of public participation, taking into account the guidelines of local authorities, " representatives of the Association of Polish Architects wrote to the president.
Moreover, they clearly suggest that projects of such serious importance as the reconstruction of the Saxon Palace should be selected through a competition.
In the case of such an important space as the Pilsudski Square in Warsaw, the necessary solution should be the announcement of an architectural competition allowing for various solutions , rather than a strict reconstruction only, the letter reads.
The contents of the letter were agreed with the SARP Main Board by the Vice President for Creative Affairs of OW SARP arch. Krzysztof Mycielski. The signatories of the letter were: President of the Warsaw Branch of SARP arch. Marta Sękulska-Wrońska and Vice President for Creative Affairs of the SARP Main Board arch. Grzegorz Stiasny.
SARP 's letter was met with many comments. Some Internet users suggest the institution to be diplomatic and to respond late, such as Piotr Ilowiecki, who wrote as follows:
A very balanced position. I realize that taking a further one could cause another brawl so good and.... But is it too late?
The content of the letter
© Association of Polish Architects
