Theater parking lot will turn into a city square

Kacper Kępiński

28 of June '23

Historical view of Theater Square

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A sea of cobblestones and cars parked to the horizon is today's image of Theater Square. Although its space is one of the places in Warsaw with the greatest potential for a center of urban life, similar to other squares in the capital today it is easier to call it a parking lot. This is about to change.

Warsaw's attractive public space is mainly streets, boulevards and parks. The capital has not developed any urban, living square that would be more than a square or a parking lot. Warsaw's most impressive urban interiors—Bankowy Square, Konstytucji Square or Trzech Krzyży Square—are in fact transportation hubs with a dominant parking function. This is not changed by temporary measures like the repeatedly cited pallets in Bank Square. Temporary traffic organization that improves the quality of space also succumbs to the car lobby, even in such a seemingly pedestrian-dominated space as Saviors Square.

Warsaw City Hall's plans for years have included the redevelopment of the most important spaces in the city center, but not much is happening in this regard. For the past dozen years or so, apart from Grzybowski Square and Five Corners Square, no such public space has been modernized, and there are numerous objections to those already rebuilt. All the more expectations are raised by the Central Square project, whose construction has just begun at the foot of the Palace of Culture and Science. Designed by A-A Collective, the space has a chance to become Warsaw's first truly urban square.

Central Square

At the same time as the start of the reconstruction of Parade Square, the renovation of Trzech Krzyży Square is coming to an end, where, unfortunately, the chance to create an attractive urban space was concertfully wasted. The transportation function will still dominate here, albeit somewhat limited and supplemented by bicycle infrastructure. Thus, from a pedestrian perspective, the square will not be an attractive place to spend leisure time. Instead of the realization of a landscape architecture project, what we have here is a road investment and a lack of understanding of the accusations that residents and activists are making against the Municipal Road Administration, which is carrying out the renovation.

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The city authorities want to avoid similar mistakes in the reconstruction of Theater Square. They plan to create a functional, safe and attractive space for pedestrians here. The MAU studio, commissioned by the City, has worked out the main directions for changes in the square at the Grand Theater together with residents. The most important proposals include additional trees, greenery and a water feature with a summer stage.

We design a better Warsaw for life together with the residents of Warsaw. That's why we organized design workshops to look for optimal solutions for the concept of new development of Theater Square. Residents want more greenery, places for relaxation, facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, " says Bartosz Rozbiewski, deputy director at the Office of Architecture and Spatial Planning.

Concept for the redevelopment of Theater Square

The reconstruction of Theater Square is to take place as part of a broader project to modernize a total of three Warsaw squares (the others are Zelazna Brama and Bankowy squares), and is to be part of the New Center of Warsaw program. When will we see the effects? We will have to wait for them, because, as the representatives of the authority say, it will take several years from the development of the concept to its implementation. In the case of Five Corners Square, the process took almost a decade.

A charette workshop devoted to the reconstruction of pl. Theater Square

For now, the first step has been taken—a charrette workshop was organized. The city, wanting to include the largest possible group of participants in the process of developing the concept for the development of Theater Square: residents, experts, entrepreneurs and officials from various offices and institutions, began the process of participatory design of the future development of the square. The workshop was led by a team from the MAU Architecture & Urbanism studio. It has previously worked out in a similar manner, among other things, changes for Pole Mokotowskie or the concept for the final arrangement of Powstańców Warszawy Square. The design workshop was preceded by a research walk on June 3 around Theater Square and its surroundings.

contemporary view of pl. Theater Square

Residents want big changes in Theater Square. They agreed that trees should be planted and other greenery should be added, a fountain or water establishment should be arranged. There is also a lack of places for relaxation and rest, for children, space for art and outdoor events. Residents expect: elimination of above-ground parking (they want an alternative for it), slowing down traffic, more convenient and safer pedestrian crossings, convenient passage for cyclists. Experts predict that underground parking could be built in the western part of the square, on the side of the National Theater, with an exit ramp from Wierzbowa Street.

Concept for the reconstruction of Theater Square

Now greenery makes up just over 3% of the square's area. After the change in Theater Square, greenery and water-permeable surfaces would make up 30 to 50%. We propose two green areas with organic shapes on the eastern and western parts of the square by the Grand Theater. There were similar ones before World War II ," said Maciej Mycielski of the MAU studio.

In the square, exactly on the axis of the main entrance to the Grand Theater, the architects propose a large and circular fountain called the "theater of water." It would circulate through „tongues”, channels to side green areas, the so-called urban oases. There it would go to small ponds. The whole would be an attractive water play zone for children, and a place for adults to rest among trees, bushes and flowers. The whole establishment would operate on the basis of captured, collected and treated rainwater. The workshop concept with proposed changes is ready and will now be thoroughly revised. Already in the process of working on it, preliminary discussions were held with institutions in the immediate vicinity of the square, as well as with experts in the fields of communication and mobility, greenery, cultural heritage and historic preservation.