Good news from Wrocław. Residents of Trzonolinowiec—a landmark building at 72 Kosciuszko Street—can breathe easy. On Monday, November 27 this year. Lower Silesian Provincial Conservator of Monuments entered it in the register of monuments of the Lower Silesian province, thus ending the debate that had been going on for several months about the possibility of its demolition.
Trzonolinowiec, a building designed by Jacek Burzynski and Andrzej Skorupa (construction), was built in 1963-67 and is a rarity on the European scale. Measuring 41 meters and housing 40 apartments on 12 floors, the building was built from the top floor. The individual floors, composed of prefabricated elements, were lifted upwards by hydraulic cylinders.
Source: PKF 17B/67, WFDiF
The backbone of the Reed Tower's structure is a reinforced concrete core, transferring vertical compressive loads to the building's base. On it are set the floors in the form of square platforms suspended by twelve steel cables. The lowest floor, meanwhile, is suspended above the unbuilt space around the shaft.
In 1974, the rope-hung structure was stiffened—the ropes were encased in concrete and reinforced with steel columns on the first floor, and the curtain and interior walls were also replaced.
The three-rope building at 72 Kosciuszki Street in Wrocław
Photo: Piotr Karpiewski, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
saved thanks to residents
The three-story building was saved thanks to its residents—it was they who reacted after the manager presented an expert report on the building's technical condition in late July. Gazeta Wrocławska wrote about the details of the expertise, which concluded that the best solution was to move out and demolish the building. Fortunately, a new expert opinion was commissioned, and residents at a community meeting passed a resolution that obliged the administration to try to get the building entered in the register of historic buildings. This is what happened.
On November 27 this year. The Lower Silesian Provincial Conservator of Monuments entered Trzonolinowiec in the register of monuments. The building gained strict conservation protection and avoided demolition.
[...] The building has gained strict conservation protection, thus there is no legal possibility of its demolition (for this to be possible, prior removal from the register of monuments by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage is necessary). [...] What opens up is the possibility of carrying out a professional renovation, respecting the preserved original substance and form, as well as the possibility of a targeted revaluation of the monument [...]—communicated Daniel Gibski, Lower Silesian Regional Monument Conservator on FB.
In addition to saving the building, entry in the register of monuments allows to apply for funding for the renovation, and this is exceptionally needed.
