The lack of a decision in the competition for the design of the interior of Warsaw's Temple of Divine Providence may paradoxically benefit the building. Because this unfinished, austere, cool space is the greatest asset of this church.
There are many controversial stories connected with the fate of the Warsaw Temple of Divine Providence, which seem to have no end. Let's recall some of the most important facts. The building, due to its long planning history, is strongly imbued with political and patriotic content, symbolic and surrounded by the nimbus of an exceptional object. Designed since the 18th century (it was originally intended to be built as a votive offering for the adoption of the May 3 Constitution), it was redesigned with vigor after Poland regained its independence, and was finally to find its physical face in the Third Republic. However, the competition for the design of a new version of the "national" temple, decided in 2000, ended in scandal. Although Primate Jozef Glemp originally chose the visionary, unusual design by Marek Budzynski for implementation, he soon reversed his decision, launching a new, closed competition, which resulted in the selection of Wojciech and Lech Szymborski's design.
squeeze
The architects proposed a traditional block on the plan of a Greek cross, topped by a high, elongated dome. The regulatory provisions of the second competition included a hint that the new building should be modeled on the first design of the Temple of Providence, created in 1792 by Jakub Kubicki. Indeed, the Szymborskis' vision can be considered a contemporary response to that classicist concept. Unfortunately, the body of the church was scaled down and the current building overwhelms with its weight and lack of finesse. Among Warsaw residents, the Temple of Divine Providence was quite quickly dubbed a "squeezer", because in its clumsy shape it is deceptively reminiscent of kitchen equipment for squeezing citrus juice.
The Temple of Divine Providence is called a squeezer by Warsaw residents because of its shape
photo: Anna Cymer
separate from the estate
Completed in 2016, the Temple of Divine Providence stands in the middle of a gigantic new residential area. Surrounded on all sides by new apartment blocks, it towers over them. Being on the axis of the main street leading into the housing development, it is a kind of landmark for residents. Apart from its shape, however, it contributes nothing to the neighborhood space, and the church is surrounded by... a lawn and a fence.
The building of the Temple of Divine Providence, surrounded by a fence and fence.
Photo: Anna Cymer
cross-party subsidies
Much has already been written about the ways in which the construction of the church was financed, about the multimillion-dollar subsidies flowing from the government and public institutions directly to the temple. The governments of this and the previous political option have contributed to the construction costs, and the capital's authorities have also paid for it - one would like to say that the construction of the Temple of Divine Providence is what unites politicians across party lines. So far, the church edifice has consumed more than a quarter of a billion zlotys, but this is certainly not the end of the expenses. Recently, the controversy over the construction of the church has also been joined by the issue of its interior.
The list of donors to the Temple of Divine Providence is very long and still unclosed
photo: Anna Cymer
failure of the competition
The fact that a separate competition would be held for the interior design of the Temple of Divine Providence was already known when the construction of the building itself was coming to an end. What came as a bit of a surprise was that the architects designing the edifice were deprived of any influence on the appearance of its interior - something that had hardly ever happened before, especially in the case of religious buildings. What's more, the interior of the Temple of Providence, although very homogeneous, as is common in buildings on a central plan, was divided into several separate zones - each was affected by a different part of the competition. There were five in total. As the organizer reported after the settlement in August this year, a total of fourteen studios submitted their works to the competition, with thirteen works submitted for the first part of the competition (the main interior), the Marian chapel three offices wanted to design, and the same number of projects came for the design of the Adoration chapel. Four studios had an idea for the Penitential Chapel, the same number for the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) Chapel project. The Competition Jury decided not to award first prize in any of the parts, and no prize or honorable mention was given in three at all. Newspapers hailed the competition as a failure. But is it the fault of the submitted projects? Not likely - the competition jury (which, in addition to the clergy, included such architects as Ewa Kurylowicz and Krzysztof Ingarden) repeatedly stressed that the level of the submitted works was not at all low.
The luminous, high, open nave of the Temple of Divine Providence contrasts with the squat, closed, heavy body of the building
Photo: Anna Cymer
lack of vision
There is a lack of a coherent vision for the future appearance of the interior of the church, which cannot be decorated with "pieces" (yes, old temples have a very stylistically diverse décor, but this is due to many centuries of their history, being created over hundreds of years; it is impossible to achieve this effect in a church built today). There also seems to be a not insignificant impression that the institution of the Church did not quite have an idea of what purpose the Temple of Providence should serve. After all, there is a museum (created so that the government could subsidize it, bypassing the regulations on state funding of temples?), there is a Pantheon of Great Poles, a tomb where notable compatriots are to be buried (for example, Father Jan Twardowski was buried here against his will and before the construction was completed...), in the basement of the church one can see aesthetically frightening puppet theaters on selected events from Polish history - so it is more a space for school excursions than a place of worship. The vast interior of the nave - the most important from the point of view of the sacred functions of this multifunctional building - is also not an easy structure to develop. As it turns out, not even Stanislaw Niemczyk's team, which won only the second prize in the competition (when the construction of the church was nearing completion, Niemczyk was typified as the one who would design its interior), was up to the task.
The minimalism of the interior space of the Temple of Divine Providence provides a breather after the overloaded interiors of Polish churches with paintings and ornaments
photo: Anna Cymer
paradox
In the case of this building, however, we have a paradox: the austere, unfinished interior of the Temple of Divine Providence, with its cold concrete arches carrying the dome and the wavy concrete wall serving as a backdrop for the altar, virtually everyone likes it! The minimalism of this space provides a breather after the overloaded interiors of Polish churches with paintings and decorations. The temple's luminous, high, open nave also contrasts with the squat, closed, heavy body. Obviously, the church hierarchy in Poland has not grown up to preserve the space in this austere form. However, if the theory that the Church doesn't care at all about completing the construction (the subsidies will then run out) is true, it will be a long time before we enjoy the only interesting element of the Temple of Divine Providence - its unfinished interior.
