Prudential high-rise Warsaw

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View of the skyscraper before the renovation work began in 2015
The destroyed building in 1945
Start of renovation work at the end of 2010

The Prudential skyscraper in Warsaw was built as an office building in the 1930s and was then the tallest building in the city and the second tallest in Europe. It was a symbol of modernism in emerging Warsaw between the wars. After being badly damaged in World War II , it was used as a hotel after its reconstruction until the 2000s. It is currently being completely rebuilt; future use as an apartment and office building is planned. The address of the building is Plac Powstańców Warszawy 9 .

history

The skyscraper was built between 1931 and 1934 by the Polish architects Marcin Weinfeld, Stefan Bryła and Wenczesław Poniż for the Polish subsidiary ( Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń Przezorność SA ) of the British insurance company Prudential plc . The building was constructed using a steel frame construction and was designed in the Art Déco style. Around 1500 tons of steel, 2000 tons of concrete and 2 million bricks were used. Today it is located in downtown Warsaw at the intersection of Świętokrzyska Street and Plac Powstańców Warszawy ( Warsaw Insurgent Square ), formerly known as Napoleon and Warecki Square, which was created after the Second World War . The building has 17 floors above ground and when it was completed, with a height of 66 meters, towered over Warsaw's tallest building, the PAST high-rise built from 1904 to 1910 . Only the Warsaw Palace of Culture , completed in 1956, was higher than the Prudential skyscraper. The Prudential building was the second tallest skyscraper in Europe at the time. In 1936 Janusz Groszkowski erected Europe's first (experimental) television antenna on the roof, which was around 15 meters high. During the Warsaw Uprising, the flag of the Polish resistance was symbolically attached here.

Second World War

The Prudential skyscraper was badly damaged during World War II, and especially during the fighting during the Warsaw Uprising . Around 1000 storeys hit the building and destroyed the fabric of the building except for the steel framework that had been left standing. Among other things, the building was shot at by the heavy German mortar "Ziu" (VI) of the Karl mortar series with 2-ton shells. The silhouette of the steel skeleton of the Prudential high-rise towering over the destroyed city was a popular motif for anti-war posters in the post-war period. After the war, the building was renovated as the “Warszawa” hotel, and the exterior facade was now designed in the style of socialist realism . The architect of the reconstruction and renovation was again Weinfeld. The hotel was opened in 1954, it had 375 rooms and around 300 seats in the restaurant, cafeteria and night club. The hotel was in operation until July 1, 2003, after which the building was largely unused.

Redesign

From 2010 to 2012 the building was completely redesigned and renovated. The architectural competition announced by the Association of Polish Architects SARP was won by the architectural office Bulanda and Mucha . The general contractor carrying out the construction is Polimex-Mostostal . The real socialist facade of the post-war reconstruction is largely being dismantled in favor of the original Art Deco look. The interior of the building, which will be used as an office in the lower area and as a living area on the upper floors, is also to be designed in the style of the 1930s. The installation of an additional glass roof is planned.

Web links

Commons : Prudential Skyscraper Warsaw  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Marcin Weinfeld (1884–1965) was an important Polish architect.
  2. ↑ Wenczesław Poniż (1900–1967) was a Polish-Czech engineer and architect
  3. ↑ Barbara Petrozolin-Skowrońskiej (Ed.): Encyklopedia Warszawy. Wydawnictwa Naukowe PWN, ISBN 83-01-08836-2 , Warsaw 1994
  4. ↑ other sources speak of 1.25 million bricks, see Emporis
  5. ↑ a b according to Information about the building at Emporis.com (in English)
  6. ↑ Janusz Groszkowski (1898–1984) was an important Polish scientist, professor at the Technical University in Warsaw and a politician.
  7. ↑ according to Information Przebudowa biurowca Prudential. ( Memento of the original from December 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / investmap.pl archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Investmap.pl (in Polish)

Coordinates: 52 ° 14 ′ 8.1 ″  N , 21 ° 0 ′ 45.6 ″  E