How was the city of Warsaw reconstructed?

Warsaw has risen from rubble. Indeed—rubble was the basic building material, and working amidst the ruins was the stuff of life. Reconstruction was a complex process which required a huge amount of time and labour. It affected Warsaw’s architecture as well as its cityscape. It also had an effect on the social and economic relations that were being rebuilt anew after the war.

Warsaw 1945-1949: Rising from Rubble exhibition offers a new perspective on the myth of the postwar reconstruction of the Polish capital city and one of the most interesting pages in its history.

THE RECONSTRUCTION PHENOMENON

The exhibition presents a unique character of the city being rebuilt thanks to a collective effort. It follows the process of transforming ruins into rubble, and rubble into building material from which the Varsovians constructed their own future and the future of their city. The first years after the war were spent on removing the rubble and pulling down the ruins. Bricks and iron were being recovered and breeze-blocks were produced of concrete and rubble.

It is the first time that rubble constitutes the narrative core of an exhibition devoted to the reconstruction of Warsaw. We show fragments of sculptures and architecture, stove tiles and ceramics as well as materials used in the process of reconstruction: demolition bricks and rubble concrete. Photographs, graphic art, paintings, documents, maps, iconography as well as film newsreels and oral history video recordings place these exhibits in their historical context. Contemporary context is provided by the works by artists such as Diana Lelonek or Monika Sosnowska, produced especially for this exhibition.

22 MILLION CUBIC METRES OF RUBBLE

What happened to ca 22 million cubic metres of rubble which covered almost the entire city after the war?

The exhibition provides an answer to this question as well. In the first years of the reconstruction, the status of rubble was evolving. Initially, it was considered a waste material which ought to be removed. Next, it was regarded as a raw material to be recovered and used to produce new building materials. Ultimately, rubble acquired the status of a symbol of hard collective labour and a bright future for Warsaw and the entire country. This symbol, so eagerly used by the communist regime, is now given a chance to be interpreted anew.

OVER 500 ARTEFACTS IN SEVEN ROOMS

The exhibition narrative leads us through the first four years of Warsaw reconstruction. Artistic images of the ruins reflect the experiences of the people who returned to the war-torn capital first. Artists produced paintings, drawings and photographs. As we proceed to the next room, the ruins come to life, people lead their daily existence and first demolitions begin. A large part of the cleaning-up was carried out by women from the Labour Brigades.

Bricks grow to be invaluable. They are transported to Warsaw from Wrocław, Szczecin and other cities and towns of western Poland in its new postwar borders. Concrete rubble is invented and first attempts are soon made at putting it into use. Breeze blocks made of concrete and rubble were used while constructing the Koło II housing estate, or the edifice of today’s Ministry of Development and Technology at Trzech Krzyży Square.

The exhibition closes with a broader perspective on Warsaw’s cityscape which had undergone a major transformation, evident in the street grid and building development. The Warsaw Rising Mound as well as Moczydłowska or Szczęśliwicka Hills—all made of rubble—are now an organic part of the city, and yet their development still sparks off debates.

Aside from the original rubble and materials used during the city reconstruction, the exhibition also boasts works by artists such as Zofia Chomętowska, Jan Bułhak, Alfred Funkiewicz, Wojciech Fangor, Antoni Suchanek, as well as contemporary artists: Monika Sosnowska, Tymek Borowski or Diana Lelonek. They are complemented by archival documents, maps, fragments of film newsreels and memoirs.