Warsaw. Competition for the Świętokrzyski park. Will Emilia's pavilion return?

The slogan “less concrete, more greenery” is to guide changes in the Świętokrzyski Park. Unfortunately, only part of the park was included in the architectural competition, but even this is problematic due to reprivatization issues. It's not all bad news. As part of the renovation, the popular skate park will be demolished, and the reconstruction of the Emilia Pavilion, promised a few years ago, has been stuck in official drawers for good.

Competition announced in the summer it concerned the corner bounded by Świętokrzyska and Marszałkowska streetsi.e. the area located in the immediate vicinity of the Museum of Modern Art and the entrances to the metro station. The winner was announced in mid-December – Studio Widoki Łukasz Stępnik. The studio received a prize of PLN 35,000 and an invitation to negotiate a single-source contract for the implementation of the target project. Next year will be devoted to design work and completing documentation,

Design work and completion of the necessary documentation are planned for next year. Officials predict that construction works should start in 2026. And they make a reservation right from the beginning: the completion date may change. Why?

Competition for a fragment of the park, what about the rest?

We asked the town hall why the competition included only a piece of the park.

– In the years 1990-2010, this part of the park was assigned a commercial function, and in the last decade the area served as a base for the largest investments carried out in the vicinity of the Palace of Culture and Science: the construction of the second metro line and water supply infrastructure, and currently the Museum of Modern Art and TR Warszawa . The main goal of the competition was to significantly increase the green area and improve its quality to complement the park layout, as well as to maintain the sports and recreational character of the designed space – explained Marzena Gawkowska from the press office of the capital city hall in response.

There is no planned architectural competition for the remaining part of the park, but – as Gawkowska noted – the solutions proposed by the winning studio “may in the future become a reference for the renovation of the surface of the remaining avenues, lighting and small architecture.” Citing information from the Palace of Culture, which administers the park, he assures that its remaining part “is maintained by a professional gardening company and does not require advanced and expensive work at this time.”

Part of the area was reprivatized

We asked the city hall about ownership issues. It is no secret that the part of the park closer to Świętokrzyska Street was reprivatized years ago to Tadeusz Kossa. Does the plot remain in the hands of his heirs? Is there a plan to buy it back to maintain the integrity of the park?

Marzena Gawkowska admitted that the ownership structure of the area is diverse. Therefore, in order to maintain the coherence of the development of the corner, the competition study area was divided into two parts: the implementation area (including urban plots) and the study area (private plots and plots in perpetual usufruct).

– The implementation area is the main part of the area that will be covered by the design documentation and which will be implemented on the basis of the winning work. The solutions proposed in the study area are intended to constitute a coherent whole with the solutions planned in the implementation area, as a complement to the design assumptions of the concept, but they are not intended for implementation – explained the press office official.

She added that the entire area could not be included in the competition due to doubts regarding the refund decision reported by the Parliamentary Verification Committee in 2019. Until this issue is finally resolved, “the city cannot enter into negotiations with the current owners.”

The end of the skate park in Świętokrzyski Park

The visualizations of the winning concept did not include the skate park that was built at the back of the demolished pavilion. The fate of this attraction, popular among young people, implemented only five years ago as part of the civic budget, is sealed.

– It was created as a temporary facility and due to the provisions of the local plan, it cannot remain in this location permanently. It is planned to dismantle it and use its elements in another location, Gawkowska explained. And she added enigmatically that in order to preserve the sporting character of the place, “it was recommended, among other things, to introduce elements of roller sports.” It is not known what exactly this would mean, and the infrastructure for roller skaters is not visible in the competition materials.

The reconstruction of Emilia has been suspended

In the context of the Świętokrzyski Park, one more issue arises – the Emilia Pavilion. The reconstructed building was to be erected in the central part of the square (next to the Youth Palace). It was assumed that this would take place under the public-private partnership (PPP) procedure. The plan went into the drawer.

– Unfortunately, due to the costs of construction and maintenance of the facility, this construction mode was suspended. Currently, the reduction of the functional and spatial program is being considered, and thus minimizing costs. In turn, the roof and interior elements of the original pavilion are secured by the city – concluded Marzena Gawkowska.

The sense of reconstructing modernist pavilions built in the Polish People's Republic was recently demonstrated by the very successful reconstruction of the former Cepelia building on Aleje Jerozolimskie. Read more>>>