Brutal Poland

Architecture  I  Photography I Paper Models  I 2020

Build Your Brutalist Polish People’s Republic 

Hammer-shaped tower blocks, prefab panel housing units, cosmic flying saucers, raw concrete monoliths; these are some of the socialist-era constructions that reshaped the Polish urban landscapes destroyed during WWII.  

Explore the modernist and brutalist architecture erected in the former Polish People’s Republic and build some of its most striking edifices, from the massive housing estates of Warsaw, to the brutal Hotel Forum in Kraków.

The first part of Brutal Poland includes chapters with photographs and informative texts providing a valuable insight into the featured buildings and their history. The second part contains nine pre-cut and pre-folded models to press out and assemble with easy to follow instructions: all you need is glue. Includes a foreword by architectural historian Anna Cymer.

9 press-out models to assemble:
Za Żelazną Bramą. Warsaw
Smolna 8. Warsaw
Hotel Forum. Kraków
‘Manhattan’. Łódź
Os. Orła Białego. Poznań
Falowiec. Gdańsk
Spodek. Katowice
Superjednostka. Katowice
Os. Plac Grunwaldzki. Wrocław

Background info
The book compiles illustrated paper models created by Zupagrafika throughout the last decade, and an extensive photographic documentation of the Polish post-war architecture collected by David and Martyna. It is complete with new, unpublished photography and architectural models. All illustrations show original facades from before renovation showcasing elements added by the tenants, such as satellite dishes or graffiti. Zupagrafika would like to thank the tenants who kindly posed with the models in front of their homes: Mrs. Elfrida, Bożena, Małgorzata and Krystyna.


Author: Zupagrafika (David Navarro & Martyna Sobecka)
Photographs:
David Navarro & Martyna Sobecka (with the exception of Hotel Forum)
Publisher:
Zupagrafika © 2020. All rights reserved

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Brutal Poland
‘Manhattan’ housing complex in Łódz by Mieczysław Sowa
Press-out model of Plac Grunwaldzki Estate in Wrocław
Model of Plac Grunwaldzki Estate showcasing elements added by the tenants, such as satellite dishes or graffiti
Nowa Huta, a modernist district of Kraków
Plac Grunwaldzki estate, designed by Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak
Hotel Forum by Janusz Ingarden, Kraków
Assembled model of Hotel Forum, Kraków
The post-war modernist icons of Kraków: Hotel Forum by Janusz Ingarden and Kino Kijów by Witold Cęckiewicz
Falowiec, the 850m long wave-like slab in Gdańsk by Tadeusz Różański, Danuta Olędzka and Janusz Morek
Assembling the paper model of the Falowiec building in Gdańsk
Pani Jadwiga, kindly posing with the model of the 'Falowiec' slab in front of her apartment in Gdańsk
Smolna 8, aka ‘The Hammer’ high-rise tower block in Warsaw by Jan Bogusławski, Bohdan Gniewiewski
Superjednostka housing unit in Katowice by Mieczysław Król
Za Żelazną Bramą Estate in Warsaw by Jerzy Czyż, Jan Furman, Andrzej Skopiński, Jerzy Józefowicz
Illustrated paper models of Za Żelazną Bramą Estate in Warsaw, featuring all kinds of details present on the buildings` original facades
Mrs. Elfrida with the model of Za Żelazną Bramą estate in Warsaw
Orła Białego prefab panel estate in Poznań
Paper model of Orła Białego estate in Poznań
The Maisonette House in Wrocław was designed by Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak in the late fifties
Spodek "the flying saucer" a multipurpose arena complex in Katowice by Maciej Gintowt and Maciej Krasiński
'Manhattan' housing complex in Łódź by Mieczysław Sowa
Superjednostka, Katowice