So rather than show hipster bars selling artisan beer, newly-opened shopping malls, beautiful urban parks, up-to-the-minute public amenities or new motorways - let's wallow in preconceptions. Let us go back to a Workers' (rather than Consumers') Paradise and see Poland's capital as it would have looked at the height of the Cold War. Let us take a short stroll down Marszałkowska, from Pl. Unii Lubelskiej to Al. Armii Ludowej.
Ul. Marszałkowska, corner of Litewska |
Wire netting, where Socialist Realism joins pre-war tenements |
Ul. Marszałkowska, corner of Al. Armii Ludowej |
Ul. Marszałkowska, corner of Zoli |
Ul. Marszałkowska, the lower end. |
Warsaw or Łódź? 150m north of Plac Unii shopping mall. |
Update: Saturday 26 October - Today's Gazeta Stołeczna has picked up on the state of the southern end of Marszałkowska. In its front-page story about the growing number of empty premises in the city centre, it mentions this stretch of road, saying that there are 11 boarded-up properties between Pl. Unii and Pl. Zbawiciela. Easy to see why - the centre of retail gravity has moved northward (and now southward too). Despite the economic upturn, many shops and restaurants have closed down and the City authorities can't find new tenants for the premises. Less footfall, fewer shoppers.
This time last year:
Glasgow snapshots
This time two years ago:
A slow farewell to our Powiśle office
This time three years ago:
A slow farewell to my Nissan Micra
No comments:
Post a Comment