Wrocław's Hala Stulecia (Centennial Hall)

I was eight when I first saw this building; it made an impression upon me as did the steel spire towering outside. However, back then I didn't grasp its historical significance. Back then in communist times, it was called Hala Ludowa - the People's Hall ('Volkshalle' in German) - and the original name, Jahrhunderthalle somehow morphed in my mind as the Jahrtausendhalle - 'Thousand-Year Hall', as in 'Thousand-Year Reich'; in other words - the negative ideological connotations of communism and Nazism. A place associated both with Sieg-heiling Nazis and ranting communists.

Only later did I come to realise that the Jahrhunderthalle predated National Socialism rule by two decades, and was actually built before the First World War. Commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the defeat of Napoleon by the Prussians at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, the building was a striking example of Germany's industrial prowess. Built out of reinforced concrete, its structure encompassed what was at the time the largest space under a roof without supports. Today, a UNESCO-listed building.

View from the inside of a scale model of the building, itself situated inside the building. With its purity (no screens, speakers, cabling or spotlights), this view reflects the genius design of the place better than the real thing. 

Below: looking messier in real life, but still very impressive. Refurbished in 2011, the hall now seats 10,000, with extra seating below the false floor (designed by British architects Chapman Taylor).

Below: the hall as seen from the giant pergola that extends in a semi-ellipse, taking in Poland's largest fountain, built in 2009. To the right, the spire ('Iglica'). It's mid-July, but the ground is already looking parched.

Left: this space-age structure actually predates the space age by nine years; built in 1948 for the opening of an exhibition celebrating Poland's postwar westward expansion into its regained territories. It's unsupported by guy lines or anchors, standing only on its three legs. For its periodic refurbishments, it is gently laid down on its side. Today, it's just 90m tall; originally, it was 106m, but twice it needed shortening.

It's worth putting the hall into historical context - 35 years after the original opening that celebrated Prussia's defeat of Napoleonic France, the same building hosted an exhibition celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and Poland's new western borders. Below: if you have a spare half-hour, this communist-era documentary is fascinating. Disinformation, half-truths, omissions, distortions and outright lies - same playbook as Russia uses today.

Below: laid out at the same time as the hall was built, the Japanese Garden was designed according to the precepts of traditional Japanese aesthetics and philosophy. It was renovated in 1995, then badly damaged during the Wrocław flood of 1997 and reopened again two years later. I must say, after visiting it, I felt in great need of a sushi supper - sadly the nearest Japanese restaurant was nowhere near.

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