When a developer becomes a patron of culture, it is worth pausing to reflect on its vision for the city. Liebrecht & wooD Poland, known for the revitalisation of the Praga Koneser Centre, has just become a strategic partner of the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award 2025. Magdalena Bartkiewicz-Podoba, president of Liebrecht & wooD Poland, tells us what placemaking means to her, how high culture becomes a tool of social responsibility and why the partnership with the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation is only the beginning of a multifaceted mission.
Kamil Białas: Liebrecht & wooD has become a strategic partner of the prestigious Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award 2025, which went to Anne Carson, a Canadian poet. This is an unconventional move on the part of the development company. What is behind this decision?
Magdalena Bartkiewicz-Podoba: From the beginning of the company’s operations in Poland, we have aimed for much more than erecting new buildings. Liebrecht & wooD’s ambition is to build places that introduce new value and resonate socially and culturally. Our biggest and most recognisable achievement in this regard is the open part of the Koneser Praga Centre in Warsaw, which we have created and managed. It is a space that, in just a few years of its operation, has become essentially synonymous with creative and unorthodox cultural events, valued by Varsovians and beyond. Our assumption was to create a place that would bring high culture closer to the community and make it more accessible – hence, among other things, the idea that Koneser Square, open to the public and full of inspiring events, would be the heart of the project.
Cooperation with the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation is another manifestation of our ambitious mission to promote high culture in the urban space.
I believe that the activities undertaken in partnership with the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation will ensure that his work reaches a wide audience and finds new admirers – just as we have seen in the case of piano concerts of classical music that have been held for many years within the walls of Koneser, theatrical performances, and exhibitions of the most outstanding representatives of the visual arts.
This sounds like a profound statement. What role do you think the developer should play in the modern city?
A developer should give the city, its inhabitants, something more than the construction and sale of an attractive building, although this, of course, was and is the basis of business. However, a 21st century developer should understand the social, historical or cultural context. It needs to create spaces that engage, bring value, build community and lead to community development. I am of the opinion that placemaking is not just a fashionable buzzword – it is a way of doing things. We believe that we have a real impact on the quality of life in the city. Since the beginning of Liebrecht & wooD, our motto has been a different vision on real estate, hence, among other things, our social involvement, including promoting the arts or supporting local initiatives for many years. This is our DNA.
Koneser is therefore the quintessence of your committed and sustainable approach to investment.
That’s exactly right. The Koneser Praga Centre is an example of revitalisation that did not stop at the façade. We have brought the place back to the residents, but also breathed new life into it – precisely through culture. Every year, several hundred events take place here, most of them free of charge. For years, our partner has been the Krystyna Janda Foundation for Culture, and at Koneser Square, as part of the Koneser Summer, open-air performances are held by the Polonia Theatre and the Och-Theatre, to which everyone can come. We also organise concerts of classical music, exhibitions of both the greatest masters, such as Beksiński or Banksy, and young artists starting out on their way, thanks to cooperation with the Warsaw or Lodz Academy of Fine Arts. Koneser is currently hosting an exhibition devoted to Zbigniew Herbert and literary workshops based on his work, and in the autumn there will be a meeting with Marianna Kijanowska, winner of the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award in 2022. This is our definition of city-building projects: inclusive, open, creating social bonds, inspired by shared values, history, tradition and art.
You talk about building open and inclusive spaces. Is there room in this approach for fiction, which is often not easy to read. Especially in today’s hustle and bustle, high pace of life.
Just as important to us as enabling access to diverse events is why and how we organise them. We believe that promoting high culture – including literary fiction – is today not just an aesthetic or symbolic act, but above all an act of social responsibility. In a world dominated by rapid stimuli and simplification, in a world in which culture, intellect and decency seem to have lost their due importance in the social hierarchy of values, we want to remind people of the power of words, reflection and depth of thought. It is literature that enables us to understand ourselves and others, develops empathy, and builds a community of values.
That is why our activities are not only cultural, but also educational: we organise workshops or meetings with authors, which open up a space for dialogue. By promoting reading, we also strengthen social development. We want everyone – regardless of age, background or education – to have the chance to come into contact with literature that inspires, provokes thought and changes perspectives. It is not about elitism, but precisely about inclusiveness. It is about making the work of Herbert and other extremely valuable authors alive, present and accessible.
So culture not as an add-on, but as one of the foundations of activity?
Definitely. We believe that high culture is not reserved for a select few – it has to be accessible, present in everyday life. In his works, Zbigniew Herbert often referred to human dignity, responsibility and freedom. His words are also relevant today. By planning events at Koneser in partnership with the Foundation – such as the just-mentioned open meeting with Marianna Kijanowska, winner of the 2022 Prize – we want his message to be constantly present in the public space.
The partnership with the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation is therefore more than a business activity.
It is indeed more than a collaboration. For me personally, it is a very moving experience. Especially on the occasion of signing the partnership agreement, when together with Maria Dzieduszycka, the president of the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation, I visited the flat where Herbert lived and worked. This is not a museum, but a place where you can feel his presence. His books, his notes, the silence of this interior. It is all very impressive. It was an encounter with the creative spirit that constantly inspires. And the question arises: what can we – as a company, as people – do to ensure that this ever-present voice is not silenced? This is what we are trying to do through our partnership with the Foundation and the events at Koneser.
So we can expect culture to be at least as present in your activities in the future?
Our partnership with the Zbigniew Herbert Foundation is part of something much broader. We have been working for years with cultural institutions, art colleges, organising exhibitions, concerts and performances. Culture is not something that happens ‘alongside’ business – we are part of a large social ecosystem. As developers, we have a real impact on what the city looks like and how people live in it. And I believe that this influence should serve the common good.
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