Warsaw is a city of contrasts, where modern skyscrapers sit side by side with historic townhouses and socialist-realist blocks of flats. Within this architectural mosaic is one of the capital’s most unusual residential buildings – the ‘Jamnik’, also known as the ‘plank’ or ‘ant-house’. Despite its monotonous architecture and many flaws, residents have become attached to the place. Neighbourly relations are often described as very close – perhaps precisely because the tenants share “life in the dacha”.
Architectural giant in Praga-Północ
Located at 11 Kijowska Street, the building measures a staggering 508 metres in length and is considered the longest single residential block in Warsaw. Although in Przyczółek Grochowski one can find a housing estate referred to as ‘Pekin’, which extends for a total of around 1.5 km, it does not form a single, coherent line of buildings, which distinguishes it from ‘Jamnik’. On a national scale, the longest block stands in Gdańsk at Obrońców Wybrzeża Street – the building is over 860 metres long. We wrote about it HERE.
“Jamnik” – history and purpose of construction
The building was erected in the years 1971-1973 according to the design of Jan Kalinowski. It was built as part of the Szmulowizna housing estate, opposite the Warszawa Wschodnia railway station. Its purpose was to obscure the less representative buildings of Praga from the view of travellers arriving in the capital. The investor in the project was the Robotnicza Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa “Praga”. At the time of its completion, the building attracted a lot of interest and even admiration from journalists. However, its flats, although modern for the time, turned out to be small and not very functional. The building has 430 units distributed in 43 staircases and 132 garages. Each staircase houses 10 flats, and their windows face two sides of the building. In 2008, the number of residents exceeded 1,200.
Photo Aerial views
Unrealised plans and a symbolic mural with a dachshund
To break up the monotony of the long, straight façade, there were plans to build a series of commercial pavilions in front of the building, but this project never saw fruition. In 2017, however, a mural depicting a dachshund appeared on the side wall facing Markowska Street, alluding to the building’s common name. In addition to the image of the dog, the painting also features the cooperative’s logo and information about the date of the building’s construction. In recent years, however, the façade has been repaired and part of the garages modernised.
“Jamnik” as an icon of Warsaw’s block housing estates
Although “Jamnik” is not the most beautiful showpiece of Warsaw, it is undoubtedly one of the most characteristic buildings of the capital. Residents often joke that it takes as long to get from one end of the block to the other as it takes to cross several streets. The lack of internal connections between the staircases means that some prefer to walk outside rather than traverse the labyrinth of corridors. Its unusual length, history and urban significance, however, generate interest in this one-of-a-kind building, making it a permanent part of the Prague district’s landscape.
Source: warszawa.fandom.com, businessinsider.com.pl
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Block | City | History | Modernism | Warsaw
