The tenement house at 15/17 Nowy Świat Street is an important architectural and historical element of the Warsaw landscape. The building has stood empty since 2022 and its future remains uncertain. For seven decades it housed an Empik showroom, but rent increases and the need for costly renovations led to the closure of the establishment. Currently, the tenement is the property of the Treasury Board and its future depends on the decisions of the Mayor of the City of Warsaw and the Mazovian Governor.
The history of the tenement house at 15/17 Nowy Świat dates back to the beginning of the 19th century. In 1823, the first large tenement house, designed by Adolf Schuch for Antoni Husak, stood on the property at 15. In 1882, the building underwent extensive reconstruction under the supervision of Jozef Huss, which included raising it by one floor and adding ornamentation. In the 19th century, the tenement housed cafés and pubs, such as the popular “Café Club,” frequented by Warsaw’s intellectual elite, including Stefan Żeromski and Władysław Reymont. The neighbouring tenement house at number 17 was built between 1849 and 1851 to a design by Henryk Marconi and belonged to Władysław Pusłowski. Although it was smaller and more modest, stylistically it harmonised with the Neo-Renaissance palace of the Kossakowski family.
The tenement house in the 1930s Source: State Archive in Warsaw
During the German occupation, the tenement was a strategic location, which attracted the attention of the Polish resistance movement. Two assassinations carried out by the People’s Guard took place in the premises of the “Café Club”. The buildings at 15/17 Nowy Świat suffered serious damage during the war effort, with damaged roofs and facades, among other things. As a result of post-war administrative decisions, the remains of the tenements were demolished. After the war, based on the so-called Bierut Decree, the property became the property of the State Treasury. Between 1949 and 1950, at the corner of Nowy Świat and Aleje Jerozolimskie, a new tenement house in Socialist Realist style was built, designed by Zygmunt Stępiński. The building became famous for the inscription on its façade, “THE WHOLE NATION BVDVES ITS CITY.” The use of the V instead of the U here had a stylistic function – it gave the inscription an antique and thus more momentous character.
Jerozolimskie Avenue, corner of Nowy Świat – photo from before 1916 and contemporary view. Photo: Tygodnik Stolica, no. 4 (1259) 23.01.1972 and Google Maps
The tenement house in 1938 and 2022. Source: National Archives in Warsaw and Google Maps
In 1951, the International Press and Book Club opened in the building, which became the Empik store in the 1990s. For years it was one of the most recognisable outlets in Warsaw, a place to meet, sell books, music and organise cultural events. Empik, which had rented space in the building for decades, finally left in 2022 due to a rent increase and an unresolved dispute over renovations. The empty building began to deteriorate and the lack of concrete plans for its future raises fears that the valuable monument will be left undeveloped and fall into complete disrepair.
The tenement was in the spotlight when Mazovian Governor Tobiasz Bocheński planned to open a Customer Service Centre for the Mazovian Voivodeship Office there. However, the change in power and the election of a new provincial governor, Mariusz Frankowski, caused these plans to be withdrawn. The future of the building therefore remains uncertain – discussions are ongoing between the Voivodeship Office and the Mayor of Warsaw regarding the further use of the property.
The empty and deteriorating tenement awaits its new role in the heart of the capital. The decisions of the municipal and provincial authorities will be crucial for its future – whether it will once again become an important landmark on the map of Warsaw, or whether it will remain a symbol of the site’s untapped historical potential.
Source: fotopolska.eu, tvn24.pl
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