At the roundabout in the centre of Czerwionka-Leszczyny, you can find a very peculiar residential block. Due to its clock tower, multitude of roofs and varied structure, it is often mistaken for the town hall. Some say that it is an oversized, postmodernist tenement house. Its unusual features have earned it the title of one of the most intriguing architectural projects from the end of the Polish People’s Republic in the entire Silesia region.
The block at 3 Maja Street that pretends to be a town hall
The building at 3 Maja 2 is known locally as the “town hall”, even though it has always been a block of flats. The nickname comes from the clock tower towering over the building and the lack of a typical town hall in the city, which is why the building is associated with it. The design is based on a V-shaped plan and is constructed of many segments of varying heights. The cascading form, numerous balconies, bay windows and steep roofs facing in different directions make it difficult to classify the whole building. The brick window frames and massive gate evoke associations with traditional workers’ housing, known from the nearby housing estates.
Postmodern tenement building in Czerwionka-Leszczyny
The author of the design is Janusz Waligóra, who presented it in 1980 during the Provincial Architecture Review in Katowice. At the time, the proposal was met with harsh criticism from the architectural community, which accused it of artificially referencing the region’s style. However, the investor, the Dębieńsko Coal Mine, did not withdraw from the construction of this peculiar block of flats. Its construction lasted until 1986, and a few years after its poor debut, it was honoured with the Polish Architects’ Association Award of the Year. Over time, it has even been recognised as one of the most interesting residential projects of that period in Poland.
Flats for the elite of the Dębieńsko mine
The block was built for the employees of the Dębieńsko mine, which continued to intensively extract coal in the 1980s. The flats were allocated to miners and technical staff with established professional positions. The building was designed to include flats of various sizes and layouts, including two-level flats. The ground floor was intended for services, including a bank and a post office, which are still in operation today. In the reality of the late communist era, such a standard was considered exceptionally high, especially when compared to the old tenement houses, which did not enjoy a good reputation at the time.
The postmodern tenement block and its fate
The most memorable event in the history of the block was the installation of the clock tower using a helicopter, which caused quite a stir in the city in the mid-1980s. The final stage of construction coincided with a period of supply problems. The difficult circumstances affected the quality of some of the installations, which had to be replaced fairly quickly. Local stories also contain discrepancies regarding the authorship of the design and information about a similar, more formally subdued building in nearby Leszczyny. Currently, the block at 3 Maja 2 remains in the hands of the housing community and continues to serve its original function. It also retains its status as an architectural curiosity of the region.
Source:slazag.pl, postmodernism.eu
See also:Architecture in Poland|Architect|Housing estate|Urban planning|History|Interesting facts|Postmodernism
