At 80 Koszykowa Street, at the busy intersection with Tytus Chałubiński Street, there is a small building. Although the current condition of the building is not the best, it is impossible not to draw attention to it. The Rector’s Palace, the former kitchen of the Fraternal Aid to Students of Warsaw University of Technology, was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The building, with its interesting architecture, was rebuilt in the post-war years, which resulted in the complete devastation of the top floor. The historic palace has been awaiting renovation for many years.
The brick building was erected in 1914 to a design by Franciszek Krzywda-Polkowski. In 1920, the building was handed over to the Warsaw University of Technology by the Municipal Board. The striking façade, decorated with, among other things, volute keys with acanthus leaves, boniae, Corinthian heads or garlands with a fruit motif, performed an extremely decorative function. The upper part was crowned with a richly profiled cornice.
The Rector’s Palace today. Photo: whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
The facades were enriched with risalits of various forms and stylish windows. The whole was covered with steep gable roofs, which emphasised the verticality of the architectural composition, while the dissected body in the ground floor and the neo-Rococo décor gave it lightness.
The palace in 1931 and 2024. Source: “Monografia Akademickich Bratnich Pomocy” and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
The elegant palace was damaged in 1944 during the Warsaw Uprising. After 1945, it was decided to rebuild, which included decisive changes to its architecture. Part of the first floor was simplified: the facades were eliminated and the roof was lowered. As a result of this modification, the building lost much of its former character. Today, almost all of the building’s historic woodwork and part of its decoration has been preserved. The building maintained its function until the opening of the new canteen in 1973.
The student canteen in 1926 and today. Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
In subsequent years, the CTT Centre for Technology Transfer, the Institute for Problems of Contemporary Civilisation and the Academic Choir of the Warsaw University of Technology, among others, operated here. At present, the building looks abandoned and is waiting for better times, which will perhaps restore it to its former form. This neo-Rococo gem stands in an area dominated by modernist buildings, which further emphasises its uniqueness.
Source: discovercawarszawy.blogspot . com, zabytek.pl
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The Rector’s Palace at present. Photo: whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
