The tenement house at 38 Francuska Street in Warsaw’s Saska Kępa is currently undergoing renovations that reveal its hidden beauty. The building is an exemplary example of the architectural current known as Style 37, popular in the last years of the Second Polish Republic. The renovation is being carried out thanks to a city grant of PLN 44,106.
The tenement house was erected in 1938-39 according to a design by Jerzy Woyzbun, a pupil of the famous Bohdan Pniewski. The inspiration of the master’s style can be clearly seen, especially in the cladding of carved sandstone, referring to Pniewski’s house at 27 Na Skarpie Avenue, currently the seat of the Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences. We wrote about it HERE. Style 37 combined functionalism with decorative elements. Wavy walls and decorative wrought-steel window grilles are characteristic of this style. The façade of the building at 38 Francuska Street is covered with sandstone cladding, which adds prestige and uniqueness to the building.
The tenement house at Francuska Street before renovation. Photo credit: mamik/photopolska.eu, Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0
The building has not undergone major renovation for 85 years, which has resulted in significant deterioration of the façade. The long-term lack of repairs and the noble materials used now pose a challenge to conservationists. The housing association, due to limited resources, decided to carry out the work in stages. The renovation of the front façade, which started this year, is the first stage of this work. The sandstone cladding has been cleaned of its black patina, allowing previously somewhat hidden details such as stone sills and window glyphs decorated with decorative fluting to become visible.
During the cleaning of the facade, bullet marks were discovered, a reminder of the last war. Holes in the plaster, which were filled with cement in the past, are now visible as dark stains. In the course of this year’s work, most of these stains will be merged in colour, but it was decided to leave some of the marks as witnesses to history, especially in the plaster to the right of the first floor window and throughout the stone cladding on the ground floor of the building.
The façade above the ground floor is finished with a cement-lime render render scraped with mica and aggregate of varying grain size. After dry blast cleaning, this plaster has regained its original appearance. The plane of the plaster was divided by thin grooves into fields, which imitates a stone facing. Most of the stucco has been preserved, which is a great success for the conservators.
The renovation of the tenement house at Francuska 38 is not only a restoration of the façade, but also a discovery of the history and beauty of the architecture of the Second Polish Republic. The building will soon regain its former splendour, while reminding us of the tragic events of the war. Thanks to the city’s subsidy and the commitment of the housing community, Warsaw will preserve another valuable part of its architectural legacy.
Source: WarsawCity Hall
Read also: Architecture | Tenement | Renovation | Warsaw | Architecture in Poland
