At the busy intersection of Mickiewicza Avenue and Kościuszki Avenue in Łódź, an unwanted piece of modernism has stood for many years. The impressive 1930s tenement building now serves as a frame for large advertising banners, falling into disrepair and waiting to be saved. The building survived the nearby bombings during World War II and then served the residents for many years. Now its future is in jeopardy.
Unwanted modernism known to every Łódź resident
The building occupies a prominent plot at the junction of Tadeusza Kościuszki and Adama Mickiewicza Avenues. This strategic location gives it a clear impact on the landscape of Łódź’s city centre and good visibility from many places in the area. Paradoxically, this is also its curse. Despite its significance for the city’s image, the building is not formally a listed monument. This lack of legal protection from the conservator has for years encouraged the building to be treated as a large advertising billboard.
Tenement house at 97 Tadeusza Kościuszki Avenue in Łódź
The multi-storey tenement house with a high ground floor was built in the 1930s according to a design by an unknown architect, during a period of intensive expansion in Łódź. The architecture of the building was subordinated to the principles of functionalism, with a simple but elaborate structure, flat façades and a rhythmic arrangement of windows and balconies. The design rejected the decorativeness of earlier eras in favour of clarity of form and urban restraint. The two façades facing the intersecting streets were designed with great attention to proportion in order to accentuate this corner. Noteworthy are the sandstone-finished ground floor and the decorated portal at the entrance from Aleja Kościuszki.
Functions of the Łódź tenement house
Originally, the tenement house served a function typical for this type of building in the centre of Łódź. The ground floor housed commercial premises, while the upper floors were converted into elegant apartments. During the occupation, the building was taken over by the administration of the 44th Police Battalion from Leipzig in Litzmannstadt (the German name for Łódź used from 1940 to 1945), and after the war it was once again used as a residential building. Over the years, the standard of the interiors deteriorated significantly. This was due to the deliberate actions of the owner, who wanted to get rid of the tenants and rebuild the building. At the beginning of the 21st century, most of the building was abandoned. The reasons for this included amateur alterations to the floors, the removal of partition walls and a lack of ongoing repairs, which accelerated the process of degradation. Ultimately, the owner did not receive permission to modernise the building.
Unwanted modernism as a frame for advertisements
In recent years, the tenement house has served more often as a frame for large-format advertisements than as an important element of Łódź’s architecture. Banners hang on it practically all the time, completely covering the modernist façades and reducing this valuable architecture to a tool of aggressive marketing. For a long time, there have also been reports in the media about attempts to sell the property and even considerations of demolishing it. When the unsightly advertisements disappear from the tenement house for a moment, the exposed façade reminds us of the potential of this place and the enormous value of modernist architecture. Architecture that is still waiting for a decision that will save this valuable heritage of the 1930s.
Source: lodz.naszemiasto.pl, tulodz.pl
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