The work of the pre-war partnership of architects Jerzy Gelbard and Roman Sigalin is one of the most distinctive exposures of Warsaw Modernism. The works by this duo largely survived the Second World War and today are regarded as an important testimony to the pre-war architectural heritage of the capital. Among the realisations in which they imprinted their craftsmanship and style is the complex of buildings standing at Sienna 55 and 55a, comprising a front tenement house and an annexe. These buildings have just been entered in the register of monuments.
Sienna 55 and 55a – architecture
The tenement house at addresses Sienna 55 and 55a was built between 1937 and 1938 as part of the western frontage of Sienna Street, which was being modernised at the time. The building represents the functionalist trend popular in the second half of the 1930s and is counted among the capital’s luxurious residential buildings. The building is an example of a modern tenement house designed for more affluent tenants with their own servants, as evidenced by the double entrance doors to selected flats. The interiors of the tenement were finished to the highest standard, with mosaic tiled floors, elegant staircases finished in terrazzo or wooden joinery of a fashionable design. At the same time, other modern buildings were being erected in the neighbourhood by Jerzy Gelbard and Roman Sigalin. The nearby tenements at 43, 43a, 57 and 57a Sienna Street are attributed to these designers.
History and architectural design
The area on which the tenement house was built was separated from the larger mortgage plot No. 5877. In the second half of the 1930s, it was owned by several private individuals. In 1937, Stanislaw Borowik and his son, as well as Henryk Isers, finally became the owners of the property. Construction of the luxury property began in mid-1937. The tenement has features of one of the ‘typical’ designs developed by Jerzy Gelbard and Roman Sigalin: a variant with prismatic bay windows, so the authorship of the front elevation is attributed to Jerzy Gelbard. This is due to both an analysis of the style and the fact that he was involved in the design of the neighbouring building at 57 Sienna St. The overall architectural design, however, was prepared by Eng. Marcin Weinfeld, and the engineers Salomon Pianko and Grzegorz Lewina were responsible for the construction of the building. Construction work was carried out in two stages – first the front building was constructed, followed by the annexe.
The fate of the tenement during the war and the uprising
Despite the bombing of Sienna Street in September 1939, the buildings at numbers 55 and 55a were not seriously damaged. During the occupation, they were incorporated into the Warsaw ghetto – a memento of those terrible events is the wall between properties Sienna 53 and 55, which survives to this day. In 1941, during the first wave of displacements of the Jewish population, the odd-numbered side of the street was excluded from the boundaries of the closed district, and the inhabitants were forcibly relocated elsewhere. Three years later, during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, the buildings were used as quarters for the Home Army Group “Chrobry II”. The buildings were again in danger, but this time too they survived without major damage. Only the roof of the front building, the door woodwork in the outbuilding and the garage were damaged.
Sienna 55 and 55a: post-war urban changes and renovations
After the war, in connection with the reconstruction of Marchlewskiego Street (now Jana Pawła II Avenue) and the construction of the Palace of Culture and Science, Sienna Street was shortened and divided into two sections, which significantly changed its former course and appearance. However, the modernist townhouses on the odd-numbered side survived. In the 1940s and 1950s, they underwent repair work, which involved removing the stone cladding from the ground floor of the façade and removing the decorative elements of the balconies. The original entrance gate has also disappeared over the years. In 2013, the front façade of the building was restored as closely as possible to the original. It was covered with light-coloured plaster and the details characteristic of Gelbard’s and Sigalin’s designs were retained: under-window and under-corner friezes composed of vertical half-rails and stone ribbons. Due to the lack of surviving documentation of the original entrance, the housing community commissioned new decorative gates. Made of metal and glass, the wings with expressive detailing were created on the model of the gate of the tenement house at 22 Narbutta Street.
Source: Mazovian Voivodeship Historic Preservation Officer
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