The lawn of Powstańców Warszawy will disappear. In return, there is to be a lot of taller greenery, trees and small architecture. But which one? Visualizations presented in 2022 did not inspire optimism. But will the pavilions cease to tower over Powstańców Warszawy Square?
More parking spaces areneeded! - thunders Warsaw residents and those visiting the capital in transit, whenever the Warsaw magistrate presents plans that include increasing the amount of green space at the expense of easily accessible parking spaces. Meanwhile, slowly and point-blank, Warsaw's bristling smile is beginning to fill in with the greenery promised under the New Warsaw Center project. However, the city (avoiding a revolt?) is leaving motorists with nothing, promoting the construction of multi-story parking lots. In March 2025, two underground parking lots, which began operating back in the last century, were joined by another - a parking lot at Powstańców Warszawy Square, with 420 spaces, including more than 60 reserved for residents in the immediate area.
Warsaw Insurgents Square in 2018
to three times a piece
When the construction, which has been dragging on since 2022, was completed, a green square was created, stretching over the concrete ceiling of the parking lot, preceded by a small concrete plaza and. This is the fourth version of Warsaw Insurgents' Square since the beginning of the current century, not the best at all - at first there was a car parking lot lined with triglyceride, with trees growing between the parking spaces. Later, in connection with the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, a real square was created, with alleys, benches and greenery.In 2017 it was refreshed and enriched with additional plantings and infrastructure, and finally, with the completion of the parking lot on March 21 this year, Varsovians were left with a lawn.
However, these were not the promises - as soon as the city announced its intention to build an underground parking lot (which happened shortly after the rebuilt version of Powstancow Warszawy Square was put into use), information appeared on the internet that there would be a new, green Powstancow Warszawy Square above the parking lot.
Powstańców Warszawy Square in visualizations from 2022.
© LAP Studio | UM Warszawa
who gives and receives...
The first project, prepared on the basis of charette workshops and guidelines from the Office of Architecture and Spatial Planning of the Warsaw City Hall, was developed by MAU Mycielski Architecture & Urbanism back in 2018. In 2022, when construction of the parking lot began, the city showed a new concept by LAP Studio, based on an earlier design from the MAU studio. The new version of Warsaw Insurgents' Square was not well received. As Kacper Kępinski wrote at the time, the representative square in the center of the capital was to start resembling a spatial misunderstanding - without the tall greenery and the previously announced café pavilion, but with booths on the axes of the most important streets.
Powstańców Warszawy Square, Land Use Plan
© LAP Studio | MAU Mycielski Architecture & Urbanism | UM Warszawsa
A to B, B to A
Several years have passed, cars have begun to park under Powstancow Warszawy Square, and the lawn above the parking lot has had time to grow and prepare for the coming winter. In the meantime, the city has presented yet another vision for the square, announcing that construction is about to begin, to be completed in 2026. Has the Warsaw Greenery Board, which is responsible for rebuilding the square, learned its lesson and prepared a concept that will turn out better than the one presented a few years ago?
It appears that the city has gone back to the original plan. Warsaw Insurgents Square has been divided into three zones. The first of these is Napoleon's Garden, which has already been done by Immobilier, the private investor responsible for building the underground parking lot. Why a Napoleon Square in the middle of Warsaw? It turns out that back in the interwar period, more specifically in 1921 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Bonaparte's death, today's Warsaw Insurgents' Square was named Napoleon Square. Moreover, a monument to the French emperor, destroyed during the war and restored to the square in 2011, was placed on its axis.
Warsaw Insurgents' Square in 2025, view of Napoleon's Garden
Napoleon in the heart of Warsaw
After yet another metamorphosis of the square, the monument returned to its place in the new Napoleon Garden, located in the southern part of the establishment, with the shorter side facing the Supreme Administrative Court building. The axial establishment was arranged "minimalistically", as if in the French fashion - with gravel paving, benches and the planting of 12 trees. The whole project was carried out in accordance with the MAU & Mycielski design, with the exception that on the north side the square was to be enclosed by a pavilion, provided for in the Local Development Plan for the site. In the end, a low flowerbed remained, which seems justified - the pavilion would have nullified the effect achieved by the axiality of the composition.
Powstancow Warszawy Square after the metamorphosis - the Garden of Music
© LAP Studio | Warsaw Greenery Board
garden of sounds, avenue of music
However, the real metamorphosis awaits the central and northern parts of Powstancow Warszawy Square. A Garden of Sounds is to be created in the center, at the level of Warecka Street, where the infamous lawn is now located. This is not a new idea - in a sense, its prototype was the Warsaw Insurgents' Square of 2017, when musical instruments such as drums, xylophone fragments and tubular bells appeared on the site. The installations were dismantled for the duration of the construction of the Underground Parking Lot, but - as ZZW assures, and in line with the original design - the devices will be back in the square when the work is completed.
Powstańców Warszawy Square after the metamorphosis
© LAP Studio | Warsaw Greenery Board
The Garden of Sounds will be a space flanked on the east and west by taller plantings, between which there will be a labyrinth with corridors defined by elevated flowerbeds. There will also be an Alley of Music on the west side, where the already mentioned instruments will be located.
Powstancow Warszawy Square after the metamorphosis
© LAP Studio | Warsaw Greenery Board
pergola into a pavilion
The most important change will probably be the creation of the Plac pod Pergolami, which will be located at the northern border of Powstańców Warszawy Square, on the side of Świętokrzyska Street. In the visualizations presented in 2019, it was in vain to look for this element, it seemed that the northern part of Powstancow Warszawy Square would remain dominated by the infrastructure of the subway and the parking lot located underground. Fortunately, as we saw with the release of new visualizations this year, the pergola is back. What function will it serve?
Powstańców Warszawy Square after the metamorphosis - Square under the Pergola
© LAP Studio | Warsaw Greenery Board
First and foremost, it will become a place worth stopping for in the Square - unlike the lawns that are there now, it will provide seating, a small square in the center, and protection from the rain in places. In addition, the pergola will help with the heat. As assured by the Warsaw Greenery Board, the structure will be overgrown with honeysuckle, Japanese vine and Chinese glycine (a total of 58 trees, including silver lime trees, Tatar maples and maple-leaf plane trees, 800 shrubs and several thousand perennials are to appear in Powstańców Warszawy Square, by the way).
The metamorphosis of Warsaw Insurgents' Square
© LAP Studio | Warsaw Greenery Board
The most important function, however, will be the viewing one - the pergola will help cover the pavilions that currently tower over Powstańców Warszawy Square. According to the visualization and the Land Use Plan included in the tender materials, both the toll booth and the entrance to the underground parking will be covered by the planned pergola. The massive building of the subway ventilation plant will, in turn, be surrounded by the pergola, which will effectively "exclude" it from the pedestrian perspective of the space. On the north side, the new arrangement of Powstancow Warszawy Square will be closed by a water curtain.
When will Powstancow Warszawy Square be green?
Is such a change needed? Certainly, after all, the lawn that is currently located between Swietokrzyska Street and Stanislaw Moniuszki Street is neither suitable for the rank of the place nor for use by residents, especially in summer, when it is futile to look for shade in the square. Was so much transformation needed to bring Powstańców Warszawy Square into a sensible form? We will find out in the spring of 2026.
