After 70 years, it has happened - real greenery has arrived in front of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. Central Square, designed by A-A Collective headed by Zygmunt Borawski, replaced the worn-out, non-functional Parade Square. The space, which for decades had been little more than an empty passageway, finally became an end in itself. What exactly has changed? And why can a seemingly "ordinary square" be one of the most important urban stories of recent years?
There was a long road to its creation - two architectural competitions, several local plans and many hours of discussion. In the end, however, it succeeded. The grand opening of the space for which the capital had been waiting for a long time took place on June 4 this year, on Warsaw Day. Although the new Central Square evokes different emotions, there is no doubt that it has forever changed the very center of Warsaw and added another brick to its green transformation.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
first of all, green
For decades, the central part of Plac Defilad was dominated by granite and concrete. One could look in vain for shade on it, provided only by a few trees growing there, accompanied by small clusters of shrubs and stretches of weedy lawns. With the completion of Central Square , however, the situation has changed 180 degrees. Now the granite pavement has gained a worthy, green company in the form of numerous trees, shrubs, low plantings and lawns.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
What's most impressive about Central Square is the number of trees that have been included. The lowest ones are two meters each, while the tallest ones - larches, gleditsias, elms, maples or cherimoyas - are up to nine meters tall. In addition to them, the square also saw the appearance of dogwoods, ginkgoes, tubercles, ash trees, beech trees and magnolias. In total, as many as 102 trees have been planted - although they don't look impressive yet, as time goes by they will begin to form a green canopy over the square. Although the planting of the trees caused some problems due to the large number of underground installations in the square, the grand specimens obviously did not end there.
Central Square in Warsaw
proj.: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
The large number of lawns is especially pleasing. While they don't support diversity as much (for which there was plenty of room anyway), they make the square space much more functional. After all, it's impossible to sit on a meticulously landscaped flower bed filled with flowers, perennials and other plantings. Central Square has plenty of places to sit - and not just park chairs or benches surrounding the trees. Residents have 3,500 square meters of lawn at their disposal.
Central Square in Warsaw
proj.: A-A Collective photo: A&B editorial staff
This is not to say that the grayness of the granite slabs is opposed only by the green, grassy expanses. In the Central Square space there is also quite a lot of space for flowerbeds, intricately woven from several thousand perennials and bulbs. These are located primarily in the northern and eastern parts of the Square, right next to the Museum of Modern Art. The colors of the flowers gain in intensity in contact with the snow-white facades of the MSN. To prevent the spread of unwanted species, the colorful plots were strewn with gravel.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
history written in cobblestones
In addition to the greenery, the main characters of the new Central Square are, of course, its paved parts. Several types of Strzegom granite slabs were used in the square - they are not just decorative, they also have a second, much more important role. One of the basic assumptions when designing the Central Square was to combine the present with the history of the space in front of the Palace of Culture and Science. The layout of the various pavements therefore refers to the way the place was developed even before the destruction of World War II. There used to be a lot of tenement houses there, built in quarters separated by streets that long ago disappeared from the map of Warsaw.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective photo: A&B editors
Different types of granite slabs mark the course of roads and accompanying sidewalks, as well as the outlines of the perimeter walls of former tenements. The courtyards have not been forgotten either - their former shapes are delineated by lawns and granite and basalt paving stones. The grid of streets does not coincide exactly with the axes of the former Defilad Square, making the new Central Square slightly asymmetrical and broken into many smaller spaces. This has a positive effect on the organization of the place - thanks to the "phantom" quarters, institutions located around the square will be able to have conventionally separated spaces.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective photo: editors A&B
The former layout of this part of the capital is also recalled by the metal plaques that have been set into the surface of the square. They inform precisely about the streets that ran through this place - Zlota, Zielona and Wielka Streets. The square is also crossed by a narrow ribbon of red stone, which recreates the course of the Warsaw Ghetto wall. In the northern part it suggestively disappears under the surface of a shallow pond, giving this accent an additional symbolic dimension.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
multitude of possibilities
All of this creates an interesting side effect - the fragmented, slightly asymmetrical space of Central Square can affect the people in it quite differently than empty, authoritatively symmetrical squares. In the case of the Warsaw square, the feeling could be amplified by the inhuman scale of the Palace of Culture. The variety with which the space of the Culture Square has been composed offers plenty of possibilities - there are large, flat areas where mass events will be held, as well as many points for spending time in a smaller group or alone. Want to sit on the lawn in the shade of a several-meter-high tree? There is plenty of space for that. Those who prefer more classic seating will find more than a hundred benches and chairs in Central Square, both individually and grouped in small clusters. A slightly more "refreshing" atmosphere will be provided by seats clustered around a small pond, while full exposure to the sun's rays can be expected by squatting on the steps of the Tribune of Honor.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
grand return of the grandstand
A great deal has been preserved from the previous square. In addition to the granite slabs that lined the pavement in front of the Palace of Culture, and are eventually to be used as the surface for the paths that run across the lawns, Central Square also features cleaned, historic candelabras from the 1950s, listed in the Register of Monuments by Prof. Jakub Lewicki in November 2023, as well as several sculptures. The biggest "comeback," however, was scored by the Tribune of Honor.
Central Square in Warsaw
proj.: A-A Collective photo: A&B editors
It was from it that Wladyslaw Gomulka spoke in October 1956, announcing the political thaw and destalinization. The massive structure was demolished last June, and the slabs covering it - including a slab with a communist eagle - were preserved and donated for restoration, even though the grandstand was never listed on the Register of Historic Places. They were then used to renovate the grandstand. In addition to the material itself, something else remained of the old structure - several slabs were deliberately not cleaned, still covered with an inscription proclaiming "THIS WAS HERE. 19.10.2017". Below lies the "Gray Man Monument," commemorating Piotr Szczęsny, who in 2017 committed an act of self-immolation in protest against the policies pursued by the authorities at the time.
Central Square in Warsaw
proj.: A-A Collective photo: editors of A&B
The grandstand itself has gained a touch of greenery. In the massive concrete pots inscribed in its structure, small plantings have appeared, including some not very tall trees, which will soon turn it into a large flowerbed with seats. Low shrubs have also been planted in front of the longest wall of the grandstand.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
The Tribune of Honor is also...a storage area. In the space of the square it is in vain to look for technical boxes, which are the bane of many public spaces, disrupting aesthetics and causing communication difficulties. In Central Square, the "sacred boxes" have been meticulously concealed behind panels imitating the stone from which the honor tribune is built.
Central Square in Warsaw
proj.: A-A Collective photo: editors of A&B
The grass is sticking out of your ankles!
In visualizations made available just a few years ago, the square looked a tad greener, especially around the Tribune of Honor. This is an effect that will be achieved soon, as the "missing" greenery will grow from between the paving stones. What is sometimes considered neglect will become another value of the Central Square, as part of its pavement has been laid in such a way that a lawn will grow in the grooves between the pavers. Already the first sprouting plants are looking out of them. Such a solution is not only a space for plants, but also an additional aid to retention, important especially for squares.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warsaw
some blue
There are doubts online about the conditions in which the trees and other plants planted in the square will grow. Contrary to appearances, however, they won't lack for water, as architects from A-A Collective made sure that all rainwater will be properly managed. Four large retention tanks have been installed beneath the surface of the square, which will help store rainfall from heavy rains, and then, thanks to automatic systems, water the greenery growing in the square.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
Warsaw's Central Square, by the way, is not only green, but also blue. In the northern part of the square, near the planned seat of the Variety Theater, there is a small pond with a fountain, surrounded by lawn on all sides. The pond has been designed to organically "merge" with the Central Square - there is no barrier in the form of a wall or ditch around it, and its dimensions are determined by the slight lowering of the surface level and the amount of water in the pond.
Central Square in Warsaw
design: A-A Collective © UM Warszawa
a seven-mile step in the right direction
Central Square will only look betterwith time. Today the numerous trees, though not small, do not yet look impressive. This is not at all surprising , since the square itself is a relatively large space of over 22,000 square meters, surrounded by equally large buildings. And there will be even more - on the eastern side, next to the Museum of Modern Art, the Variety Theater building is to be built by 2030 , completing this side of the square. The western side is likely to be more troublesome, with its ownership status still quite muddled. One thing can be taken for granted - it is already very good, andit will only get better.
