On the Architecture of Poznan´ in the Interwar Period Cover Image

O poznańskiej architekturze dwudziestolecia międzywojennego
On the Architecture of Poznan´ in the Interwar Period

Author(s): Szymon Piotr Kubiak
Subject(s): History
Published by: Instytut Zachodni im. Zygmunta Wojciechowskiego

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses selected aspects of the architecture in Poznań in the interwar period. Special emphasis is placed on the issue of the influence of German ideas that pervaded the works of the local architectural milieu which accepted them consciously, subconsciously or sometimes suppressed them from consciousness. On the one hand, this was due to the fact that Poznań designers were educated mostly in Berlin, Munich, Dresden or Karlsruhe. On the other hand, German ideas also proved attractive for architects who arrived from Galicia and knew them at least in theory from their education in Lvov, similarly to Viennese concepts. Among the many tendencies in the 1920s, the one that gained greatest prominence was the so-called ‘‘Um 1800’’ style codified by Paul Mebes in his famous book under the same title, but expressionistic transformations of historical, mostly modern styles, were also frequent. The 1930s were characterized by an overlapping of two discourses: functionalization of life in a great modern city and the conservation of its monuments. A significant contribution on the part of the Warsaw milieu must be noted, but business travels and knowledge of the latest textbooks pointed the attention of the Poznań architects to Poland’s closest western neighbour.

  • Issue Year: 327/2008
  • Issue No: 04
  • Page Range: 147-167
  • Page Count: 21
  • Language: Polish