Walk in Warsaw: City Center
Palace of Culture and Science / Adam Stepień / Agencja Gazeta
Palace of Culture and Science
This is the tallest building in Poland at over 230m with 42 floors and 3288 rooms with a combined area of 123 084m2. Its consumption of electricity is equivalent to that of a small town of 30 000 inhabitants. In the year 2000 the second biggest clock in Europe, 6m in diameter, appeared near the top of the tower. The building houses offices, scientific institutions, a cinema, theatres and museums. All sorts of cultural events, concerts and exhibitions are organised here. The Youth Palace takes up some of the area which offers various activities for young and old alike - for example, theatre, art and music clubs. The last floor is home to 25 palace cats, whose job is to keep vermin under control. The cats are fed, cared for medically and sterilised as part of the Palace's budget. At the very top, one of the 10 pairs of falcons living wild in Poland have made their nests.
The PKiN (Palace of Culture and Science) was built in just 3 years and opened on 22nd July 1955. The building, which was a gift from the Russian nation, was inspired by Stalin himself and designed by famous Russian architect Lew Rudniew (architect of the Palace of Culture and Science in Riga and the Lomonsow University in Moscow). The edifice, influenced by New York sky scrapers and modern Russian architecture, was supposed to be a fusion of socialist realism, art deco and Polish historicism. Together with his team, Rudniew drew up 5 designs and at first, the Party decision-makers chose the concept of a building measuring 120 metres. However, in the end, they went for a building 67 metres taller, which, together with its spire, is just over 230 metres high. Construction officially began on 2 May 1952 and around 3500 Russian workers were employed of whom 16 were killed in accidents (according to official data).
2 days after the death of Joseph Stalin, the unfinished building was given his name. In a wave of national mourning the Warsaw authorities decided to build a monument to the dictator in the palace grounds. Fortunately, none of the projects (including a very bold design by Xawery Dunikowski) suited the tastes of the Party authorities and the plans were abolished. A few months after its opening, the palace became a favoured spot for committing suicide. The first to jump from the 30th floor was a French tourist. 7 Poles soon followed suit. To prevent a new tradition from being formed, the windows were all barred. The palace also soon became a popular feature of urban legends. In the 50s there were stories of mannequins sat in empty rooms in the palace, of a nuclear bunker in the basement, of a railway station in the palace and of secret corridors linking the palace with the Central Committee building (now the Warsaw Stock Exchange Building). Unfortunately none of these stories is true.