Praga I Estate

Jagiellońska, Ratuszowa, Targowa, Cyril and Methodius streets, Warsaw
1948-1952

Located in the area of Nowa Praga, the Praga I estate was one of the first post-war developments of a residential complex in this part of Warsaw. The investment was initiated by the Zakład Osiedli Robotniczych (ZOR), which commissioned Szymon and Helena Syrkus to design the project. Implementation of the project began in 1948, based on the experience of the pre-war housing estate in Rakowiec and solutions similar to those used in the Koło housing estate project. What distinguished the design of the Praga blocks was the small scale limited to only three stories and the facades, which were finished with facing bricks. The galleried-type blocks with apartments accessible from external balconies were further diversified by curved breaks in the building’s shape, strongly projecting balconies and vertical volumes of staircases with generous glazing.
Attractive green areas were designed between the buildings, which were functionally connected by passages in the ground floors of the blocks. In the mid-1960s, part of this area was set aside for construction. The second phase of the estate was designed by Helena and Leszek Solonowicz and Stanislaw Solarski.

Archival photos – Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu (upper) + Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe/ Zbyszko Siemaszko (lower)
Exhibition photo – Katarzyna Średnicka