The title of the post (‘there will be no shame’) comes from the first line of an article in Super Express, which is to the major Polish tabloid Fakt as the Mirror is to the Sun (crappier print, less stories and more nudity), which breathlessly announces major renovations throughout Warsaw which will save the city from shame when millions of extra visitors come for the Euro 2012 championships.
Dariusz Wesełowski (46l.) is an extremely happy van driver, says the little photo accompaniment to the article. Major routes like the Poniatowski Bridge (ah my sweet, how I miss you from my days in Powiśle) Trasa łazienkowska, Zamoyski street and Zawiszy place and a number of other streets will all be getting makeovers from February onwards.
Mr Wesełowski forgot to mention from his van-based viewpoint that absolute eyesore that is Plac Defilad, the surrounding area around Stalin’s Middle Finger.
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| I went to Warsaw and all I got was this lousy view |
I’ve blogged about this area before. In short: it just looks crap. Clearly PzU is being read by the upper echelons of Polish power because this week Government Minister and twitterer in Chief Radek Sikorski called for The Finger to be torn down and replaced with a park/events space, due to the building’s cost and historical association with Sovietism.
Hear! Hear! Mr Gorboachov, tear down these walls! It’s the most critical space in Warsaw, it’s the place where the city’s heart should be, but isn’t. It’s a sorry excuse for a meeting point and affords a most ugly welcome to visitors, who all, at some point, spend time there or pass by.
It’s a space of nothing much at all plus a building which doesn’t really have much in it either.
It's a glorified car park and a mugger's paradise.
There are plans to build a museum of art in 2013 but looking at the designs, they've just plonked it in a bit of spare space out the front of The Finger, not good enough Polska!
It’s a space of nothing much at all plus a building which doesn’t really have much in it either.
It's a glorified car park and a mugger's paradise.
There are plans to build a museum of art in 2013 but looking at the designs, they've just plonked it in a bit of spare space out the front of The Finger, not good enough Polska!
But it occured to me that perhaps Mayor Hanna G-W may be being a little canny when it comes to Plac Defilad. Why spend a lot of money on a remont when, during the Championships, the area will turn into a UEFA Euro 2012 Championship FanZone©™ hosting up to 100,000 people?
A hundred thousand!
It’s going to be chaos.
You can bet your bottom zinzilla that with one hundred thousand fans of different nationalities and all the others that will be passing through the city that it’s going to be a place to avoid if you like the quiet life.
So perhaps the right time for turning it into a functional space which Warsaw can be proud of will be once the final official alcohol sponsor of the event has packed up and gone home?
After all, we wouldn’t want to contradict the widely held belief that Warsaw is an ugly city with a little bit of imagination and drive... would we?
My only problem with tearing it down is that it is the psychological symbol of Warsaw, like Paris's Eiffel Tower and, at one time, New York's Empire State Building.
ReplyDeleteMy solution would be to make a final symbolic gesture to the end of communism by simply flogging everything off to the highest bidder, with none of those socialist town planning constraints politicians are so found of, thereby letting pure capitalism decide the future.
Didn't I hear that they are going to be selling beer in the stadiums. "Only 3% alcohol" complained the Polish fans. but that's nearly normal English strength. British fans will be effectively sitting in a huge pub watching live football.
Steve
ReplyDeleteI quite like that idea Steve!
Let the private sector sort it out.
Paddy
The private sector without controls or guidance... one BIG advertising space for hire.
ReplyDelete