Unhappy snapping

Developers often mouth platitudes about the important role they play in the revitalisation of cities and how much the buildings they develop contribute to our lives. They often tell us about the public spaces which they create with their own money...
And then problems arise. Like many people I have accounts on some social networking sites. I share photos of architecture on my profile on the Instagram site. I enjoy new buildings, I like taking photos of them and showing them to my friends. However, it is not always possible to photograph them freely. In shopping centres the security usually enforces a ban on photography - they force you out or ask you for a permit to take pictures. Fortunately, this is changing. In Stary Browar in Poznań I was recently photographing freely and nobody chased me away. It was the same in Złote Tarasy. But I still wanted to 'shoot' two unique interiors which have recently appeared in Warsaw. The first was the interior of the Ufficio Primo office building. This unique building (which was designed in 1952 by Marek Leykam) has recently been renovated by Kulczyk?Silverstein Properties. The second was the former cashiers' hall in the Senator office building, the construction of which has recently been finished by a developer with Belgian roots - Ghelamco Poland.
I was encouraged to go and see the buildings by the declarations of the developers themselves. "We strongly believe that it will be a building full of life, an important landmark on the business and cultural map of Warsaw," announced Piotr Krawczyński, the managing director of Kulczyk Silverstein Properties at the opening of Ufficio Primo. However, this important landmark on the business and cultural map of Warsaw is only accessible to the chosen ones. Just like in Poland's post-war Stalinist period. As I found out, an ordinary visitor can expect to be accosted by a brusque security guard at the steps leading into the building. "Where do you think you are going?" he roared at the door. "I would like to see the inside of this building," I explained politely. The answer? "Not allowed. It is a private area. Get lost!"

The restored former cashiers' hall of the Senator building leaves you breathless. Representatives of Ghelamco also emphasised that anyone would be able to enter it and see its extraordinary interior. As it turns out, these declarations need to be taken with a pinch of salt. On one of my walks I looked into Senator and photographed its interior with a mobile phone. The security intervened immediately. I have to admit that the gentlemen were very polite. They cordially asked me not take photographs and delete the ones I had taken... so my sightseeing of the cashiers' hall ended in a fiasco. Jarosław Zagórski of Ghelamco did explain to me that the reason for this was the fact that not everything is ready. Pictures of old Warsaw are to be put on the walls and some greenery is yet to appear in the lounge. Ghelamco assured us that everyone would be able to visit Senator once everything is finished and those who would like to take photos will not be chased away by the security. We will have to take their word for it.

I know what private property is. I also know that if I visit someone at their home, etiquette requires you to respect the rules of the host. However, I have a problem with public buildings. I simply do not understand the excessive attitude of the security. Why do such bans on photographing still even exist in the era of Google Street View (thanks to which it will soon be possible to ?go sightseeing' inside some buildings)? What kind of harm can anyone do by photographing modern architecture? And finally, how do these bans correspond to the declarations of developers themselves, who often taek any chance they can to make such a point of emphasising that they are creating spaces that are open to everyone?

Radosław Górecki