Giving with one hand...

Such a something has in the past been experienced by Orco Property Group and, recently, by Senatorska Investment, which plans to develop an office building on pl. Zamkowy in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw. One journal reported that the head of the architecture department of the district authorities concerned failed to inform her superior about the close blood relationship between her and one of the architects who prepared the construction design of the project. When this cat was finally out of the bag, the mayor of the city, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, took the decision to restart the building permit issuing process for the project at ul. Podwale 1. The preparations and the consultations that had taken place over a number of years were not enough for the city to give the go-ahead for a building to be developed in such a form. And it’s not as if it is even going to be situated in the historic Old Town quarter, while the neighbouring Krakowskie Przedmieście royal avenue after its recent facelift now resembles the kitsch and prettified streets of Disneyland rather than the historic heart of the city. Admittedly, the form of the building is not strikingly beautiful, but I cannot agree with the claim that it would be a local eyesore or any worse than the car park that has operated on the site for many years. The key argument of the opponents of the project is the fact that pl. Zamkowy, which the newly-built office facility would look out upon, is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List. However, has anybody actually asked themselves what this status would actually signify? Even if the building were located within this zone, it would only mean that it was included on the list and promoted by UNESCO. Being listed does not protect the facility in any way or provide it with any special subsidies. All it does is add a measure of prestige. I can only dream of the day when Warsaw will not only be known for its Palace of Science and Culture but instead for bold, modern architecture built in the neglected corners of the city that people these days only remember when someone tries to develop them. I can form in my mind’s eye a glass structure on Podwale along the old city walls encircling the Old Town – a building that would finally bring this part of the city into the 21st century with its futuristic structure. However, given the present reality there is little chance for such bold architecture to see the light of day. Coming back to the permits – or rather, the lack of them: eventually the governor of the province of Masovia did not agree with the mayor of Warsaw. And yet it was the same Jacek Kozłowski who revoked the permit for the Wzgórze Słowików estate in Warsaw’s Ursynów district in April 2013. This would not be strange if it were not for the fact that the construction of the estate had been completed and the developer was just about to hand over the keys to the apartments to their new owners. It turned out that the permit was challenged by someone who had bought a neighbouring plot with the impressive area of 58 sqm after the construction of the project started. Clearly the land had only been bought in order for the developer to buy it at an extortionate price. Ultimately, as in the previous case, the permit was reinstated. As you can see, revoking such documents makes little sense and only generates additional costs for developers and civil servants, as well as inflicting stress on future residents, as was the case with the residential estate. One day local government officials are simply going to have to learn that giving with one hand and taking away with the other leaves everyone else empty handed.