Everything changes

Everyone is standing to attention, the streets have been cleaned, the litter bins are no longer overflowing and everything is green and beautiful. In the last 25 years Warsaw has changed beyond recognition. From the shabby, post-communist city it was then, it has metamorphosed into a thriving metropolis. I remember when the first McDonald’s opened in the city in 1992 – and it is astonishing to think that such important and famous people as Agnieszka Osiecka and Jacek Kuroń took part in the opening ceremony. Well, the introduction of the free market was a significant event. When I first entered this fast food emporium to finally find out what this miraculous western invention, the Big Mac, tasted like, the most important thing for me was the brightly coloured balloon I was given by a clown. At the time anything colourful was an object of wonder, since there was such a lack of colour on our streets and in our lives. Sometimes I think we have completely forgotten just how bad things were. Some people even look back fondly on those days and compare today’s reality unfavourably to them. This is why the latest burning of the rainbow of tolerance on pl. Zbawiciela by nationalists who want to turn the clock back annoyed me so much. Let’s allow the city to thrive and develop, and let’s bring some colour into the place. According to my recollection, the 1990s were also a time of ubiquitous camp beds used as makeshift tables to sell shoddy goods usually brought from over the Eastern border. These could be seen everywhere: in subways and on major roundabouts, and on the main boulevards as well as the smaller side-streets. The products offered by these entrepreneurs were often broken, useless and always very vulgar. Those who say that the area around the Palace of Culture has changed little over the years are also mistaken. Thousands of street stalls, offering cheap – often Chinese – clothing, was a blot on the square for years. The amount of mess and dirt generated in the course of one business day was staggering. However, the first signs of civilisation did eventually start to emerge. The stalls were moved to the ugly but at least roofed KDT indoor market halls nearby, and the camp beds that littered the city were moved to the 10th Anniversary Stadium, as the city finally began to take its appearance seriously. When I started working for Eurobuild, the Złote Tarasy shopping centre was still under construction. Now, looking at the old picture we published in the last issue of the site, it is hard to believe that at one point it wasn’t there. Later we were able to watch the demolition of the KDT halls from our office windows, shortly after which Poland was one of the joint hosts of the Euro 2012 football championships. This also led to the removal of the outdoor market from the 10th Anniversary Stadium, which was then demolished and replaced by the new National Stadium. I cannot count all the projects we have written about over the years – the new office buildings, malls, warehouses and motorways. The construction of the second line of the underground will soon be finished, which will transform Warsaw once again, bringing the Praga district of the city closer to the centre. Everything changes, and we are no exception. This is true of who we are and what we strive for. I’d like to wish all of Eurobuild’s readers to be part of the transformation and not just witnesses of it. And I wish myself the same. Goodbye and perhaps I will be seeing you all again soon.