Historic Buildings of the Warsaw University of Technology - Selected Issues of Renovation, Modernisation and Adaptation

Abstract

The historic buildings of the Warsaw University of Technology display not only outstanding architectural values, but are also representative of the trends in preservation, restoration, and adaptation that were prevalent at the time of their modernization. The post-war rebuilding of the WUT was more akin to modernization than reconstruction. But the freedom to shape modern architectural forms in the 1960s and ’70s brought with it a lack of respect for their historic environment. A change in the approach to historic buildings and their integration with modern architecture came in the late 1970s. The most recent modernization of the WUT’s historic buildings, especially after Poland’s accession to the EU, resulted in many good examples of proper, harmonious integration between the ‘modern’ and the ‘traditional’.