Origins and development of General Building Design Bureau “Miastoprojekt Szczecin”

Abstract

The article focuses on the foundation and development of the biggest national General Building Design Bureau “Miastoprojekt Szczecin”, which had been active in the Polish Western Pomerania after World War Two. The case of GBDB Miastoprojekt Szczecin and its erection requires defining the circumstances favouring the foundation of a national enterprise- the whole transformation process after the end of World War Two and the creation of Polish People’s Republic. Initially the GBDB had been a department formally reported to a superior unit established in Warsaw (design bureaus were grouped in separate sections based on their field of activity and designated to certain regions). The GBDB’s creative activity had been divided into several time periods for clear depiction purposes. First one (1949 - 1952) included recovering the city from war damage, performing an inventory of the urban fabric along with phrasing new direction of spatial development. First urban and design studios were founded. Subsequent years (1953 - 1960) brought new implementations, the so-called “Infill construction” in particular, along with assembling the design documentation for future investments. The third period (1960s and 1970s) would consist of development of housing using the original industry technologies. During the time, large residential complexes were established in Szczecin, mainly in the outskirts. The last period (late 1980s and early 1990s) is a time of both social and political changes in the country, resulting with a major change in the way bureaus performed. “Hijacking” orders from the national design bureaus in order to offer the customers more time- and cost-effective services by private businesses gradually made GBDBs obsolete and closed down as a result. The article’s summary underlines that considering the multi-aspect subject matter of the architectural objects designed by GBDS “Miastoprojekt Szczecin”, it is possible to perform a relatively objective evaluation of the output of bureau’s architects and recognising their importance in shaping the modern Szczecin’s spatial order.