Rubble Warsaw, 1945–1946: Urban Landscaping and Architectural Remains

Abstract

This paper is a contribution to the contemporary discussions around architectural materialities and the history of the immediate post-war period in the urban areas of Europe. The opening paragraphs include references to the artistic action The Cut which took place in 2015, exposed the anthropogenic strata in Warsaw’s landscape and acknowledged the continuous material existence of the city’s history within its soil. Focusing on rubble, debris and post-war architectural waste, the author presents the theoretical approach by referring to a broad shift in the humanities towards approaches oriented towards objects and particular materialities. The subsequent historical narrative centres on the problems of rubble clearing and utilisation in the early reconstruction period of Warsaw. It shows the views and operations aimed at the removal of the mass of rubble proposed by the architects from the Bureau for the Capital City Reconstruction (BOS) and the inhabitants returning to the ruined city in 1945. Mobilising both narratives, the paper presents problems and discussions related to rubble utilisation and removal. Referring to Maciej Nowicki’s unrealised design for Warsaw’s city centre and contrasting it with the oral testimonies of the city’s inhabitants, the article reveals the struggles and discussions that raged during that early stage of city reconstruction. Finally, through the use of various sources from geological mapping to archival materials, the paper aims to locate, describe and document the rubble landscapes located around the city of Warsaw. In the conclusion the author points out how the subject could be expanded and how rubble relates to contemporary discourses in the humanities.