Wroclaw: Architectural Guide

Wrocław is one of the oldest cities in Poland with a long and turbulent history that is manifest on every corner. Throughout the ages, the city has been passed from hand to hand in many different circumstances. The city has belonged to the Poles, the Czechs, the Hungarians and the Germans. After the Second World War it was incorporated into the Republic of Poland. Although almost seventy percent of its urban fabric was destroyed, Wrocław managed to rise from the ruins and now boasts many an architectural monument. The city currently features nearly eight thousand tenements – one of the largest complexes of this type found in Europe. This publication comprises a compelling selection of more than 150 buildings – from avant-garde residential blocks dating from the 1960s /1970s, which were designed by Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, to the Centennial Hall that was recognised by the American Getty Foundation as one of the ten most important examples of twentieth century modernism. Hans Scharoun’s house for single people and young marriages, comprising one of the fi rst split-level structures in the world, as well as contemporary projects proposed by Poland’s most renowned architects are also givenfocus.