The dearest memento for posterity. History of the Parliamentary Complex on Wiejska Street

Introduction

 

I A magnificent building, elegantly and exemplarily furnished

Wiejska Street in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

 

II Festungslazarett II Marienstift

The First World War

 

III In this hour of the great beating of Polish hearts

The seat of the Legislative Sejm

 

IV In this hall, any deputy can vote on a motion for a death sentence on themselves

First Rebuilding Projects

 

V The structure reflects modernity

Design by Kazimierz Skórewicz

 

VI A place to regenerate before a parliamentary battle

Daily Life in the Sejm

 

VII The hall of the old Sejm: A true architectural masterpiece

Senate in the Second Republic of Poland

 

VIII The desire to commemorate the nation’s heroes gives rise to the need for monuments

Interior Decoration and Memorials

 

IX A place hallowed by the blood of Poles killed for the freedom of their country

The Second World War

 

X Under the window, Maciek Nowicki was daydreaming, contemplating and scribbling on a small piece of paper

Design by Maciej Nowicki

 

XI I based my design on the principles that apply to aircraft structures

Reconstruction of the Sejm Plenary Hall

 

XII Creating building that is deliberately small, something of a garden structure rather than a colossus glaring in this setting

Design by Bohdan Pniewski

 

XIII It is difficult to refer to any modernity because it is lacking here

The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s

 

XIV The gift of freedom regained

The Collapse of Communism and the 1990s

 

XV An attempt to arrange the space

The Competition of 2000 and the Expansion of the Parliamentary Complex

 

XVI We wish to include the Sejm in the group of institutions that perform the function of state patron of the arts

Recent Reconstructions and Changes in Decorations

 

Conclusion

The State of Research and Selected Further Reading