Architect Agnieszka Tomaszewicz, in her commentary on the film “Cvartala” will introduce us to the context of the ideas and values of socialist realism embedded in architecture. These were ideas that were only indicated on paper, but also those that had a chance to manifest themselves in architecture and urban planning at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s.

We will hear about the origins of the style and the symbolism that permeated the designs of the time, created in the spirit of the doctrine that was supposed to promote the construction of a new, post-war society in the Eastern Bloc countries. We will look at the narratives that were used to feed the public through the construction of buildings and entire complexes in this style in Poland and Romania, and we will find out if there were any significant differences between the two countries in the implementation of these plans.

We will also verify for whom, in theory and in practice, new, high-quality spaces located close to city centers were built, and what kind of shared services, intended to influence the creation of a new socialist community, were located in the new housing estates.

The lecture is organized in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Poland.