A new exhibition at London’s Calvert 22 Foundation reveals the hidden story of Poland’s extraordinary post-war churches.
Architects employed by state-run construction firms by day approached the design of these buildings as off-book passion projects, resulting in exuberant and ambitious structures that exist in dramatic contrast to the rural communities and regimented urban zones they occupy.
For Polish architect Kuba Snopek and co-curators Izabela Cichonska and Karolina Popera, the churches they had grown up around and barely noticed were suddenly revealed as an architectural curiosity — one that had been ‘completely omitted’ from the official curriculum, says Cichonska.
“Poland is ashamed of this sort of architecture because it’s not brilliant, but there’s this cool story in its roots, and the DNA of how it happened is fascinating,” she explains.
CNN
