location: warsaw, poland
time: 1975-80
chomiczówką, chomiczówką, pierwsze wino, pierwsza wódka, mean that anything, (obviously something with vodka)
that song shows that there should be some character in this neighbourhood, but i didn’t experience so much of that. it was just a new example of colorful toy cities arisen from rehabilitation programs or the planner’s fantasy. but nothing significantly original. anyway, it looks pretty amazing on this photo, so maybe i was in too much of hurry (i just stepped of from an urban activist workshop, where i had the task to make beetroot paint), and didn’t discover the exciting parts.
but there are some nice picture, where concrete blocs become pastel scenes of fairy tales,
where the essence of warsaw housing feeling, the light green walls and rich vegetation are in present,
and some harder contours.
location: budapest, hungary
time: 1950-1980
firstly some background knowledge. csepel is an island on the river danube, situated close to the historical budapest. it was an industrial area from the beginning of the 20th century, and in the 1950s it became a shining comet of socialist industry. not an accident that it is usually called ‘red’ csepel, referring to the communist roots.
and the workers needed accommodation. there were built many types of housing unit during forty years of socialism, so the area has a diverse and colorful stock of socialist buildings. there are stalinistic buildings from the 1950s.
there are moderate modernist ones from 1960s, with lower number of levels, from cast concrete.
there are over dimensioned housing estates from the 1970s, with huge no man’s lands and depressing grey blocks.
as well, there are many examples of panel rehabilitation program, which tries to repair mistakes of original planning, and improve quality of life in these areas.
(new clothes and old clothes)
(organic design)
(different colors)
(transformers)
and there are facades which are colorful in themselves without any rehabilitation.
finally there are some which are exciting because of their spatial features.
this is poetry.
