Sorry, but I have to admit to having a soft spot for the Palace of Culture and the surrounding Plac Defilad (Parade Square). Obviously its socialist realist grandeur makes many Poles all fidgety and sweaty in a way that non-Poles may find difficult to understand and every so often there are totally unreasonable calls to demolish it along with the equally fine and much later example of the Dworzec Centralny (Main Railway Station). At this point it may be useful to note that everyone hated the enormous 1950's Stadion Dziesieciolecia (10th Anniversary Stadium) on the other side of the Vistula and now that it has been demolished to make way for the super hi-tech new stadium everyone seems to talk fondly of the old gem!
Yesterday new city plans were leaked to the press concerning the redevelopment of the whole area around Plac Defilad and it would appear that the City Planning and Development Strategy Office have come up with a cunning plan which includes the building of four tower blocks varying in height from 250m to a staggering 300m. The Palace of Culture itself is only 231m high including the mast on the top of the building. So we can safely assume that part of the plan is an attempt to take the focus away from the Palace of Culture and place it in the shadows of buildings that will be temples to the 21st century's 'suited and booted' brigade. In-keeping with Poland's fixation with bigger, better, faster than anyone else today's 'Gazeta Wyborcza' is keen to point out that the 300m hi-rise will in fact be the tallest building in Europe and will be plonked on the site of one of the biggest squares in the world - Parade Square.
While on the subject of Parade Square another interesting and related article caught my eye concerning the call to change the name of the Square. Members of Donald Tusk's PO party have started a campaign to drop the original name as it conjures up images of Communist times and the enormous parades and events associated with that era. The proposal is to change the name to the fantastically original Fredyryk Chopin Square (not to be confused with Fredyryk Chopin Airport, estate, avenue, street, monument, hotel, museum, festival, chocolates etc.). The proposal also has the backing of PiS so it looks like for once they are all agreed on something, pity it's so trivial though. Supporters hope that all formalities and a vote can be rushed through parliament as soon as possible. Some even believe the name change can be brought in by the end of December.
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