1999 Photographs from Warsaw | Panoramic Photographs 1 2 3 4 5 | 1997 Photographs and Text from Warsaw | Poland Site Index | Home
Friday
morning, I was on an 8:00am express train from Kraków
to Warsaw. The ride was relatively quick, only 3 1/2 hours. I
walked a few blocks to the nearby Hotel Polonia and obtained
a room on a high floor. Outside my window and across the street
loomed the Cultural Center, a gift of the Soviet Union to the
citizens of Poland nearly 50 years ago.
At 1:00pm, I met Marek Baranski and we took the tram to the Conservation Institute where I would be making my presentation on architectural and preservation practice in the United States. A small group turned out for the event. In the questions following, the audience seemed most interested in two topics: the relationship between local and national preservation laws and the activity of citizens to support and protect their local buildings. Marek had suggested that the later topic would be of interest. I had purposely placed the recent preservation efforts to save Stiltsvile in my presentation to make that point. Not only were the buildings unique but over 30,000 people had shown support for their protection.
