Anna Helena Przybyła on Unrealized Socialist Park Utopias in Poland
Anna Helena Przybyła presents her interdisciplinary research on the Park of Culture and Recreation concept in post-war Poland, examining the gap between Soviet-inspired utopian plans and their modest realizations. The lecture, part of the Exercising Modernity fellowship, covers projects in Warsaw and Upper Silesian industrial centers including Katowice, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Gliwice, and Sosnowiec. Przybyła combines archival design documentation, field research, painted sketches, and collages to contrast monumental visions with economic constraints of 1950s Poland. Many sites never fully acquired the intended characteristics, remaining suspended between design and execution.
Key facts
- Lecture by Anna Helena Przybyła titled '(UN)REALIZED UTOPIA'
- Part of the Exercising Modernity fellowship project
- Focuses on Park of Culture and Recreation concept in post-war Poland
- Concept originated in Soviet Union in 1920s-30s
- Research covers Warsaw and Upper Silesian cities: Katowice, Dąbrowa Górnicza, Gliwice, Sosnowiec
- Uses archival materials, field research, painted sketches, and collages
- Highlights clash between monumental visions and economic realities of 1950s Poland
- Many parks never fully acquired intended ideological functions
Entities
Artists
- Anna Helena Przybyła
Institutions
- Exercising Modernity fellowship
- NEWEAST
Locations
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- Warsaw
- Upper Silesia
- Katowice
- Dąbrowa Górnicza
- Gliwice
- Sosnowiec