Town planning and socialist realism: new Academic District in Wroclaw (Poland) – unfinished projects from the 1950s

Socialist Realism was the standard method in Polish architectural design and urban planning between 1949 and 1956. This was a special period in Polish history – a time of intensive post-war reconstruction, introduction of a planned economy, and creation of a new political and social order. Socialist Realism was undoubtedly a ‘political style’, a tool for communist propaganda. Yet, in urban planning, apart from its excessive monumentality and axial symmetry, it was mostly dominated by universal models. These stemmed from the requirements to create clear compositional systems, use urban areas rationally, distribute housing, industry and commerce complexes functionally, and to pay attention to proper hygiene. Strong emphasis was also placed on the need to build new ‘centrally located social complexes that would dominate the space’ in historic cities, one of which is discussed in this article. The new Academic District was a visionary concept and attempts were made to bring it to life in Wroclaw – the largest city in the so-called Recovered Territories that became part of Poland after the Second World War. Due to the scale of the development, its estimated cost, and the political changes that took place in Poland in 1956, only a small part of the new district was built.