The New Center of Lodz project, also known as Kobro City, was presented in Berlin during the International Symposium on Cultural Diplomacy titled:  ‘Culture, globalisation and international relations in the following two decades.’

Unfortunately Minister Jacek Saryusz - Wolski couldn’t represent the City of Lodz because of his state of health. On behalf of Minister Jacek Saryusz – Wolski  the speech was given by Mr. Andrzej Walczak, the plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Lodz, who explained the idea of the Special Culture Zone suitable for the cultural diplomacy idea. The floor was also taken by Tomasz Sadzynski the Mayor of the City of Lodz who introduced Lodz as a candidate for the title of the European Capital of Culture in 2016. Rob Krier - a famous Luxemburg urban planner who prepared the master plan for the New Centre of Lodz, was a special guest during the whole presentation.

Andrzej Walczak: "Europe is still attractive, what isn’t so obvious concerning its age. It owns it not to strength – what within the past years we accept with growing anxiety – and even not to economy. Europe from at least the 19th century is an interesting partner because for individuals it has an attractive lifestyle to offer.  No matter if it’s Southern, Northern, Western or Eastern Europe, in most cases, this what we can call a European lifestyle is being realized in cities.

That is why a city, as a place of cultural transmission, is the aim of our project because cities are the main European attractions. Mainly – large cities. Cities are necessary points of trips around Europe. It is in cities, where travelers seek after attractions, the moments of a half magical enchantment, admiration resulting from the quantity and variety of incentives, from the intensity of local color. With no difficulty we could point out ten most attractive, most frequently visited cities in Europe. And it turns out that nothing has changed since over one hundred years ago: Paris, Rome, Berlin, Prague, Vienna.

Lodz - the Promised Land, the most dynamic city of the 19th century Europe, a place located not only in the center of Poland but also at the crossing of routes:  Paris –Moscow and Stockholm – Athens, was created thanks to the idea and project implemented with an unexpected success by one man, who drew out plots and on the basis of tax reliefs and government help, donated them to newcomers from all over Europe. Today we want to repeat this story. We want to return to our roots in the city where everything is possible. Because Lodz, “The Promised Land” by Nobelist Reymont, awarded for his literary output, is a specific city. A city where, like the characters of “The Promised Land”, a Pole, Jew, and a German say :”I have nothing, you have nothing so together we have just enough to build a factory”….or to implement a great idea.  

Using this courage of Lodz and the enterprise written in its history we create new European Lodz. Our project, which’s urban land development concept was designed in 2007 by a remarkable world famous Luxemburg master planner and  architect Rob Krier, is an attempt of trying out on our own skin if it’s possible to create new, attractive cities in Europe. Attractive not because of festive, unique events like the EXPO, but because of a constant, everyday way of city functioning. Effective diplomacy also does not depend on the most spectacular but only onetime actions.

Lodz’s project is based upon the “East -  West” concept. Consciously directed artistic, social, educational actions and the choice of right partners are to help in renewed integration, understanding and mutual enrichment of societies. “East and West” is something more than an ideological  integrated part of Europe. Profits coming from such an integration cannot be expressed by a spreadsheet formula of an economy account. The entirety, the fullness in each dimension is something more than a sum of parts. The Special Art Zone will promote its own formula: 1+1 = 11, proving the rules of synergy resulting from interaction.

The core of the Special Culture Zone with the Special Art Zone in its heart is not the will of commemorating Lodz’s past with architecture. We do not intend to build any monuments for the cultures and nations that used to live in Lodz. Such a project would be doomed to failure. Nor do we intend to resurrect the shadows of the past cultures. Simply, we want to use architecture, most naturally and reasonably, and congruently with the character of this city – to recover the lost time. What the core of this project boils down to is that the City will once again do the same things that once, led to its development, in the time when Lodz was the city of four cultures. We are creating a crossing of  German Street, Russian Street, Jewish Street, and a Polish Street and in its surroundings 180 plots with the representatives of world institutions, ambassadorships of subjects which will represent themselves through art and culture. This idea refers to the idea of national pavilions at the Venice Biennale with the exception that this place will function all the time and will not be subordinated to one leading idea. Contemporary special economic zones will completed by a zone in which the most important artistic achievements will be presented.

The glass cylinder of the Special Art Zone within designed by German architects from Möller Architecten is located precisely on the line of East and West. Because of its “transparency” it is a catalyst for an open, liberal society. The Special Art Zone is not only a symbolic form. It is a place – a building, in which a real European dialog referring to art and culture is to be implemented. The eastern elevation of the Special Art Zone is symbolically based on an artistic installation of the greatest post-war German  pop-art creator who designed his last work specially for our project. The Western elevation will be ended with the installation of one of the greatest Russian artists Ilia Kabakov, who with great enthusiasm decided to cooperate with us.   

In the contemporary world, it is not international relations, but rather inter-regional , individual, or local-level liaisons that are gaining significance. If one considers the rapidly growing role and rank of “culture diplomacy”, one cannot be certain where, in a few decades’ time, there will be the largest concentration of major “foreign” missions in Poland. The matter of making accurate choices, finding the best partners for this project, seems to be the key issue for the development and dynamics of Lodz. On equal terms, these might be cultural institutions, outstanding personalities, religious communities, missions form other cities, fairs, etc."