2006
January 23rd, 2006. Minus eighteen degrees Celsius. Few cars can be seen on the streets of Łódź, most of them stuck in huge snowdrifts. Ice-covered roads sparkle in the sun. At 10am, the notary office at Żwirki Street is still empty. Slowly, first journalists and reporters trickle in. Finally, the heroes of the day appear: American director David Lynch, architect and businessman Andrzej Walczak, and director of Camerimage film festival, Marek Żydowicz. They vanish behind the door. Peeping does not make much sense, as glass panes in the door are cut a way which distorts everything inside. Time passes slowly in the cool air filled with the aura of anxious waiting. At last, the door swings open. There are three men sitting behind a table, smiling. They have just founded a foundation. A forest of microphones springs up in front of them, photo journalists struggle to stand as close as possible.
‘Fundacja Sztuki Świata (Arts of the World Foundation) is a part of the process of building the new Łódź. We want to promote our city through art,’ Andrzej Walczak comments.
‘From the very first visit, I fell in love with Łódź, its atmosphere and buildings,’ David Lynch confesses. ‘When I saw Łódź factories, I nearly fainted, so beautiful they were. And the heat and power plant in the city centre is like a dream.’
This is how it all began.

The Foundation announces that it plans to open a centre of art in the closed down and abandoned EC1 heat and power plant, located at Targowa Street, right next to the railway station. On the 7th of February, Łódź and PKP S.A. (Polish State Railways) sign a master development agreement about cooperation regarding the area of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station. On the 31st of May, the City Council unanimously decide to give the building of the historic EC1 power plant to the World Art Foundation and earmark it as an art centre. On the 25th of November, the very first model of EC1 and the neighbouring area is ready with the plant chimney dominating over flat boxes representing buildings around the station. It is clear why David Lynch calls it a ‘chimney place.’


2007

Rob Krier, a Luxemburg-based town-planner and architect visits Łódź. A week before, on the 17th of January, Dariusz Pawłowski announced in Dziennik Łódzki (a local daily paper): ’Rob Krier, a world famous architect, the author of revitalisation of many European cities, will come to Łódź on the 26th of January at the invitation of Fundacja Sztuki Świata. Krier is creating a plan of land development in the area of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station which is situated next to the EC1 heat and power plant at Targowa Street. ’In this area, it is possible to create a new city centre without demolishing anything. The centre will attract tourists, investors and curious people from around the world,’ Walczak explains. ’The centre with a market which Łódź lacks. With a big and modern concert and festival hall. With a modern art museum. It is a huge project, encompassing hectares. Its implementation requires cooperation of local and regional authorities in winning investors and assets from the EU fundings.’

The town-planner spends three days in the city. He watches the city, contemplates it, drawing the first sketches, before he offers – as he calls it – to repair the urban tissue. Krier’s lecture entitled Jak buduje się miasto (How to build a city) at the Technical University of Łódź is attended by over five hundred people. The architect shows his projects. His ideas are not limited to single buildings but encompass large urban spaces, entire quarters and districts of the city. In an interview for Marta Skłodowska from Gazeta Wyborcza (a Polish daily paper), taken on the 5th of February, Krier spreads his vision: ’Industrial buildings in Łodź are of unique quality! What is more, the technical elements are just beautiful. The EC1 power plant, with all its Art Nouveau details, is a fine piece of genuine architecture, much more striking that the Pompidou Centre in Paris, a false image of which has little in common with its function. A city organism is like a human body. It has to breathe, think and rest. All these activities have to be brought back. The already existing facilities will be assigned cultural functions. Of course, we will supplement them with new buildings. This way, a new solution will emerge. Unique on a world scale, it will fit well into the traditions of Łódź. Common space, i.e. the market square, will be a very important element here.’ He also adds, ’I offered to help Łódź in preparation of a master plan. It is my speciality and I’ve worked on city reconstruction my entire life. Something special has to be created, as well as a spatial continuation of streets needs to be planned. Such a project requires support of all the groups which have something to say on the matter. Only a stable situation will make work on such a large area in the centre of the city possible.’

In March, Krier visits Łódź again to present his general plan for Łódź, just as he promised. ’A scale model of the city centre is ready, we can dig in a shovel,’ Jakub Wiewiórski comments in Gazeta Wyborcza on the 5th of March. In his article entitled ‘Celebrities will design Łódź. Krier, Libeskind, Gehry – the greatest architects of the world – will challenge each other in Poland,’ published in Dziennik Polska – Europa – Świat (a Polish daily paper) on the 14-15th of April, Maciej Stańczyk announces: ’Piotrkowska Street, regarded as a showcase of Łódź, will get a rival in just a few years. Two blocks away, on the 90-hectare area next to the Łódź Fabryczna railway station, in the vicinity of the local community centre (Łódzki Dom Kultury), the seat of the local TV station and a hundred-year-old heat and power plant, a new city centre will be created. Its purpose is to seize all sorts of culture initiatives. It will become the artistic heart of the city, visited by artists from around the world.’

May 30th, 2007. The City Council of Łódź passes a resolution concerning the project of ’Revitalisation of EC1 and its adaptation for cultural and artistic purposes‘ in order to strengthen the position of Łódź as a centre of culture of extraregional significance. The redeveloped industrial buildings will now be the cradle of creative energy. On the 31st of July, the city of Łódź and railway companies (PKP S.A. and PKL S.A.) sign a partnership agreement. It concerns development of the New Centre of Łódź project, creation of a special zone of art and culture, all in close relation to the historic complex of EC1 and the Łódź Fabryczna railway station. PKP S.A. and PLK S.A. undertake to rebuild the station so that it can be included in a cross-city line service for regional and high-speed trains running underground through the centre of Łódź. Both sides of the agreement will make efforts to gain funds for a project involving moving the railway between Łódź Widzew and Łódź Fabryczna stations underground. Planning works are based on the urban project by Rob Krier. On the 3rd of August, Jakub Wiewiórkowski states in his front-page article in Gazeta Wyborcza entitled Move the station underground, and culture – overground: ’In 6 years, travellers will get on and off the train at the underground Łódź Fabryczna coach and railway station. Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, the deputy mayor, announces that an agreement concerning creation of a new centre in the vicinity of the railway station and EC1 heat and power plant has been signed.’

In June, a delegation from Łódź, including Jerzy Kropiwnicki, the mayor of Łódź, Włodzimierz Fisiak, the voivodeship marshal, Krzysztof Candrowicz, the director of the Fotofestiwal, and Andrzej Walczak of the Arts of the World Foundation, went to Brussels in order to promote Łódź as a candidate to the title of the European Capital of Culture. Rob Krier, the author of the plan of new city centre in the vicinity of Łódź Fabryczna and EC1 is an honour member of the delegation of the Republic of Poland to the EU. ’I feel as if Łódź was my youngest child, needing a lot of my help. Łódź is more than beautiful front elevations, Poznański Palace and Scheibler. It is also all that is hidden a few meters further. Structures which need vigorous renovation,’ Krier confesses in his interview for Marta Skłodowska. ’There is no guarantee that Łódź will become the European Capital of Culture. We need to remember, though, that being a candidate alone is a remarkable feat. It is a boost of energy which the city needs in order to continue developing. It still requires very long preparations and a lot of sweat. Winning in 2016 would perfectly crown achievement of such efforts. Nothing happens just like that, however. Construction of the new city centre will take 15 years. Hence, we need to start as soon as possible. The culture and festival centre, providing space for such institutions as a museum of modern art, a theatre (also an experimental one), galleries or a space for concerts and continuation of grand film traditions of Łódź, is not the only essential element of the project. The modernised underground railway station, an integral part of the project, is also important. Thanks to it, it will be possible to reach Berlin by train without changes.’ On the 2nd of August, Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, the deputy mayor of Łódź, announces signing of a contract with the railway companies regarding construction of the new centre in the area of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station and EC1: the station and platforms will be situated underground, whereas the emptied ground level area will be used according to the spatial development project by Rob Krier.

28th of August, 2007. The City Council of Łódź unanimously approves the New Centre of Łódź Programme. In a preface to the resolution, we read: ’The area of the New Centre is to be created in the central part of the city, on the area of 90ha, surrounded by the following streets – Tuwima, Narutowicza, Sienkiewicza and Kopcińskiego. The area includes the Łódź Fabryczna railway station with all its facilities and surroundings, the very first place seen by a newcomer to Łódź. All endeavours related to moving the station and its infrastructure underground, and creation of modern transport solutions optimising transport services in the region, are of crucial importance. As a result, the functions of the city, regional and international transport will be combined in one central junction. The mail goal of the programme is to create a new, fully functional city centre with multiple public spaces, which will be created with the use of private capital.’

On the same day, Monika Kuc wrote in Rzeczpospolita (a Polish broadsheet): ’According to Krier, the city lives on streets and plazas. Hence, the central point of his project is Katarzyna Kobro’s market square. It will be easily converted into an open-air stage. The square will be surrounded by objects of culture. (...) Krier plans to situate the so called zone of art with a contemporary art centre and streets of four cultures on the opposite side of the square (the present railway area). The cultures – Polish, Jewish, Russian and German – will represent the traditional multiculturalism of the city.’

In August, the city opens an architectural contest for the Interactive Museum of Technology in the buildings of EC1 a bit younger than the one-hundred-year-old machine hall. At the press conference held in the City of Łódź Office on the 8th of November, the results of the contest are announced. A project by Biuro Realizacji Inwestycji “Fronton’ and Pracownia Architektoniczna Mirosława Wiśniewskiego wins. The jury (including prof. Krzysztof Pawłowski, head of the Institute of Architecture and Town-planning of the Technical University of Łódź and Marek Lisiak, the city architect) notices ’proper proportion in the amount of preserved elements of the authentic industrial equipment and new elements of the museum-exhibition-education programme‘ and ’the search for new forms of architecture directly related to the traditional development of Łódź city centre.’ Half a year later, the winning consortium and the city of Łódź sign a contract for the working plans and specifications of the Interactive Museum of Technology, which is to be created on the 3,5 ha area of EC1 West and EC1 South East.

Projects and visualisations of the New Centre of Łódź, including the entire EC1 complex, are presented in the City of Łódź Office on the 29th of November. Renata Sas writes on the 30th of November in Express Ilustrowany (a daily paper): ’They can be viewed, and opinions of Łódź people are most welcome. As Zbigniew Bińczyk of Biuro Realizacji Inwestycji Fronton (...) mentioned, the authors of the projects meant to respect most of what exists and destroy as little as possible.’ Michał Lenarciński joins her in Dziennik Łódzki: ’City authorities are delighted with the idea to create a new centre of Łódź in the area of EC1 (between Kilińskiego and Tuwima Streets, using the premises of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station). (...) The project will include: Special Zone of Culture, including the Special Zone of Art, Kobro Market Square, Congress and Festival Centre, as well as revitalisation and adaptation of EC1 for the purposes of culture and art.’ The city announces that it is waiting for Łódź people opinions regarding the project. For that purpose, a special questionnaire is published on the City of Łódź Office webpage. Andrzej Walczak of the Arts of the World Foundation presents the first EC1 jeans – ’trousers of extraordinary cotton (420 g in weight), dyed with real indigo. 4,444,444 pairs will be produced. They will be given to those who want to do something for the sake of art. (...) It may happen that they will be sold in order to collect funds for an artistic event. Selling 20,000 pieces of trousers could result in bringing a rock legend – Led Zeppelin – to Łódź!’ (an excerpt from the article entitled EC1, art and... trousers, published in Express Ilustrowany). Dziennik Łódzki: ‘Andrzej Walczak, the co-founder of the Arts of the World Foundation, informs that a campaign promoting the investment has already started. One of its elements is, already set in motion, collecting of books for the World Library. Celebrities will contribute five books each, in return receiving jeans manufactured especially for that occasion.’ In April 2008, the InStyle magazine writes: ’The first trousers which will sponsor Polish culture. Made of ecological cotton and dyed with Indian indigo.’

2008

1st of February, 2008. The Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Bogdan Zdrojewski, and the Minister of Infrastructure, Cezary Grabarczyk, visit Łódź. Here, they get familiar with the construction plans of the centre of culture in the vicinity of Łódź Fabryczna and EC1, where they head after the press conference in the Marshal’s Office. ’The EC1 development project is the most interesting from all the projects related to culture in Europe that I know. There is no other place, where there is such a huge space in the centre of the city, allowing for complex development,’ Zdrojewski says. He promises to support the project. Its quality will be seen in full only when it is completed.’

Also in February, the city announces the second contest for the Special Zone of Art. The main prize is PLN 150 000. The first edition, held in September, 2007, did not yield satisfactory results. ’None of the 6 projects which entered the contest satisfied our expectations. A museum at the heart of the new city centre has to be a special symbol, a place of unique attractiveness,’ Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, the deputy mayor, comments.

Marek Lisiak, the city architect, joins him: ’Although the idea of reconstruction of the centre of Łódź, including the project of changes in urban planning by Rob Krier, is well known in Poland (and in Europe, I believe), each individual action should still aim at its promotion.’ The mayor of Łódź, Jerzy Kropiwnicki, writes a letter with an invitation to participate in the contest: ’The City of Łódź Office announces an architectural contest for development of the Special Zone of Art, the first facility in the New Centre of Łódź. Its construction, in the vicinity of the Łódź Fabryczna railway station, was approved by the City Council. I am convinced that the contest will produce a project which will propose a new formula of art presentation. After the market square, set on the plans of the new city centre, I want, like most Łódź people do, to see the so much needed place of modern art – full of a spirit of the four cultures.’ A deadline for submission of contest works is set on the 6th of June. Two months prior to the date, 35 teams announce their participation. ’The contest is open. Everyone with a concept for the museum building can participate. It will be promoted in prestigious architectural journals.’ (Monika Pawlak, Dziennik Łódzki). ’We are waiting for a unique project since we want our Special Zone of Art to become the icon of Łódź, the archcathedral of art,’ Włodzimierz Tomaszewski, the deputy mayor, explains.

9th of Aprilh, 2008. The City Council founds an Institution of Culture EC1 Łódź – City of Culture, an institution meant to take care of the progress of the New Centre of Łódź programme. EC1 Łódź – City of Culture will coordinate work in the New Centre of Łódź, revitalisation of historic buildings, cooperation with railway companies which take part in the project, and fund collecting. It might also organise culture events. Małgorzata Szpakowska-Korkiewicz, the director of the legal department of the City of Łódź Office, is the first director of the institution. She is then replaced by Adam Komorowski, the director of EC1 Łódź – City of Culture to this day.

26th of June, 2008. Architects and scientists who take part in the conference on revitalisation models in the cities of European heritage, organised by the Technical University of Łódź, visit the EC1 heat and power plant. ’This session coincides with one of the largest revitalisation projects in Łódź,’ Ireneusz Zbiciński, the Technical University of Łódź vice-rector, says during the conference opening. The entire morning session is devoted to the construction of the New Centre of Łódź in the area of EC1 and the Łódź Fabryczna railway station.

5th of July, 2008. Bogdan Zdrojewski, the Minister of Culture, and Cezary Grabarczyk, the Minister of Infrastructure, come to a hundred-year-old EC1 in order to see the results of the contest for the project of the Special Art Zone. A German team of Möller Architekten and Ingenieure BDA wins. They want to construct a translucent tube next to the Kobro Market Square. The tube will contain a rectangular building inside it. It was one of 19 projects assessed by the jury: chairman – prof. Marek Pabich from the Institute of Architecture of the Technical University of Łódź; vice-chairman – Gerhard Jürgen Blum-Kwiatkowski, the director of Museum Modern Art Hünfeld; contest juror – Marek Lisiak, the city architect; honour chairman – Roman Opałka, a world famous painter; jurors – Andrzej Walczak, Marek Żydowicz and Roman Wieszczek of the District Chamber of Architects. The winners are three cooperating studios, led by Charly Möller, an architect working in Kassel, Frankfurt and New York. They won the first prize for the ’clarity of form which distinguishes itself from the architectural and urban background; flexibility of functional solutions, necessary in a contemporary museum; search for spatial and exhibition-related links between the facility and its surroundings; simplicity and expression of building architecture as a sign of the city space.’ Before Bogdan Zdrojewski announces the winners, directors of PKP and Łódź authorities sign a contract approving a new transportation layout in the New Centre of Łódź. ’The transport junction will be reconstructed by 2013. The Łódź Fabryczna railway and coach station will be moved 16 m underground. When the new transport layout will be set, new facilities will be erected and some of the old ones (those which are in good enough condition) will be revitalised. (...) The idea to build the New Centre of Łódź in the city centre, now occupied by abandoned factories, warehouses, thicket, coal-yards and railway (as described on the EC1 webpage) started with the idea to create the Kobro Market Square. It is meant to be a place devoted to a famous sculptor of the interwar period, the wife of Władysław Strzemiński, an avant-garde artist. She was also a co-founder of the a.r. group, whose series originated the collection of the Łódź Museum of Art. Special Culture Zone, including the Special Art Zone building, will be created around the market square. In the east, the square will face a festival centre, whereas in the south it will touch the revitalised facilities of the heat and power plant. The Special Culture Zone will include the Special Zone of Art, surrounded with four streets named in relation to the multicultural traditions of Łódź: Polish, Jewish, German and Russian. Districts of culture representatives will be created in their area.’ (Anna Pawłowska, Dziennik Łódzki)

16th of September, 2008. The voivodeship council members unanimously pass the budget project for the Special Art Zone. They decide that the project will receive PLN 96.5 million. On the 24th of September, the City Council resolves that Łódź will contribute another PLN 96.5 million to the project. Łódź council members pass a resolution regarding partnership in the project of the Special Art Zone – Łódź will be the leading party, with Łódzkie voivodeship acting as a partner.

27th of October, 2008. City authorities and Möller Architekten + Ingenieure BDA sign a contract regarding design and author’s supervision over the Special Art Zone a coordination meeting regarding preparation of project documentation, held on the 13th of November, 2008, Andrzej Walczak gives content-related programme of the Special Art Zone to the city authorities, containing the idea and functional-utility programmes, and a graphic part. EC1 Lodz Foundation is registered on the 25th of November, 2008. Its goal is to continue what the Arts of the World Foundation started.

16th of December, 2008. EC1 Łódź – Miasto Kultury and the syndicate of SYSTRA AREP Ville and BBF Sp. z o.o. sign a contract regarding preparation of a feasibility study of land development in the area of the planned dig site (area of the railway station) and preparation of documentation to be used in application regarding EU funding of the New Centre of Łódź project. During the press conference held on the 29th of December, 2008, ‘Polish TGV’ is mentioned, i.e. high speed trains, reaching the top speed of 300 km/h. The Łódź Fabryczna railway station will be closed in 2010. Its functions will be then taken over– for the period of time needed to build the new underground Łódź Fabryczna – by the Łódź-Widzew railway station. In his article entitled Łódź at the heart of Europe, Jakub Wiewiórski writes that ‘four railway tracks will be constructed between Łódź Fabryczna and Łódź-Widzew railway stations. Two of them will be used for the Polish TGV, i.e. high speed trains connecting Łódź and Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław, whereas the remaining two will be used by the traditional rail.’ Anna Pawłowska of Dziennik Łódzki adds that ’works at Łódź Kaliska and Łódź Widzew railway stations will start next year. Łódź Widzew will service all trains which used to end their run at Łódź Fabryczna. The station building itself will disappear from the face of the earth. A new one will be built several metres below the ground level. In the future, it will be connected to the Łódź Kaliska railway station. ’First, we need to rebuild the surroundings of Łódź Widzew and Łódź Kaliska stations. (...) We will build new parking lots in cooperation with the city. There will be a new access road and several new buildings. What is more, a railway track connecting Łódż Kaliska and Łódź Widzew needs to be modernised so that the journey between them takes no more than 12 minutes. A similar project, involving moving a railway station below the ground, was made in Barcelona. Negotiations took 8 years, and talks with administration, railway and government representatives were the most difficult part. Łódź dealt with this task very quickly,’ Paweł Olczyk, the vice-chairman of PKP S.A., said. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, a member of the European Parliament who comes from Łódź, says that he plans to present an exhibition concerning the New Centre of Łódź in Brussels next year. On the 31st of December, 2008, the City of Łódź Office issues a construction permit for the complex of EC1 historic buildings.

2009

4th of February, 2009. Bogdan Zdrojewski, the Minister of Culture, assigns PLN 690 million of European funding to various culture projects. His press conference is transmitted live over the Internet. The minister informs that there are several projects remaining as a backup, but he mentions only one, the Special Art Zone. He says that ’it is a project which relies heavily on another infrastructure investment – railway.’

Everything depends on the start of the railway investment.

11th of March, 2009. Łódź authorities, PKP S.A. and PLK S.A. sign a contract regarding their common investment in the area of the New Centre of Łódź. The sides wanted to find legal forms which would allow them to search together for a strategic investor and conduct investment activities within the New Centre of Łódź project in cooperation. On the 19th of March, 2009, the Programme Council at the Institution of Culture EC1 Łódź – City of Culture has its first session. Its responsible, among others, for forming opinions and issuing applications in all issues related to statutory tasks of the institution.

1st of April, 2009. The Parliament Street exhibition is opened in the seat of the European Parliament. The exhibition promotes the Special Art Zone in Łódź. Five young architects from Łódź – Monika Bachmańska, Anna Dzwonecka, Arkadiusz Sarlej, Zofia Szajdzińska and Ewa Szczepańska – work with Eurodeputies on the facades of buildings which depict regions or cities of these deputies in a symbolic way. 14 facades of tenement houses are prepared for: Margie Sudre (France), Anna Ibrisagic (Sweden), Othmar Karas (Austria), Jean Marinescu (Romania), Doris Pack (Germany), Maria Petre (Romania), Corien Wortmann-Kool (the Netherlands) and for Poles – Jerzy Buzek, Małgorzata Handzlik, Filip Kaczmarek, Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, Zbigniew Zaleski, Jan Olbrycht and Tadeusz Zwiefka. Well before the opening, the street is roamed by Belgian students who visit the European Parliament. Polish ambassador in Belgium, Sławomir Czarlewski, and Polish ambassador at the EU, Jan Tombiński, are both present at the opening. The presentation is prepared by EC1 Lodz Foundation under the patronage of Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, who says: ’We want to promote Łódź in the EU as a city of culture, a city which is very European due to its multicultural tradition. At the same time, it is a city which has numerous ideas about culture, i.e. EC1. The exhibition differs from standard exhibitions since it is an interactive one, instead of just a sum of images or photos. For the moment, it is made of 14 facades – Łódź tenement houses. Each of them has been designed by a young architect from Łódź, basing on an interview with one particular Eurodeputy who described what he or she is proud of or what their country contributed to Europe. We called the exhibition The Parliament Street and gave it a subtitle –Łódź at the heart of Europe. We wish for it to live longer and lead us to the title of the European Capital of Culture in the year 2016. As a webpage, it will become a place of discussion on Europe – culture – Łódź. There are over 50 Eurodeputies on our list who want to join the project. More facades will be created, translating ideas into the language of images. The exhibition will be enlarged and displayed in the European Institute in Łódź.

14th of May, 2009. The mayor’s board approves guidelines regarding preparation of a Local Development Plan for the area between Narutowicza, Kopcińskiego and Tuwima streets, towards the east from the planned extension of Uniwersytecka street. A day later, the city issues an application to the Marshall’s Office regarding extra funding of the Revitalisation of EC1 and its adaptation for the purposes of culture and art project. The project is in the Indicative List of Major Projects of the Regional Operations Project of the Łódzkie Voivodeship for the years 2007-2013.

4th of June, 2009. The mayor’s board approves functional and spatial guidelines for the central part of the New Centre of Łódź. Materials provided by EC1 Lodz Foundation, the fruit of three years of work on the project, were used by Andrzej Walczak and Marek Lisiak to prepare the guidelines which are the basis for further development of the project in this area (among others, for the syndicate led by SYSTRA, preparing the feasibility study on behalf of the Institution of Culture EC1 Łódź – City of Culture).

8th of July, 2009. Łódź mayor, Jerzy Kropiwnicki, and PKP S.A. directors, Jacek Derwisiński and Grzegorz Nita, sign a notary act regarding the exchange of land between the city and the railways. The company handed 15,000 square meters over to the city of Łódź, in exchange for 12,000 square metres. Jerzy Kropiwnicki says: ’We are signing the first of many documents. It is all to settle the issue of ownership of the land where the New Centre of Łódź, the new Łódź Fabryczna station and the Łódź Fabryczna-Łódź Kaliska tunnel will be built. An agreement concerning common participation in the investment will be developed before the end of July.’