Silesian Voivodeship Administration and Parliament Palace’s paternoster lift. Poland’s first steel construction skyscraper (arch. Tadeusz Kozłowski). The house of the doctor Kazimierz Wędlikowski (arch. Stanisław Gruszka). House of Education of the People’s Libraries Society (Silesian Library) - Art Deco style. Garrison Church of St Casimir - the first functionalist church in Poland with Art Deco interior.
We will learn that Silesia, or the Silesian (Śląskie) Voivodeship, was Poland’s wealthiest region between the wars and was famous for its mining and metallurgical industries. As many as 14 foreign consulates operated in the autonomous province. Katowice’s modernism is sometimes referred to as ‘black modernism’, with buildings blackened by smouldering factory chimneys and coal dust. Silesian Voivodeship Administration Palace has a working original lift and a gold reserve with water. “If a person tried to enter the vault,” says Dr Aneta Borowik, “he could be sure to be flooded by the water of the pool”. We will visit the roof terrace of the Węndlikowski’s residential building. Ryszard Węndlikowski, the grandson of Dr Kazimierz Węndlikowski, will tell us about his grandfather and the construction of the house, where original drawings have been preserved.