Residential Districts of the Socialist Realism Period in Poland (1949-1956)

Architectural and urban projects in the countries of Eastern Europe after WWII were subordinated to political ideology, but also to the means of its implementation. The ideology of the communist party was realized through new forms of architecture and urban planning implemented in many war-ravaged and newly-built cities. This new, ideological architecture style was called socialist realism. The buildings of that period was to show the superiority of the new communist architecture over the modernist realizations of the interwar period. In many buildings, architectural solutions implemented were based on palace patterns, also numerous decorative elements, typical of Classicist architecture, were applied, enriched with themes of national architecture style. The urban systems created monumental spatial arrangements, often connected with industrial plants - steelworks, factories. The article will present chosen examples of housing estates complexes realized in socialist realism period in Poland (1949 - 1956). Keywords: Housing estates, Urban planning, Socialist realism, Postwar architecture, Polish architecture