Bright future for the city center's gloomy passage

One of the city's most neglected landmarks, Pasaż Wiecha, will have its looks completely changed this year. Warsaw authorities have finally decided to give the investor, DTC Real Estate, the go-ahead to start renovation works in spring 2006.  DTC, the owner of the Wars and Sawa and Junior department stores that form one wall of the passage, has finally signed an agreement with Warsaw City Hall to lease the area for 30 years.

Architects Zbigniew Karpiński and Jan Klewin designed the passage. It used to be the capital's hot spot but with the passage of time the street deteriorated under the city's management, and last year DTC decided to take the initiative.

In autumn 2004, an architectural competition for a new concept for the passage was organized by the Association of Polish Architects in cooperation with Warsaw's chief architect's office. Then, the developer started cooperation with the winning architects, who were from the Maas, Bulanda and Mucha Architekci studio and Pracownia Projektowa Maćków. The project was ready by October 2005.

City Hall lingered over issuing the construction permit and insisted on keeping control over the passage, while demanding that DTC financed the modernization of three small squares in the area, arguing that they could not look different from the whole passage. Finally, both sides reached a compromise: DTC would provide City Hall with a project for the three squares, prepared by the same architects who worked on the passage's concept, but City Hall will finance the investment. It was also decided that the passage would be under DTC's management.

Agnieszka Barteczko