Industria (non-)revitalised: Wrocław’s post-industrial architecture after 1989

Abstrakt

Polish cities went through a phase of accelerated deindustrialisation after the reforms of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which in many cases resulted in the immediate liquidation and destruction of industrial plants. The case was no different in Wroclaw. Despite several examples of successful adaptations, it can hardly be counted among cities that can boast revitalised post-industrial areas that play an important role in the city’s identity and promotion. The article includes case studies for the destruction of the City Port, the revitalisation of the “Krzywy Komin” Professional Development Centre and the Browar Mieszczanski (Burgeois Brewery), as well as the adaptation of the large-scale investments of the Browar Piastowski (Piast Brewery) and the Wroclaw Industrial Park, which have the potential to become festival marketplaces. Taking into account communication strategies, the influence of investors and the so-called creative class helped to answer the question of why post-industrial implementations comparable to Lodz’s Manufaktura have not been created in the Lower Silesian capital.