Text description provided by the architects. Szczecin is one of the largest victims of historical violence in Poland. Until 1945, the city lay within the borders of Germany, after which it was suddenly incorporated into Poland. Instant exchange of its population deconstructed the social fabric and distorted the city’s identity. Before the war, the current Solidarności Square was the showcase of the city, featuring a quarter of representative tenements, enclosed by the Konzerthaus in the North. During bombing raids of the Allied forces the quarter and its vicinity ceased to exist, creating a gap in the urban tissue. Furthermore, this fragment of the city was cut through by a transportation route. This quasi-square became the arena for worker protest in 1970, which was brutally pacified, and 16 protesters were killed. From that moment on, this place became a symbol of fight for freedom.
