Cinema in the interwar period was an important institution of culture and entertainment. Films were shown in elegant, specially designed halls or on a sheet or in the backyard.

People went to the cinema en masse, and before the war, there were more of them in Warsaw than there are today. They looked different, they sounded different. And it was precisely then that a revolution in the art of film occurred – the advent of sound, along with a different design of cinema buildings. Warsaw had its outstanding designer of pre-war modernist cinemas. What were their characteristic features and what is happening to them today?

▪️Dariusz Błaszczyk
art historian, film and theater director, visual arts artist. Creator of short films, multimedia projects, video installations, director of the Polish Radio Theater (2010–2023). Author of the monographs 'Juliusz Żórawski. The Interrupted Work of Modernism' (2010), 'The Architecture of the Wojciech Bogusławski Theater in Kalisz' (2016), and 'The General's Brother. Jerzy Sosnkowski (1893–1954)' (2023). Curator of the exhibitions Goldberg & Rutkowski (2013, TR Warszawa), PROJEKT/RYSUNEK – graphics of architectural projects during the Second Polish Republic (2018, Gdynia Architecture Weekend), El hermano del General. Jerzy Sosnkowski / 1893 Warsaw – 1954 Buenos Aires (2023, Buenos Aires).

Warsaw for beginners. Lectures on the history of architecture.
▪️Where did Warsaw come from?
▪️In what architectural style were the most tenement houses designed?
▪️Who today resides in the rebuilt palaces?
▪️Where did the rivers of Warsaw flow?
▪️What is the origin of the MDM's creation?
Answers to these and many other interesting questions will be heard during eleven lectures, which will be delivered at the Zodiac by specialists in the history of Warsaw's architecture and space.

The cycle was prepared by the curatorial team from the Architecture Center Foundation (Agnieszka Rasmus, Filip Dańda, Anna Wrońska) and is intended for people who do not professionally engage with the topics of architecture or the history of Warsaw but would like to get to know their city better.

We invite you to the lectures from November 2024 to June 2025.