Marszałkowska Residential District (MDM)

The Marszałkowska Residential District, known as MDM, is the grandest display of Socialist Realism in central Warsaw: monumental apartment blocks with arcades, attics and sculptures of workers lining Marszałkowska Street from Wilcza Street to Lublin Union Square. Built in 1950–1952 under the slogan "the people will move into the city centre", it is now one of the city's most fashionable neighbourhoods, with cafés under the arcades and Constitution Square at its heart.

History: Warsaw's answer to Moscow's Gorky Street

After the success of the W-Z Route in 1949, the authorities wanted a flagship project in the capital modelled on Gorky Street in Moscow or the Stalinallee in Berlin. The western frontage of Marszałkowska between Królewska and Koszykowa was demolished and the street widened; demolitions also hit part of the historic buildings around Wilcza, Lwowska, Koszykowa and Piękna streets. Because Varsovians were tired of new ministry buildings, the project was pointedly named a residential district.

Construction began on 1 August 1950 and the complex was officially opened on 22 July 1952. The first tenants moved into building 6B as early as 21 July 1951, after only nine months of work. It was designed by a team led by Józef Sigalin and Stanisław Jankowski, with Jan Knothe and Zygmunt Stępiński – all winners of first-class State Art Prizes. MDM also includes the Latawiec estate of 1953–1955, designed by Eleonora Sekrecka.

What to see

• Constitution Square (plac Konstytucji) – named in 1952. Instead of a traffic junction, the architects "hid" the converging streets under gateway passages and balanced the asymmetrical mouth of Waryńskiego Street with three huge lamp standards.
• Arcades and façades – wide arcades with lofty shop units, cladding of sandstone and polished granite, massive cornices. The façades on the square echo the Krasiński tenement on Małachowski Square.
• Sculptures and reliefs – dozens of figures representing the "leading working class", as the Socialist Realist canon demanded. On the building at Koszykowa 34/50 you will see allegories of Music, Fine Arts and Theatre.
• Saviour Square (plac Zbawiciela) – it was meant to become a regular Neoclassical ensemble, but this was only partly carried out; the Church of the Holy Saviour remained off the street's axis.

Did you know

In one of the designs, Jan Knothe proposed pulling down the towers of the Church of the Holy Saviour – fortunately this never happened. MDM even has its own mass song, "MDM", from 1953. The road to heritage protection was bumpy: the listings of 2015 and 2016 were overturned after appeals by residents' associations, and the complex was finally entered on the heritage register only in 2017. In 2023 the mosaics in the Złota Kurka milk bar on MDM were listed as well.

Tripto tips

• Walking route: start at Saviour Square and walk north along Marszałkowska through Constitution Square to Wilcza – about a kilometre, or 45–60 minutes with plenty of looking up at the sculptures.
• Best time: the afternoon, when the sun lights up the western frontage; in the evening Constitution Square comes alive thanks to the bars and restaurants under the arcades.
• Getting there: Politechnika metro station (M1) and many tram lines on Saviour Square and Marszałkowska.
• Etiquette: this is a living residential district – courtyards and staircases are private, so admire them from the street.