Katowice & Silesia

Katowice

& Silesia

For a change Silesia is sloughing off its old skin. The region was built on coal, but today it is reinventing itself, taking bold steps in culture and innovation. Here you will visit art centres in old coal mines and mingle with the crowd at some of Europe’s finest music festivals. Unique start-ups are also sprouting in Katowice. But in their quest for the new, Silesians aren’t forgetting what makes them special – rooted in a language different from the rest of the country, a mining tradition of hard work, and post-industrial architecture.

Here and away

 Katowice Airport – 24km  Prague – 330km

Bratislava – 270km

Vienna – 300km

Budapest – 310km

Overview

�� 1865  305 k  165 km2  5 199 PLN  58 k

Culture & Nature

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AbOVE: A concert at the Guido Coal Mine in Zabrze •

The backbone of the region is a string of cities linked by rail and tram routes: Katowice, Zabrze, Bytom, Chorzów, and many other post-industrial municipalities, each with its own unique character. Together, they make up the Metropolitan Association of Silesian Cities, a metroplex of nearly 3 million people popularly known as the ‘Silesian Metropolis’. Perhaps the best way to grasp the contrast between the Silesia of the past and the Silesia of today is to take an elevator deep into the historic Guido mine in Zabrze. Equipped with mining helmets and lanterns, visitors on Europe’s only suspension mining railway open to tourists can see what work in a coal mine in the 19th and 20th centuries looked like. Then, 320m below the surface, they can

The Katowice Cultural District is located on the grounds of the former Katowice Coal Mine, between the iconic ‘Spodek’ (AbOVE, ON ThE RIGhT) and the new buildings housing the International Congress Centre, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Silesian Museum (LEFT)•

enjoy liquid refreshments at the Pump Room pub or watch a performance at Teatr na Poziomie, Europe’s deepest stage.

A culture mine

Mining traditions are continued today by big Silesian companies of global reach, like Kopex and Famur, producing equipment for mines as far away as China. But when you look around, you will see fewer and fewer smokestacks belching ash into the atmosphere, and more and more cultural institutions. In Katowice, the capital of the Upper Silesia region, the old industrial powerhouse is still visible in the pre-war modernist architecture and the impressive projects from the Communist era, such as the arena known as ‘Spodek’ for its resemblance to a flying saucer. But if aliens were to land there today, they would find new and equally daring architectural miracles all around them: the new Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra concert hall, the International Congress Center, and the new Silesian Museum at the former Katowice mine (with a phenomenal collection of naive art). This cultural axis is the exciting new face of the post-industrial city.

Small homeland

The past is preserved at the unique industrial housing complexes of Giszowiec and Nikiszowiec, the characteristic red brick multi-family housing known locally as familoki.

These estates bear testimony to the complex history of the mineral-rich region of Silesia, which was attractive to the surrounding empires of Russia, Austria and Germany. They divided it up among themselves and ruled here until World War I. Subsequently the land was divided between Poland and Germany, until the entire region was incorporated into the Polish state in 1945. Through all the historical, economic and social turmoil, Silesia has been fortunate to have a people who are fascinated by their own ‘little homeland’. Silesians maintain their own language and are a group with a unique identity formed through the interaction of Polish and German influences. As it turns out, practicality, an emphasis on family, and an outstanding work ethic – the traits arising from the region’s mining tradition, also come in handy when designing architecture, establishing cafés and clubs, and organizing music festivals!•

Silesia from the backside

Przemo Łukasik – architect, (Medusa Group). Designer of the Bolko Loft (RIGhT), a critically-acclaimed house in an adapted lamp room of a former coal mine in Bytom, where he lives with his family.

Silesia is an area that can be read in various ways. I recommend approaching it from the backside, not via the obvious direction. Take a train ride, for example from Chorzów, through Ruda Śląska, to Bytom and Katowice, and examine the face Silesia presents to the railroad tracks. It’s a face that’s not rouged or powdered, with vulgar graffiti by football fans, grills in tiny backyards, and people who make no pretences about who they are. Outside the window are familoki, (AbOVE) brick housing for workers at plants along the coal route. It’s particularly fascinating for those who associate sightseeing with framing and cropping. You can snap intriguing photos every few metres.

Silesian ‘Alternatif turistik’ is a term that appeared a few years ago when the Kronika Centre for Contemporary Art in Bytom published Marcin Doś and Radek Ćwieląg’s guide to post-industrial areas. Buildings that until recently couldn’t even be photographed become (unofficially) accessible to visitors. I often explore these sites with a group that bands together on Internet forums. We move from one old factory to another on bicycles (OPPOSITE PAGE TOP), play turbo golf (OPPOSITE PAGE bOTTOM) there, and admire the beauty of the structures. One such building is the Szombierki Power Plant in Bytom, a fascinating structure with the same architectural and historical potential as the Silesian Museum at the disused Katowice coal mine. Like the rest of Silesia, it is still seeking a new scenario for itself. Perhaps it could be repurposed as a popular science exploratorium? •

Picnic on a slag heap

Michał Kubieniec and Dominik Tokarski – creators of the iconic Kato café-club and the Silesian design concept store Geszeft in Katowice’s Koszutka district.

In Katowice, post-war modernism can be found in many buildings from the Communist era which, as the writer Filip Springer aptly said were ‘misbegotten’. The Spodek, or flying saucer, is a symbol of the city, but there is also the 187m long Superjednostka (Superunit), modelled on Le Corbusier’s residential blocks, and Osiedle Tysiąclecia (aboVe), the estate named to commemorate

the Polish state’s millennium (popularly known as ‘Tauzen’). They’re for those who prefer innovative solutions over historic town squares.

Koszutka is the smallest district in Katowice, but fertile ground for grassroots initiatives, activists and new urban artisans. The informal ‘wake-up’ initiative Pobudka Koszutka operates here, along with Paweł Jaworski’s ‘Fix Your City’ association (Napraw Sobie Miasto). They organize neighbourhood festivals and local campaigns (lefT aboVe). In this neighbourhood you’ll find the best tailor in town, a shop with men’s fashion gadgets called Poszetka (lefT), the café/bakery Lokal (and the most interesting independent gallery, ‘Two Left Hands’ (Dwie Lewe Ręce), run by Maciej Skobel). Plus there’s lots of great vegetable stands, a traditional bazaar, a shop with Arab products, a fish-fry joint, and plenty of other interesting places.

Consider a picnic on a slag heap-a typically Silesian diversion. Slag heaps left over from coal mining have grown to become a feature of the landscape in Silesian cities and are used by the locals for picnics, barbecues and all-around relaxation.I recommend the slag heap in the Katowice district of Kostuchna, with the Boże Dary mine still operating underneath, and a vista of the far-off Tatra Mountains.

Off Festival, Tauron Nowa Muzyka and Ars Cameralis are festivals that stress ambitious music. They are also held at interesting sites, such as the Silesian Museum (former mine site), Dolina Trzech Stawów, or, like Ars Cameralis, at various spots all around Silesia.

For Silesian cuisine there’s the restaurant SITG in the lovely postindustrial Nikiszowiec and Karczma pod Młynem in Dąbrówka Mała. There you can try a classic Silesian dinner: roulade, cabbage and dumplings, washed down with fruit compote. Such a solid meal will give you strength to tour the city further! •

For those interested in touring the city in a less organized way, I suggest the Katowice mural route (bELOW RIGhT), glancing into courtyards revitalized in cooperation with the residents as part of the Plac na Glanc project (MIDDLE LEFT), seeking out urban neons, visiting the skate park in Paderewa, and finding interesting places to eat near Mariacka Street.

Take in a concert at Leśniczówka in the centre of the huge retro-tinged Park Śląski in Chorzów (bOTTOM LEFT). The concert hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra offers not only classical symphonies, but also regular performances by the New Music Orchestra, particularly premieres of new compositions. Sound Bureau Katowice brings together people experimenting with electronic music for regular workshops and performances.

What I like the most about Silesia is the combination of dynamic urbanization and nature. Apart from Park Śląski, I also recommend Dolina Trzech Stawów and the forests stretching south from Katowice toward Mikołów and Pszczyna, which you can explore for hours on bike.

Silesian design is interesting for its contemporary allusions to the history of the region, for example Sadza Soap (TOP RIGhT) or Brokat jewellery from coal, or the porcelain Spodek by Bogdan Kosak. You can stock up on original Silesian gadgets at Gryfnie (RIGhT), a shop run by Krzysztof and Klaudia Roksela, popularizers of the Silesian dialect•

Informal sightseeing

Karol Piekarski – a media expert who works for Katowice – City of Gardens Cultural Institution. Curator for the experimental Medialab Katowice project combining creative work with research and education.

Castle full of design

Cieszyn, capital of the Cieszyn Silesia micro-region, offers a stunning number of architectural landmarks from the Romanesque to Secession. But the city doesn’t just live off its past. It is also home to the Zamek Cieszyn (Cieszyn Castle) design institution (AbOVE & TOP). It’s a centre combining contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship, and disappearing professions with innovative technologies. It is the headquarters of the Silesian Design Cluster, which fosters cooperation between business and designers and is the originator of EIDD Design for All Europe, which promotes socially engaged design •

owice above and below ground

AbOVE: The Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra’s concert hall was designed by Tomasz Konior, and is considered to have some of the best acoustics in Europe •

Katowice above and below ground

View (OPPOSITE PAGE TOP) and cross section (bELOW) of the new Silesian Museum complex located at the site of the former Katowice Coal Mine. The 19th century mine has been merged with modern exhibition spaces located below-ground. The Silesian Museum’s main building boasts seven floors, three of which are underground •

Katowice’s tallest buildings and deepest coal mines 1934 Skyscraper 2003 Altus Skyscraper 1985 Province Office Tower 1981 Stalexport Skyscrapers1974 State Railway Building1968 hPR housing block 1935 Francuska 70 Office Tower 90 m 99 m 105 m 125 m 62 m 73 m 83 m

1890 Ferdynand Coal Mine 473 m 1913 Wujek Coal Mine 540 m 1934 Wujek Coal Mine 613 m 1962 Wujek Coal Mine 680 m 1970 Staszic Coal Mine 720 m 1981 Wujek Coal Mine 730 m 2011 MurckiStaszic Coal Mine 980 m