Adam Przywara // Rising from Rubble: Warsaw 1945–1949
The fellowship at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte will allow me to focus on completing my book, based on my PhD thesis, while also conducting a literature review to support my ongoing research on building material reuse in architectural history. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss my projects with the institute’s scholars as well as the diverse cohort of fellows.
A significant portion of my time at the institute will be dedicated to completing my first monograph, which situates postwar Warsaw as a focal point for debates on building material reuse, recycling, and landfilling in both historical and contemporary architecture. The book builds on my PhD research and incorporates insights gained from my postdoctoral project at the University of Fribourg (2023–25) and my experience curating the major historical exhibition Rising from Rubble: Warsaw 1945–1949, displayed at the Museum of Warsaw in 2023, which attracted nearly 20,000 visitors.
During the fellowship, I will co-chair a panel on building material reuse in modernity at the Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) in Atlanta, USA. This panel, convened in collaboration with Prof. Lionel Devlieger (Ghent University), marks an initial step toward consolidating existing historical reflections on the phenomenon and setting new research trajectories. The fellowship will provide me with the opportunity to conduct a literature review on the topic, with a particular focus on German-language scholarship on spolia, postwar debris, and demolition.
[Caption: Group of Soviet youth athletes salvaging bricks in the ruins of Warsaw, 1947, Wojskowa Agencja Prasowa (Military Photographic Agency), National Digital Archive, Poland (Creative Commons).]