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Thursday 14th | Presentation of the project Architecture of the VII Day and Private Artist discussio

Architecture of the VII day

Between 1945 and 1989, despite the Communist state’s hostility towards religion, over 3,000 churches were built in Poland: the Architecture of the VII Day. Built by parishioners of scavenged and pirated materials, the churches were equally an expression of faith as they were a form of a protest against the government. Their fantastic designs were ruptures in the rigid urbanism of the centralized state. Neither legal nor prohibited, building churches engaged the most talented architects and craftsmen, who in turn enabled parish communities to build their own spaces of worship. Eventually, these communal projects became crucial sites in the democratization of Poland. The publication Architecture of the VII day discovers the history of these churches through photography, maps, archival research, and interviews of the builders. Looking to the future, the book documents strategies for grassroots, community-organized construction.

Project authors: Kuba Snopek, Izabela Cichońska, Karolina Popera

Kuba Snopek (born 1985) – urban planner and researcher. Kuba graduated in urban planning from Wrocław University of Technology and Strelka Institute in Moscow. He has worked on architectural, urban planning and research projects in Poland, Russia and Denmark. He taught and curated educational programs at the Strelka Institute in Moscow, Russia, and taught at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. His book “Belyayevo Forever,” on the preservation of intangible heritage, was published in English, Polish and Russian.


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