It’s an interesting question and makes for a lively debate about what we do with old and redundant buildings.
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| Industrial relic, 2026 |
Of course, in the past and sometimes even now the simple answer is to knock’em down and start again.
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| Old and new Whitworth Street, 1979 |
The Victorians, and Edwardians no less than their 18th century predecessors had no compulsion but to demolish the old in favour of the new.
And arriving in Manchester in the late 1960s I watched as the same policy was carried through with furious abandon, from stately office blocks, and grand warehouses to heaps of terraced properties.
What Mr. Hitler didn’t do, a collection of speculators, investors and city planners did, culminating with the Arndale Centre and the destruction of that warren of little streets, dark alleys and closed courts, with more than a few surprises .
It was an event that the Manchester novelist Harold Jacobson described as the elimination of an “expanse of eight city blocks, a wealth of secret alleyways, and the associations of all our lifetimes". *
Now it is easy to be sentimental about the loss of some of these buildings which were long past their sell by date but others with a bit of imagination, money and taste can be saved and given a new purpose and lease of life.
It might be a conversion into apartments or a public venue like Tate Modern in a former London power station, or the use of the old Pump House at Spinneyfields, to house The People’s History Museum or the stunning theatre in the Royal Exchange.
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| The past and present, looking towards London Road, 1979 |
All of which brings me to the rejuvenated Electronica Powiśle in Warsaw. The clue is in the name and its original use as a power station.
As its site says, here is “a unique space where history and modernity meet in one place. Choose what you truly enjoy – enter a world of exceptional brands, be surprised by the original flavors of our restaurants, or relax in one of our Day Spa & Wellness salons”. **
The history is pretty straightforward and began in 1904 with the construction of the power plant, “which was expanded in subsequent years, becoming one of the largest and most modern power plants in Poland”. ***
During the wartime occupation it “became the backdrop for the dramatic events of the Warsaw Uprising. [where] members of the resistance movement, primarily plant employees, worked tirelessly to maintain the city's power supply”.**
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| Industrial legacy, 2026 |
It closed in 2001 and its second coming started in 2016 when plans were developed to repurpose it into a Food Hall and retail venue.
Our Saul and Julia were keen to introduce us to the place and like other outlets in the city it was clean, interesting and busy. And as they say the quality can be judged not by the tourist trade like us, but the number of local residents who dropped in for a meal.
Later in the week we visited the amazing vegan Peaches restaurant in the Old Town but on that Friday we were out looking for a bit of fun and novelty and Electronica Powiśle supplied it.
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| Eating at Electronica Powiśle, 2026 |
And knowing we were getting some traditional Polish food later in the evening I went for a selection of Greek inspired food and given the sheer variety of what was on offer others in the group settled for everything from noodles, chips, and burgers to fish balls and rice.
But the real attraction for me were the left-over bits of industrial hardware which had been restored and gave a sense of what had once been here.
They are randomly distributed and offer a reminder to a building with history which has been saved.
Location; Elektrownia Powiśle, Dobra 42, 00-312, Warsaw
Pictures; Electronica Powiśle, Warsaw, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
*Jacobson, Harold, My Manchester, The Independent, December 30th, 1999
** Electronica Powiśle, https://elektrowniapowisle.com/en/
*** Electronica Powiśle, History, https://elektrowniapowisle.com/o-elektrowni/
