The Soc-star

The Soc-star by Joanna Rajkowska belongs to a group of works that engage in a dialogue with the history, space and social life of Białystok. Rajkowska created a design for the transformation of one of the key places on the city map: the Square of the Independent Students’ Association (until 2017 University Square, before the political breakthrough of 1989 m – Adam Próchnik Square). The square witnessed social and political processes; this was where events crucial to the history of the People’s Republic of Poland and the period just after the transformation took place. The key element of this urban complex is the Party House designed by Stanisław Bukowski (1953–1954). The square is also surrounded by symbols of the previous regime: the monument to the Heroes of Białystok (1975) and the Central department store (1976).

A few decades ago, the role of the square was reduced to a traffic junction with an imprecisely defined status; it is neither a roundabout nor a crossroads, and it is not friendly to pedestrians. Having analysed numerous iconographic materials, Rajkowska concluded that the square had once been a place that was lively and welcoming, with benches and flower beds to tempt the passers-by. In the socialist era, it played an important social role, the restoration of which is crucial to Rajkowska’s design.

The Soc-star was conceived as a venue for meetings, concerts and public debates. The centrepiece of the project is a platform in the shape of a slightly elevated five-pointed star constructed of red stone. It would be a self-sufficient structure in terms of energy, powered by solar or geothermal energy. Its temperature would stay above freezing, so that it would be a warm and dry place in which to shelter from wind and rain. It would be equipped with a pointed hood to protect from the scorching sun, as well as mobile blocks that could be moved as required.

Rajkowska’s proposal did not gain the approval of the city authorities; it never went beyond the design phase. Making a reference to the utopian works of the Soviet avant-garde, the architecture of Socialist Realism and the star-shaped bed of red flowers planted in the square just after the war, The Soc-star has an important historical dimension in addition to its functional aspect. While referring to the city’s communist past, it does not eulogise the system; it is intended to serve the memory of the dark side of history and its subsequent communal scrutiny.

Izabela Kopania
translated from Polish by Klaudyna Michałowicz