Starachowice, Poland

Starachowice is a small town in the Świętokrzyskie region of Poland. The area has a long industrial history which owes much to the availability (and quality) of local iron ore: a steelworks, still in existence as a museum, occupies a central position in the township, and a large truck factory was opened following the second World War. Workers in these firms had to be accommodated - particularly those working at Star - and were given homes in prefabricated tenement structures, known in Polish as wielkie płyty (big plates), or colloquially bloky (blocks). Countless examples of this mode of development exist across Poland, and vary on the basis of height, form, colour, and orientation - Starachowice is just one example, and conveniently, my grandmother lives in one of these flats, which is where I stayed during my visit.

The block developments of Starachowice are primarily concentrated along the northern edge of the town, most likely due to the close proximity of the Star firm: they are located in the estates of Majówka, Skałka, Skarpa, Żeromskiego, and Wzgórze. Many of the buildings in question are positioned parallel to adjacent roads or paths, with this neat arrangement flanked by tracts of open space.

The Majówka estate diverges slightly from this, with three sets of buildings oriented away from the street 9 Maja, and instead overlooking (mostly) enclosed parklands. Small access-ways between buildings exist, but the structures themselves occupy street frontages. In two instances, large garage blocks are present to the south, enclosing these spaces further. I am told one of these garages has been converted to crisis housing, more 'popular' in winter than summer, in part because a stay in the facility necessitates abstaining from alcohol (see image below). I didn't see anyone here, though.

The green spaces between these buildings are assumed to be communal, and not restricted to those who live around them - they seem act as a shortcut between shops (generally kiosks) and home, noting a ribbon of detached housing to the north (as a side note, most of these blok buildings have a small shop or kiosk at ground level, so apartment-dwellers don't have to go far for groceries - those in houses, on the other hand, aren't so lucky).

Play equipment is present in one of the aforementioned reserves, although it is not immediately clear whether this is provided by some municipal authority, or the Polish equivalent of a body corporate (spółdzielnia mieszkaniowa). Strangely enough, I didn't see anyone using the space, despite it being a warm day during the summer vacation period. Maybe there's a bigger, better, and more enclosed park I don't know about.

A sign asks people to 'respect the green' by keeping their dogs away (zakaz wprowadzania psów).

To the west of the playground, on the southern side of an apartment building, is this trzepak situation. The symbol graffitied on the wall is a kotwica. 

For a town essentially built around post-war industry, I thought there would be more open space designed in line with this idea - areas of greenery adjacent to high-density housing, with some kind of passive surveillance treatment by way of enclosure (something which I would also assume to be congruent with the general vibe of a Soviet satellite state). I also thought they'd actually be used in some way. Maybe my timing was bad, I don't know, but I did see a huge congregation of people at a recently-opened, corporate-sponsored playground nearby - I'll blame that. As for the lack of internal reserves in Starachowice, I can't blame anything for that yet - it's a question for another time (or blog entry).

Victoria Kolankiewicz