ARCHITECTURE OF BREST-ON-THE-BUG IN THE SECOND POLISH REPUBLIC

MICHAŁ PSZCZÓŁKOWSKI

In the interwar period Brest developed rapidly. At that time, the city was the capital of the Polesia voivodeship. Therefore, numerous administrative authorities had their headquarters here. It added to urban and architectural development of Brest. The task of great importance was to introduce monumental architecture and, consequently, to establish the urban image of the city. Splendid forms were to demonstrate power and stability of the Polish state. Another significant issue was to design housing estates for the Polish officials who appeared in Brest after 1918. The interwar architecture of Brest presents all the mainstream stylistic phenomena typical of that time: academic classicism, modern classicism, various national styles and, finally, pure functionalism. Even though the city was located in the borderlands and had to face problems of urban planning, its architecture presented quite high artistic level, especially in terms of public buildings. These were characterized with distinguished forms; and certain buildings were almost as impressive as the ones in Warsaw or other important cities in Poland. It is worth noticing that Brest was under influence of Warsaw, mainly because of the fact that several architects working here came from the capital of Poland. 

Keywords: Brest, Eastern Borderlands, interwar architecture, academic classicism, modern classicism, national styles, functionalism