After the fall of the Iron Curtain, cities of the former Soviet Bloc experienced a rapid change from a central planned economy to a free-market society with similar problems to some developing nations with a rapidly increasing population and lack of adequate infrastructure, affordable housing, and urban planning.

Restituted Spaces by Piotr J. Lesniak is a skyscraper proposal for Warsaw which investigates the urban future of the site now occupied by the Palace of Culture and Science – a soviet skyscraper built by the an initiative of Joseph  Stalin in the 1950’s which completely neglected the existing urban fabric.

Restituted Spaces embraces the Palace with a map-like topography derived from the original master plan. The result is a hyper-dense high-rise structure that challenges the existing typologies of architectural form and organization. Funicular-like elevators and ramping streets act as an extension of the existing urban infrastructure – a three-dimensionally planned city with many possible urban scenarios. The program includes a new velodrome, a community centre, offices, residences, and art galleries.

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