Warsaw’s Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych (FSO) was a staple of Polish industry for much of the 20th century. Starting in 1948, it produced four million cars over a 60-year period and hired more than 20,000 people each year. Shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the new Polish government privatized the plant; then General Motors bought FSO in 1994. Finally, in 2011, after a series of industrial agreements between the U. S. and South Korea, GM shut down the plant’s operations.
Now, the 6. 5-million-square-foot commercial site on the east bank of the Vistula River is slated for a new residential domain called FSO Park, a position city officials call the “green district of the future. “WXCA Architects is inspired by the teachings of urban planner Jan Gehl. Once completed, the new community will house 17,000 citizens in a walkable grid of mid-rise buildings, perched atop cozy streets and even lagoons that wind through the complex. Another 13,000 other people will find work in the community through 2050, the architects said.
While the construction project signals massive amounts of new construction, the architects also elected to preserve the site’s industrial history. Fragments of an original casting, assembly, and welding shops are retained. These fragments will frame the walls that line the future main square. To further amplify the industrial motif, the buildings have sawtooth roofs, a common early 20th-century form that allowed skylights to flood factory floors with light.
The task is being carried out in partnership with urban planners from SAWAWA, the Polish office and Buro Happold. The long-term community features a rational grid plan along a dominant axis: centered across a mile-long linear park serving 1 million square meters. meters of green area for residents. From the main axis, gridded blocks are located where homes, advertising areas and offices will be located.
According to the architects, this will create what new urban planners call a 15-minute city, where all the fundamental elements are available on foot or by bike. WXCA and SAWAWA have also proposed a new school complex with a sports and recreation campus in the central component of the neighborhood, spanning approximately 375,000 square feet.
To maximize the neighborhood’s pedestrian prospects, planners assigned a ring road to facilitate motor vehicle traffic. This ensures the protection of the central domain for pedestrians by minimizing vehicle traffic and making the domain environmentally friendly. This commitment to walkability is amplified through a One Hundred Percent Groundwater Retention Formula, Force Generation Formula, and Force Sharing Formula planned through Buro Happold to ensure the community is eco-friendly.
“The big challenge we set ourselves was to design an area that would facilitate networking and social connections within it. At WXCA, following Professor Jan Gehl, we believe that a city starts between buildings,” said Marta Sękulska-Wrońska, Executive Director of WXCA.
Małgorzata Dembowska, architect at WXCA, added: “This project poses a unique challenge as it puts before us the question of what should cities look like and how should they function in the coming decades. After all, what is modern today, may be outdated in 10 years’ time, which is why timeless values are at the very heart of the project, focused on the needs of individuals and the identity of the place.”
The first task is planned for 2026. Se expects more than 17,000 citizens to move to the community by 2050.