Queen Juliana of the Netherlands is reputed to have described the Palace of
Culture and Science (Pałac Kultury i Nauki) as “modest but tasteful”. This
enormous building – a gift for the people of Warsaw from the nations of the USSR
– was built in 1952–5 to the design of a Russian architect, Lev Rudniev. At the
time, this monument to “the spirit of invention and social progress” was the
second tallest building in Europe. It resembles Moscow’s Socialist Realist tower
blocks, and although it has only 30 storeys, with its spire it is 230 m 68 cm
(750 ft) high. Its volume is over 800,000 cubic m (28 million cubic ft) and it
contains 40 million bricks. It is said to incorporate many architectural and
decorative elements taken from stately homes after World War II. Despite the
passage of time, this symbol of Soviet domination still provokes extreme
reactions, from admiration to demands for its demolition.