Nowa Huta: Kraków's Socialist Realism Suburb

As intended, the colourless concrete conurbation of Kraków's Nowa Huta district is the direct antithesis of the city's Old Town. Ornate architecture, cobbled lanes and tourist crowds? Not here.

Raising the Behemoth: The Building of Nowa Huta

Funded by the Soviet Union, Nowa Huta swallowed up a huge swathe of ideal agricultural land, and the ancient village of Kościelniki (as well as parts of Mogiła and Krzesławice) in an attempt to create an in-your-face proletarian opponent to intellectual, artsy-fartsy, fairytale Kraków . Though today a separate district and suburb of Kraków, Nowa Huta was conceived as a separate city entirely, completely self-sufficient and intended to be superior to its neighbour. The decision to build NH was rubber stamped on May 17, 1947 and over the next few years construction on the 'model city' for 100,000 people proceeded at breakneck speed. Built to impress, Nowa Huta featured wide, tree-lined avenues, parks, lakes and the officially sanctioned architectural style of the time - Socialist Realism . Nowa Huta’s architects strove to construct the ideal city, with ironic inspiration coming from the neighbourhood blocks built in 1920s New York (that decadent and despicable western metropolis). Careful planning was key, and the city was designed with ‘