Twelve million Poles live in housing estates consisting of blocks of flats, commonly referred to as “bloki”. Their existence is obvious to us. They are almost transparent, rather disliked, necessary. The documentary Bloki shows the deeper, unobvious aspects of these buildings and housing estates, their origins, inspirations, construction methods, redevelopment projects or demolition. It is not just a film about
architecture. Over the decades, the perception of blocks of flats by successive generations of Poles has changed: they have been both an object of our dreams and a place to flee from. What are they today? Bloki is a record of the complicated history of contemporary Poland.

The film consists of interviews with architects, builders, activists, decision-makers and residents of the blocks, as well as architecture critics, anthropologists and historians, who look at them from an outside perspective. It is the first feature-length, wide-ranging and multifaceted film devoted to the housing architecture in Poland from 1956 until today.

18:30 film screening: Bloki, dir. Konrad Królikowski, Poland 2017, 57’, PL/ENG

19:30 discussion after the screening: How does architecture design communities? PL only
Guests: Marta Joanna Erbel, Beata Chomątowska, moderated by: Agnieszka Obszańska