A place built around an idea
The building at 1 Ludwiki Street was built between 1927 and 1929 as the Second Wawelberg Colony — another chapter in the remarkable social programme initiated by Hipolit and Ludwika Wawelberg.
The Wawelbergs believed that good housing could be part of a much broader idea: improving everyday life through education, culture, health and social support. Their first housing estate on Wola combined affordable homes with a school, nursery, medical care, baths, laundry and a reading room — an unusually comprehensive approach to social housing for its time.
After Hipolit’s death, Ludwika Wawelberg continued their philanthropic work. Together with their son Wacław, she supported the development of a second housing project intended for Warsaw’s less affluent intelligentsia. The street on which it stands was later named Ludwiki in her memory.
In 1933, the building at Ludwiki 1 became home to Public Lending Library No. 4 and a periodicals reading room, described as the most modern facility of its kind in Warsaw at the time. This connection with culture and education continues in Wola today — one of the district’s libraries bears the name of Ludwika Wawelberg.
The building survived the Second World War and remains a living residential community nearly a century after it was created.
Its history leaves us with a question that feels surprisingly contemporary:
How can the social idea behind this place become meaningful again today?
Ludwiki is not only a historic residential building. It is also a place where art is being created today, with several artists working in studios throughout the building.
My studio is one of these spaces — a working place for painting, experimentation and conversations around art.
The space also carries another layer of the building’s social history. Once connected with the everyday life of its residents, it can continue that tradition in a new way today — through art, conversation and exchange.
Opening the doors
In 2026, Ludwiki opened its doors as part of Warsaw’s Night of Museums.
Artists connected with the building opened their studios, while the basement became a temporary exhibition space. Art, music and conversations brought residents, artists and visitors together, revealing another side of Ludwiki — not only as a place to live and work, but as a place to meet.
For one evening, the building showed what can happen when its history, spaces and creative community come together.
WARSAW NIGHT OF MUSEUMS 2026 →