The “Relax” cinema on Zlota Street remains in the list of monuments. This is the decision of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. “We are extremely happy that more and more works of post-war modernism are included in the register,” said the conservator of Masovian monuments.
The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage has not changed the decision not to remove the building of the Relax cinema from the list of monuments. “The position was justified by the fact that the object in its current state of preservation has historical values, which is the basis for issuing the decision of the Conservator of Monuments of Masovian Region on May 20, 2019 to include it in the list of monuments. ,” the conservator of monuments of the province of Mazovia said in a message on social networks.
“We are extremely happy that more and more works of post-war modernism are included in the register of monuments, and thus they get legal protection,” added the conservator.
Removal from the municipal register of monuments
The building of the “Relax” cinema was supposed to be removed from the list of municipal monuments in October 2023 after the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court.
The sentence was the result of a decision of the Constitutional Court in May 2023, which stated that the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Monuments, on the basis of which presidents, city and town leaders include objects in the municipal register of monuments, violate the provisions of the Constitution. The procedure provided by the Law, which was used until now, was not intended to ensure the protection of the rights of the owners.
– The point was that the procedure for entering the GEZ is against the constitution. Namely, the regulations on the protection of monuments are not appropriate, because they do not guarantee the owners sufficient participation in the whole process. This is not a trial, but a technical and administrative activity, – noted the conservator of monuments of the capital, Michal Krasutsky.
It was built in 1970
The building of the “Relax” cinema was built in 1965-1970 according to the design of Zbigniew Vaclavek, in connection with the development of the Eastern Wall. The initial design of the cinema was approved in 1963.
The building of the “Relax” cinema combines popular culture (cinema) with high culture (theatre). The cinema building was connected to the city space. The interior of the building has a cinema hall located on the upper part of the ground and a theater stage located in the basement. The entrance to the theater was in the building of the “Junior” department store, on the side of the pedestrian crossing.
The name of the cinema was chosen in a plebiscite in 1970 by the readers of “Express Viekzorny”.
“Star Wars” in the cinema, Antigone in the theater
Relax Cinema in Warsaw was the first to show films recorded on 70 mm film with stereo sound on a large, curved screen.
Technical possibilities made it possible to organize premieres: in 1975, the cinema premiered the film “Promised Land” by Andrzej Wajda, and in 1979 “Star Wars” by George Lucas.
In turn, the theater showed, among other things, “Antigone” and “One Month in the Country” directed by Adam Hanushkevich and “Two Whites” (1975) directed by Tadeusz Mink.
Main photo source: WUOZ in Warsaw
