Stalin’s gift to Warsaw

Warsaw’s famous (and most controversial) high-rise is the sister of Moscow’s seven skyscrapers also known as “vysotkas”. The idea to build one in Poland belongs to Josef Stalin himself, and was communicated by Molotov during his visit to Warsaw in 1951. Warsaw’s chief architect Jozef Sigalin luckily (or not?) got forewarned by a telegram ahead of the meeting. He was informed that the soviet official might spontaneously bring up the subject of building a skyscraper in Warsaw. Sigalin was instructed to react positively, and so he did. When Molotov asked: “Would you like a high-rise building, just like one of ours, in Warsaw?” he replied “Why not?”. And so the 42-floor gift from the Soviet Union was built, forever changing Warsaw skyline. Even today despite many new towers on the horizon it remains the highest building in the city.