Sejm and Senate Complex

Sejm and Senate Complex
The oval Meeting Hall
Location	Wiejska Street, Warsaw
Coordinates	52°13′31″N 21°01′42″E / 52.22528°N 21.02833°E / 52.22528; 21.02833
Built	1928, 1952
Architect	Kazimierz Skórewicz, Bohdan Pniewski
Architectural style(s)	Stripped Classicism, Modern
Location of Sejm and Senate Complex in Poland

Sejm and Senate Complex (

The building was constructed during the most expansive reconstructions of the Sejm, between 1949 and 1952. It consists of two-storey parts, connected by tunnels. The road heading to the main entrance is found below the building. Since 2016, on the wall opposite the main entrance, lay wall reliefs designed by Józef Gosławski from the 1950s.^[2]

• 
  Main entrance
• 
  Details carved into white sandstone
• 
  Main building

Main Hall

The Main Hall is found by the main entrance of the Sejm. Its three-tone, white-gray-black floor was made of

• 
  Main Hall
• 
  Hand rail detail
• 
  One of the plaques commemorating John Paul II's visit
• 
  Plaques commemorating the members of parliament killed during World War II
• 
  Plaque remembering those who died in the 2010 Polish Air Force catastrophe

Column Hall

Entrance into Column Hall

Interior of the Column Hall

To the left of the Main Hall is the Column Hall. Two glass doors with decorative forged grates lead to it. It is the second largest room, at 600 m², in the complex. It owes its name to the slim, symmetrical columns supporting the ceiling. Its marble floor is decorated with colourful rosettes of multicolored marble and golden chalcedony. The ceiling is decorated with stucco and a crystal candelabra, designed by Tadeusz Gronowski. After the restoration of the Senate's meeting place, between 1989 and May 1991, the Column Hall was the site of its meetings.^[4]

Sejm Meeting Hall

The Meeting Hall was constructed between May 1925 and March 1928, designed by Kazimierz Skórewicz. Except for the

The outer wall of the Meeting Hall is decorated with a frieze composed of eighteen stone plates with bas-reliefs made by Jan Biernacki and Jan Szczepkowski, symbolising inter alia: Liberation, craft, religion, fine arts, plowing, the press and education.

The Meeting Hall is the seat of the

• 
  Meeting Hall
• 
  Guest and press gallery
• 
  Ceiling
• 
  Lobbies of the Meeting Hall

Marshal Corridor

The Marshal Corridor links building C with buildings A and B. Its ceiling is supported by two rows of columns tapering downwards along the walls, which optically increase the length, height and width of the corridor. On both sides there are rooms providing entry into the Presidential and

After the renovation of the second Chamber of Parliament on April 7, 1989, the Senate convened alternately with the Sejm in the Chamber of Sejm, and then for one-and-a-half years in the Column Hall. For the purpose of the Upper Chamber, building A of the Senate Meeting Hall was adapted from a combination of three library rooms, located on the first floor of the building. In the central part of the building there is an oval staircase, to which, through the floor connector into building C, is the location of the Marshal Corridor.^[6] Its balustrade is made of iron rods, forged in the pattern of dry plant veal. The staircase is marked by the extraordinary dynamics of form. Perfectly visible from all sides of the lobby, it is the most iconic feature of the Senate building.

The adaptation of the former library building was carried out between autumn 1990 to spring 1991. The Main Hall was rebuilt using designs of Andrzej Kaliszewski, with the cooperation of Barbara Kaliszewska and Bogdan Napieralski. The designers referred to Bohdan Pniewski's designs from the 1950s, preserving the colours and modern-day features used in parliamentary rooms. The interior was decorated with bright colours, with pale-coloured walls and an oval plafond.^[7]

Sejm Commission building

The nineteenth-century building is located in the north-east of the Sejm complex. In the interwar period it was the seat of the Senate, and after the war the Chancellery of the State Council. There were plans for its adaptation into a parliamentary museum, but after the completion of the renovation work in 1992 it was decided that the Sejm Commission would be held there. The renovation, carried out in 1992, included a new interior design, carried out on the basis of architect's Aleksander Stępińska design.

Old House for Members of the Sejm

The former Sejm Hotel, now called the Old House for Members of the Sejm, was erected according to the design of Kazimierz Skórewicz. On the north side, the central axis of the building is characterised by a flat break with an oval corner. This building is connected to the Sejm Meeting Hall by a floor connector on the first floor, preserving the original balustrade attic. After the

The pre-war Sejm Hotel became too crowded across the years. The New House for Members of the Sejm was constructed on the basis of architect Małgorzata Handzelewicz-Wacławek's designs, with the cooperation of Andrzej Kaliszewski. The building was commissioned for use in the spring of 1989.^[9]

The building closes-in the Sejm complex to the north-west. The main hall of the new hotel extends over two floors of the hotel, connected by a stairway. There is a reception and ticket offices for:

In 2015, the conference room in the New House for Members of the Sejm, hosts the discussions of the Commission for Social Policy and the Family, named after Jacek Kuroń. At the entrance to the conference room there is a plaque commemorating four Members of Sejm and a member of the Chancellery of the Sejm, who died in a car accident in 1994.^[11]

Sejm Chapel

The patron of the Sejm Chapel is the

References