Bieńczyce Planty
Explorer of Kraków's Parks · no. 63
Park type: standard. In this park you can collect a stamp in the "Explorer of Kraków's Parks" campaign run by Kraków's Municipal Greenery Authority (ZZM).
History
Planty Bieńczyckie is a park covering 13.03 ha and stretching for almost 2 km between Okulickiego Street and Kocmyrzowska Street. It was designed as the main axis of the Bieńczyce Nowe scheme, which was to extend Nowa Huta to the north-west. The design was prepared by a team led by the Warsaw architect Jadwiga Guzicka, the competition was decided in 1959, and the housing estates were built in 1962-1979.
The park's greenery was meant to merge with the green courtyards between the housing blocks, and schools, nurseries, department stores, cultural centres and libraries were planned along the axis. The park was to be framed by tall blocks on pillars, up to eight storeys high, but this was never built, to save money.
Did you know?
On the Przy Arce estate stands the sculpture "Blossoming" by Józef Sękowski, known as "the Guitar", whose shape resembles a guitar with an openwork neck. Nearby is "Maturing II" by Wincenty Kućma, nicknamed "the Pea" because of its biomorphic form. Both sculptures were made in 1975.