The Manufaktura is an arts centre, shopping mall, and leisure complex in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. A major tourist asset of the city, it includes the largest public square in Łódź, which acts as a venue for cultural and sports events. (pp. 282-283) The Manufaktura opened on 17 May 2006, after 5 years of planning and the subsequent 4 years of construction. The total area of the complex is . The work involved the renovation of an old textile factory building. The Manufaktura is located in the central part of the city, in the former industrial complex founded by Izrael Poznański, which is known also as the filming location of the novel by

Władysław Reymont Władysław Stanisław Reymont (, born Rejment; 7 May 1867 – 5 December 1925) was a Polish novelist and the 1924 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature. His best-known work is the award-winning four-volume novel '' Chłopi'' (''The Peasant ...

titled '' The Promised Land'' about the industrialization of the city of Łódź.

Organization

The revival was aimed at preserving the place's historical atmosphere, which is why the Manufaktura is now dominated by genuine industrial architecture, with unplastered red brick buildings. The complex's trademark is the old, five-storey

spinning mill Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

in Ogrodowa Street, built between 1877 and 1878 (which explains the name of the complex). In 2009, a four-star Andel's hotel opened there. All the other buildings of the complex keep a similar style, but are of a lesser size. The exception to this is the main shopping hall, which is a brand-new structure made of glass and steel. It is lower than the surrounding brick buildings, and therefore, it cannot be seen from the outside. One of the entrances to the Manufaktura complex leads through the ancient,

triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...

-like gate of the old spinning mill. The whole complex, with its concept of mixing the old and the new, was designed by the British firm Virgile & Stone from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, in collaboration with the French architecture firm Sud Architectes from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. The original industrial buildings were designed by the famous Łódź architect Hilary Majewski in 1872.

Services

The Manufaktura hosts over 300 stores, malls, restaurants, pastry shops, cafes, pubs and other services. The service sector extends over 12,000 m². The entire complex has a surface of 270,000 m², making it Poland's second largest only to the Old Market Square in Kraków. Its large square features Europe's longest fountain at 300 meters. Clients can go along the complex with two trambuses. Besides the commercial area, the Manufaktura includes a restaurant complex, car parks, a cultural centre (including the MS2 branch of The Museum of Art in Łódź, a science museum, a Factory Museum, and the Museum of the City of Łódź – the last of which is situated in the neighbouring

Izrael Poznański Palace The Izrael Poznański Palace ( pl, Pałac Izraela Poznańskiego) is a 19th-century palace in Łódź, Poland. Initially the site of a tenement building, the property was transformed into a Neo-Renaissance and Neo-baroque style residence during th ...

), and an entertainment centre (featuring a multiplex cinema, a bowling alley, a climbing wall, a fitness club, and a skatepark). Centrum Handlowe Manufaktura w Łodzi 05

References

The Manufaktura's website in English. Featuring Timeline of history, 1851–2006
at En.Manufaktura.com {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Łódź Brick buildings and structures Shopping malls in Poland Shopping malls established in 2006 2006 establishments in Poland Mixed-use developments in Poland Adaptive reuse of industrial structures in Poland Retail parks in Europe

Organization

Services

See also

References