Warszawa (Warsaw)

In this collection of books about cities in the form of an alphabet, Warsaw occupies the letter W. The designer Grazka Lange was born in Warsaw, where she became a collector of objects. Her interests are extensive: her collections range from tiny liquor bottles of whimsical shapes and numerical spheres, to pencils on the verge of extinction, or bread baked in different ovens. The small containers that enclose these collections (cardboard, metal, plastic, wood, and leather boxes) form, simultaneously, another collection that has been invading every corner of the designer’s home.

During the Second World War, Warsaw was razed by the nazis and some parts of the city vanished completely. Some disparate objects were left here and there. At least one street was reconstructed thanks to Bernardo Bellotto, nephew of the painter Canaletto, who had meticulously traced its blueprint two hundred years ago. What about the rest? And the people? Is it possible to reconstruct a city from a series of objects? Can objects revive the people who disappeared long ago?

These must have been some of the questions Grazka Lange asked herself before embarking on this project. To answer them, she decided to gather this group of Varsovian authors, which includes journalists, poets, and authors of children’s books. Every comment, every news article, every memory shared, even if they are made up, serves to reconstruct a street, a square, or a building in Warsaw.