Prudential

The Prudential Building in Warsaw is a striking downtown landmark built in the 1930s in the Art Deco style. Originally designed as an office building for an insurance company, it was the tallest building in the city when it was completed and, for a time, the second tallest in Europe. Its architecture is based on a steel frame, which remained standing through World War II and the Warsaw Uprising, when the building was badly damaged. After the war, it was rebuilt as a hotel in the Socialist Realist style before standing empty in the 2000s. A comprehensive renovation between 2010 and 2012 removed the later facade and restored the original 1930s look. Today, the building houses offices on the lower floors and apartments on the upper floors. Visitors can admire the historic facade and the building's architectural significance at the intersection of Świętokrzyska Street and Plac Powstańców Warszawy, where it stands as a symbol of modernism and of Warsaw's history of resistance.