//
Photo: Nnb, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Warsaw's most recognizable landmark has a controversial history: it was constructed in the 1950s ostensibly as a "gift" from the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. The gargantuan building is home to various institutions, including three theatres, a multiplex cinema, the Museum of Technology and the Congress Hall (built for Communist Party congresses, but mostly used for entertainment purposes now). An observation deck in the top floor provides (windy) views in all directions, accessible via express elevators.
The Palace of Culture and Science is a notable high-rise building in central Warsaw, Poland. With a total height of 237 metres (778 ft), it is the second tallest building in both Warsaw and Poland, the eighth tallest building in the European Union and one of the tallest on the European continent. At the time of its completion in 1955, the Palace was the eighth tallest building in the world, retaining the position until 1961. Between 2000 and 2002, it was also the tallest clock tower in the world.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Technology Museum
A bit of a meta-museum, because it did not quite keep in with the times and became a fossizilied monument to old-style museums where you are not expected to experience or touch anything and just read the descriptions on the boards. That said, their collections of artifacts of all kinds of technologies are impressive, ranging from planes and cars to fully-functional scale models of steel mills and coal mines. Plus the purpose-built wing of the socialist Palace of Culture and Science is a splendid locale.
Ściana Wschodnia
The "Eastern Wall" is a complex of buildings designed to flank the eastern side of the Palace of Culture and form a buffer between it and the rebuilt historic part further east. There are three highrise residential towers, a string of department stores and a restored pedestrian passage with a number of retail and gastronomic outlets. A part of Warsaw where the grey communist past meets the bustling colourful present in a particularly striking way.