Mining for Embodied Coal

Building Material Reuse in the Postwar Reconstruction of Warsaw

Abstract

The conditions prevailing in Warsaw in the aftermath of World War II were ones of urban and industrial ruination, material scarcity and resource depletion. The way in which such conditions led to the development of a distinct urban strategy of energy conservation during the reconstruction period is the core subject matter of this paper. The presented investigation commences with the analysis of various types of calculation through which architects and engineers tried to grapple with rubble – a defining material feature of Warsaw’s ruined landscape. This then leads into a highlighting of the development of embodied-coal calculations, with consideration given to their role in securing the support of the socialist government for the recycling of rubble in architecture. The resulting argument offers a new historical entry point into a discussion of the circular economy in architecture, by embedding rubble recycling in the energy landscape of postwar reconstruction in Europe.