The essay reviews two recent initiatives connected with interwar Polish politics and its relations to the broad field of culture/architecture of the period. The author discusses the Polish edition of the collection of essays ”Estetyka dyskursu nacjonalistycznego w Polsce 1926–1939” [”Esthetics of Nationalistic Discourse in Poland 1926–1939”] edited by Ulrich Schmid (2014) and the 2013–2014 exhibition ”Reaction to Modernism: The Architecture of Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz” organised by Instytut Architektury and accompanied by the two books dedicated to the political role of this famous, celebrated Polish architect of the interwar period. The aim of the reviewer is to examine how authors of the discussed projects understand connections between the policies of the interwar Polish state, which include nationalism, projects of national identity and creation of public architecture, and the restoration of historic monuments or adaptation of modern-movement architecture in Poland. The social and political dimensions of design, construction and the functions of interwar public architecture in Poland have been studied mostly from the 1980s, and the following paper recalls several groundbreaking and recent volumes dedicated to the issue. Comparing books and the exhibition, the essay is focused on the interconnections between architecture and ideology, state politics or propaganda, as portrayed by authors. As far as the recent studies have been focused on the social and ideological factors that determined the 1920s and 1930s architectural landscape in Poland, the essay discusses various methodologies and notions applied or quoted in the reviewed work, like Foucaultian ‘governmentality’, Herf’s ‘reactionary modernism’ or the broad issue of ‘modernism’ as a category relevant for architectural history. Stressing the importance of cultural and social frameworks for modern architectural history, the
author reevaluates critical notions of the discussed projects, seeking a more useful and pragmatic approach to the social history of interwar architecture in Poland.

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Historyk architektury, popularyzator wiedzy o zabytkach. Doktorant w Instytucie Historii Sztuki Uniwerstytetu Warszawskiego. Autor trzytomowego cyklu książkowego Zabytki miasta Turku i powiatu tureckiego (2009, 2014) oraz monografii ratusza kaliskiego (2014, na podstawie pracy magisterskiej), artykułów naukowych, popularnonaukowych oraz wydawnictw turystycznych. Przez kilka lat współpracował z portalem Warszawa1939​.pl. Główne zainteresowania badawcze: metodologia historii architektury, architektura euroatlantyckiego kręgu cywilizacyjnego XIX–XX wieku, szczególnie problematyka miejskiej kultury architektonicznej w wieku industrializacji, urbanistyka.