“The City. Technosensitivity” Exhibition

City. Technosensitivity is more than a regular exhibition. It is an invitation to embark on a unique journey in time: into the past and into the future.

During that journey, we will take our visitors to the City, with a capital C. The goal is simple: to discover what makes the city the hustling and bustling center of social and cultural life and civilizational progress.

A technological portrait of the city painted carefully, with respect and affection

We look at the City from the perspective of 12 areas of engineering and technology. From hydrotechnology, energy engineering, heat engineering, industry and trade, and gas engineering, through architecture, urban planning and mobility, to security, communication, public health, and ecology.

We ask the key questions about the City then and now.

• Why did it come to be?
• How does it work?
• What makes it function efficiently?
• Has it always been functioning the same?
• How have the expectations of residents changed over the ages?
• What awaits cities in the future?

In answering these questions, we observe the City from the river and from the air. We look underground. We look into the sky. We also peek into factories and homes. All of this in order to make the visitors, no matter their age, experience the magic behind the seemingly ordinary everyday life in a modern city and better understand the cultural, technological, and civilizational changes that are taking place.

More than 600 unique technological artifacts as well as interactive experiences

The 600+ amazing technological artifacts include unique items, such as:

• an Edison phonograph,
• the first Polish telephones,
• a Feldfernschreiber cipher device,
• Marconi 4LS/1 and Olympic-Z radio sets,
• a luxury Capello Roma sound system,
• a Polish Fiat 508,
• an Odra 1305 computer.

We also present numerous replicas, models, mock-ups, audiovisual materials, and photos.

The LAB Area is a special place where you can conduct experiments on your own in order to understand the basics of the International System of Units.

When visiting the permanent exhibition, please consider popping over to Hall F, where historic tram cars are on display – click here for details.

City. Technosensitivity in a nutshell

• An exhibition on the history of the city and the way it has functioned over the ages.
• More than 600 engineering artifacts + replicas, mock-ups, AV materials, and photos.
• A LAB Area to conduct experiments on your own.
• Twelve areas of technology and engineering.
• The exhibition won the Sybilla 2023 Museum Event of the Year award in the New and Modernized Permanent Exhibitions category.
• The exhibition was prepared as part of the last stage of an EU project.

Planned exhibition

The exhibition will present the achievements of domestic motorisation against the backdrop of the difficult economic and social situation which our country faced throughout the 20th century.

The story will begin in the 1920s, – just after independence – in Poland almost devoid of cars and motorbikes. Visitors will learn about the various attempts to motorise Poles in the period after the Second World War. The authors of the exhibition will answer questions, such as why cars became popular in Poland only in the 1970s and with what and how they tried to replace them. The exhibition will end with events that are already happening today; it addresses issues related to globalisation, as well as the privatisation of the domestic automotive industry. The objects on display, including cars, motorbikes, and engines from the Museum’s collection, will be complemented by carefully selected photographs and films.

A technical route will be presented alongside the exhibition’s history route. The objects, such as moving and static models of vehicle components or infographics, will help to explain what sets vehicles in motion. A selection of solutions applied in vehicle design will also be presented.

The exhibition will not only allow us to trace the development of motorisation over more than a century but also to reflect on the future of individual transport, both in Poland and worldwide.

The objects on display at the Czyżyny Hangar include the first post-war Polish motorbike, Sokół 125, Polish cars licensed by Fiat, prototypes of vehicles that did not go into mass production, various models of Syrena (Syrena 101, 102, 103, 104) and Warszawa, as well as Polish trucks.

Some of the vehicles can already be viewed in photographs and 3D animations made available at the Museum’s website. On-line collections

Highly recommended:

Motorbike WSK M21W2 „Perkoz”

Motorbike WSK M06 B3 „pic”

Motorbike Podkowa 98

Speedway mtorcycle FIS

Prototype of a Polonez ambulance / van

Prototype of a Honker 4×4 pickup

Polish Fiat 126p

Fiat 127p

Polish Fiat 125p