The Jerde Partnership-designed project's glass-enclosed plaza will feature a retractable ceiling inspired by tree canopies of the city's historic parks to provide protection from bad weather and ensure year-round accessibility. Mid- and high-rise towers will encircle a terraced central plaza that will host concerts, cultural and community events. Zlote Tarasy is slated to be completed in mid-2005.

"Today marks a significant advance in restoring Warsaw's identity as an urban and cultural destination to the world," says David Rogers, senior vice president and design principal at Jerde. "Zlote Tarasy will be a model for further transformation throughout Warsaw because of the lasting social, cultural and economic value it will bring to the community."

Jerde created the Zlote Tarasy master plan for ING Real Estate, a subsidiary of ING Group, which hosted today's groundbreaking ceremony. The plan calls for urban parks and landscaping inspired by the city's historic gardens and will restore its historic street patterns. Warsaw's parks and gardens were largely spared from the Nazi's systematic destruction of the city during WWII.