Brest is a city that is mainly associated with the fortress built by the Russians during the Partitions of Poland. In fact, its development came in the interwar years, when the city served as the capital of the Polesie voivodeship. The result is the largest number of examples of Polish interwar architecture in Belarus.

Brest-on-the-Bug - city development
Brest (or Brest-on-the-Bug in 1923-1939), is a city that the average Polish or Belarusian resident associates mainly with the fortress built by the Russians during the partitions. In fact, Brest-on-the-Bug saw particular development in the interwar years, when the city served as the capital of the Polesie voivodeship. The result is the largest number of examples of Polish interwar architecture in Belarus.

The administrative division of the Second Polish Republic was formed gradually: the administrative map did not receive its final form until 1926, while the correction of voivodeship boundaries was still carried out at the threshold of the Second World War. The basic criterion for the delimitation of voivodeship and district boundaries was the administrative arrangements from the time of the Partitions, which were essentially preserved. The areas on the eastern periphery of the country were divided into six provinces.

Brest-on-the-Bug - temporary capital of the voivodeship
. The largest region of Polesie formed the Polesie voivodeship, whose capital was originally planned for Pinsk. Such a decision was undoubtedly justified: the 23,000-strong Pinsk was the largest city in Polesie, far outnumbering the other centres of the region, and was located in the centre of the voivodeship. However, as no suitable building for the seat of the provincial office was found in Pinsk and, in addition, the city had suffered badly from a fire in 1921, it was decided that Brest Litovsk, renamed Brest-on-the-Bug in 1923, would become the temporary capital of the province until a building was prepared.

The location of the voivodeship capital in Brest had already raised doubts in the interwar period. Not only was the city located completely peripheral to the borders of the voivodeship, but it was also severely damaged by the actions of the First World War and, moreover, historically alien to Polesia as a Podlasie town.

In 1929 it was written: "Brest is part of the Polesie voivodeship as the provisional seat of the Provincial Office, which it remains to this day, even though de jure it should actually be Pinsk". Over time, however, the city became administratively stable and the population, especially Polish, increased. As a result, the provincial authorities remained here until the end of the interwar period.

Brest - fortress or city
The provincial function of Brest needed to be adequately visualised and authenticated, and this involved architecture of an appropriate quality, all the more so as the urban structure of the city resembled more a large village - there was no historic downtown with historic buildings, as the historic Brest had been destroyed after 1831 in connection with the construction of the fortress. The introduction of monumental buildings was therefore a task of particular importance, to create a cityscape and to introduce architectural dominants worthy of a provincial city.

The main axis of this development was Unia Lubelska Street (now Lenina Street), along which in the 1920s and 1930s imposing public buildings were erected. In this way, a representative line of buildings was created, which to this day remains the most distinctive landmark of this period of the city's history. In terms of urban planning, the buildings form a compact whole with a similar scale of development. Their architecture, on the other hand, is a diverse and original set of forms.

Brest Voivodship Office - the seat of
. The crowning achievement of this representative building development, the youngest and at the same time the largest and most monumental of the public utility buildings in Brest-on-the-Bug, was the new building of the Provincial Office, built in 1935-1938. It stood in the middle of the whole complex, between the Treasury Chamber and the Bank of Poland. The architectural design was made by the Brest architect Stanisław Papiewski (1906-1940), a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw Polytechnic and the 1934 School of Officer Cadet Reserves in Modlin, later a participant in the September campaign as a soldier in the "Polesie" Independent Operational Group, murdered in Katyn in 1940.

The building of the Provincial Office in Brest - architecture
. The Voivodship Office was functionally designed in a way typical of interwar administrative buildings, i.e. with a central, distinguished body, intended for the entrance hall, the communication core and the most important rooms (the representative hall, marked out in the elevation by high windows), and side wings, where offices were planned, arranged on one or two sides of the corridor.

In terms of architectural form, there is a certain compromise here, typical of the public buildings of the 1930s. On the one hand, the line of avant-garde functionalism was continued (e.g. by abandoning literal historical detailing), while on the other, a certain turn towards tradition can be observed. Particularly characteristic was the striving for austere monumentalism, the use of noble materials, the use of their striking textures and properties, and the attention to a high building standard and careful finishing, in addition to being equipped with state-of-the-art technical facilities to ensure the highest comfort for the user.

The development of this trend can be linked to the political atmosphere of the late 1930s, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the development of authoritarian systems, hence certain common features with the architecture characteristic of totalitarian countries - the USSR, the Third Reich and fascist Italy - are discernible.

The Brest building is a textbook example of this trend. Aiming to achieve a monumental effect, the designer used classical composition in terms of symmetry, axiality and the use of vertical articulation. At the same time, however, he simplified the forms: he abandoned the order articulation in favour of simple columns and only in the central risalit, leaving the side parts of the building without vertical divisions. He also completely rejected the detailing: the window openings appear to have been cut into the wall and are devoid of even the most modest frame.

In the post-war years, the building was extended (a rear wing was added). Today, it houses the Brest Regional Executive Committee (the equivalent of the provincial government in the Belarusian administrative system).

The Provincial Government building is a silent witness to history
. On 22 September 1939, the façade of the Brest Voivodship Office building became the scene of one of the most tragic events in the history of Poland: a joint Soviet-German parade in the conquered city.