Rola projektowania architektonicznego w interpretacji dziedzictwa poprzemysłowego na przykładzie Wójtowskiego Młyna w Łodzi

Bartosz M. Walczak

doi:10.37190/arc230107

Streszczenie

W artykule, na przykładzie Wójtowskiego Młyna w Łodzi, przedstawiono możliwe strategie projektowe, jakie można stosować w odniesieniu do dziedzictwa przemysłowego. W szczególności nakreślone zostały możliwości wykorzystania narracyjnej roli architektury w kontekście materialnego i niematerialnego dziedzictwa kulturowego. Podstawę rozważań stanowiły wyniki projektu semestralnego zrealizowanego w Zakładzie Historii Architektury, Rewitalizacji i Konserwacji Zabytków Politechniki Łódzkiej. Jego tematem była propozycja interwencji architektonicznej mającej na celu opowiedzenie złożonej historii budowlanej, a także utrzymanie wyjątkowej atmosfery miejsca. Największym wyzwaniem była rozbieżność między bogatą przeszłością obiektu a jego obecnym stanem oraz wyrazem architektonicznym. Propozycje projektowe pozwoliły poczynić wiele ciekawych obserwacji dotyczących strategii projektowych (tj. historii i dziedzictwa jako źródła inspiracji; atmosfery miejsca jako przedmiotu ochrony; roli i odpowiedniości materiałów budowlanych w interpretacji dziedzictwa przemysłowego), jak również procesu kształcenia przyszłych architektów i ich przygotowania do twórczego wykorzystania spuścizny poprzemysłowej z poszanowaniem jej wartości kulturowych.

Podgląd pełnego artykułu jest możliwy wyłącznie na większych ekranach.

2023

1(73)

Bartosz M. Walczak*

The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation

– the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź

Introduction

The article presents possible design strategies that can

be used concerning the revalorization of industrial heritage.

They are exemplied by the case of Wójtowski Młyn in

Łódź. In particular, the possibilities of using the narra-

tive role of architecture in the context of shaping social

awareness of the values of tangible and intangible cultural

heritage were outlined. The principal question is whether,

despite the lost heritage, it is possible to preserve the mem-

ory of it, and if so, what actions should be taken to make

this memory permanently inscribed in the existing space.

When trying to nd a solution to the research problem

formulated in this way, it is rst necessary to refer to the

most important concepts for the described case: “palimp-

sest” and “narrative in architecture”.

The term “palimpsest” as a metaphor for stratication

was used for the rst time in the mid-19

century [1].

Since then, its meaning has not merely referred to […]

a manuscript on parchment from which the original text

has been wiped away [2], but to a process of re-editing

where existing layers of objects or traces have been par-

tially or completely covered up or removed. With the built

environment, the term palimpsest initially began to be

used to describe the historical areas of cities, and then to

cover the whole spectrum of architectural heritage. In this

perspective, a palimpsest can be understood not only as

an accumulation of layers but also as a method of inter-

preting an object. In Poland, this issue has been repeatedly

discussed by scientists. Among the initiatives undertaken

in recent years, it is worth mentioning the seminar “Au-

thenticity and the palimpsest of preserved monuments”,

organized in 2015 by the Commission for the History and

Conservation of Sacred Architecture of ICOMOS Poland.

At the same time, interpreting an object with numerous

layers is nothing but a story about its history. And this

requires a good narrative, because, as Anna Wierzbicka

notes, […] architectural narrative allows us to consol-

idate inconsistent experiences [3, p. 33]. This is not an

easy task, because the narrative in architecture escapes

strict rules, and therefore it should be perceived rather as

a metaphor based on an analogy to the tradition of sto-

rytelling [4], which is connected with the current of oral

history strongly marked in contemporary culture [5], [6].

In this context, it is therefore possible to say that

through the appropriate shaping of architectural forms,

a story can be conveyed to the recipient, in this case about

the complex, multi-layered history of the place. The pur-

pose of the described didactic task was to familiarize stu-

dents with this method of reading and interpreting archi-

tecture. However, the aim of this article is also to assess

the results obtained.

Wójtowski Młyn

– history, research, and current state

The most famous place in Łódź with milling origins is,

of course, Księży Młyn, which belonged to the local vic-

ar and over time became the nucleus of the most famous

industrial enclave in the city [7]. The place described in

the article – Wójtowski Młyn – is located in Łódź on the

eastern outskirts of the city centre. It is located on a small

river called Jasień (in its upper reaches), along which

mills have been located since the Middle Ages. This was

since the current of the river was swift, and the topogra-

phy of the land made it possible to dam up the waters and

place the mill ponds at a relatively short distance from

each other [8].

DOI: 10.37190/arc230107

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

* ORCID: 0000-0002-9429-9626. Faculty of Civil Engineering,

Architec ture and Environmental Engineering, Poland, e-mail: bartosz.

walczak@p.lodz.pl

76 Bartosz M. Walczak

The existence of Wójtowski Młyn was rst mentioned

in documents at the end of the 14

century. At that time,

it was the property of the bishops of Kujawy, leased to the

mayors of Łódź as part of their salary, which was reect-

ed in the name of this place. The entire area functioned

without major changes until the end of the 18

century,

when, as a result of the partitions, the vicinity of Łódź was

temporarily within the borders of the Kingdom of Prus-

sia. This brought, among other things, the secularization

of church property, which opened up new development

prospects. After 1815, the city of Łódź and the surround-

ing villages were designated by the government of the

Kingdom of Poland as one of the centres of textile pro-

duction. The reason was, among other things, abundant

water resources and well-developed mill infrastructure

[9], which could be easily adapted to the needs of new

textile mills.

Already in the early 1820s, the area was purchased by

Christian Friedrich Wendisch – one of the Saxon entrepre-

neurs brought to Łódź to develop industrial production.

As a result, in 1826, a cotton spinning mill was added to

the wooden mill that existed at that time. The building

was erected in a frame (half-timber) structure, on the brick

walls of the basement [10] (Fig. 1a). In terms of size, the

spinning mill was inferior to other production facilities

erected in the valley of the Jasień River, but it is dicult

to overestimate its importance for the history of industrial

development of Łódź, as it was the rst factory building

built for this purpose in the city.

The unexpected death of Wendisch caused the collapse

of the company in 1830, and the building itself stood

abandoned for several years. The factory was reactivat-

ed and expanded by a new owner – Fryderyk Moes. Pro-

duction continued until 1863 when the manufactory was

severely damaged by re. Eventually, the site became

the property of Karol Scheibler, who transformed it into

a farming estate, which was the subsidiary of the largest

textile factory in Łódź and one of the largest in Europe.

The so-called Scheibler’s farm not only supplied the shop

in the factory workers’ housing estate with groceries but

above all it supplied some organic ingredients (including

animal urine) necessary for the dyeing and nishing pro-

cesses. The foundation walls of the pre-existing buildings

of the Wendisch/Moes factory were used to build a house

for the farm manager (Fig. 1b). The building has survived

to modern times. However, its purpose changed several

times, and the facility was adapted to subsequent needs,

e.g. a car repair shop operating here in the post-war years.

Finally, in 2002, the building was handed over to one of

the Łódź scouting teams for the purpose of a workshop

and warehouse for sailboats

In 2008, the property caught the attention of local ar-

chaeologist Zbigniew Rybacki. With the support of the

Provincial Conservator of Historical Monuments in Łódź,

archaeological research was started, which lasted until

2011. The excavations turned out to be a valuable source

of information about the history of this place and its pa-

limpsestic nature.

First, the exact location of the rst mill was deter-

mined, of which only a ground beam and a few boards

survived. This was enough to establish that the building

was erected in a post-and-plank construction at the turn of

the 15

and 16

centuries, which was conrmed by tests

carried out in the laboratory of the AGH University of Sci-

ence and Technology in Kraków: The samples were tested

using two methods […]. Type C14 studies date the mill to

1480, and the dendrochronological method to 1576. This

means that there is no older structure in Łódź (after: [11]).

However, these elements were too few to determine the

dimensions of the mill and its architectural form (Fig. 2).

No relics of earlier buildings were found. Nevertheless, it

is dicult to overestimate their importance for document-

ing the material history of pre-industrial Łódź.

The so-called boathouse of the Group of the 58

Łódź Water

Scout Troops “Zdrowa Woda” [Healthy Water] named after the Heroes

of September 1939.

Fig. 1. Evolution of buildings

in the area of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź:

a) F. Wendisch’s spinning mill with an old water mill adjacent to it,

b) K. Scheibler’s farm in the 1880s with the manager’s house marked

(source: [10], Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź,

E. Stumann, Ansichten der Baumwoll

– Manufactur von Carl Scheibler, Łódź 1888)

Il. 1. Ewolucja zabudowy w rejonie Wójtowskiego Młyna w Łodzi:

a) przędzalnia F. Wendischa z przylegającym do niej

starym młynem wodnym,

b) folwark K. Scheiblera w latach 80. XIX w.

z zaznaczonym domem zarządcy,

(źródło: [10], Centralne Muzeum Włókiennictwa w Łodzi,

E. Stumann, Ansichten der Baumwoll

– Manufactur von Carl Scheibler, Łódź 1888)

The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation – the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź 77

Fig. 2. Report on archaeological research: a) excavations with the location of building relics, b) remains of a wooden watermill building

(elaborated by Z. Rybacki and M. Milczarek)

Il. 2. Sprawozdanie z badań archeologicznych: a) wykopy z lokalizacją reliktów zabudowy, b) pozostałości drewnianego budynku młyna wodnego

(oprac. Z. Rybacki i M. Milczarek)

Then, archaeologists conrmed the location of Wen-

disch’s spinning mill from the 1820s. In the course of fur-

ther examination of the walls of the existing building, it

was possible to identify the construction phase related to

Moes’ industrial activity. Summing up, as a result of in-

terdisciplinary research, it was possible to reconstruct the

history of the site and determine the location of individual

buildings successively erected in the place of Wójtowski

Młyn and using its hydro-technical infrastructure.

The rich history of the building outlined above and its

unquestionable value are not reected in its present con-

dition (Fig. 3). The condition of the building, which is

a municipal property, deteriorates year by year. Scouts do

not have the means to take proper care of the building.

As a result, the half-ruined building is gradually absorbed

by lush vegetation, and only a small plaque on the front

façade informs about the history of the place to a limited

extent. For a non-specialist, it is just a dilapidated build-

ing, like many in a city still recovering from the decline

caused by the liquidation of the textile industry in the

1990s. At the same time, it is a place with great potential.

This is determined not only by cultural values but also by

the picturesque location on the former mill pond and the

proximity of a large housing estate from the 1960s and

1970s, whose inhabitants willingly use the urban green

areas around the water reservoir. At the same time, a new

residential complex is being built nearby, and the area of

the former Scheibler’s farm is also to be the subject of

a similar investment, which may be both an opportunity

and a threat to the facility in question.

The starting point for the activities described in the fur-

ther part of the article is therefore the lost memory of the

(almost) lost heritage.

Architecture as a story about the past

of Wójtowski Młyn

Goals, objectives,

and course of the project

In 2019, at the Department of History of Architecture,

Revitalization and Conservation of Monuments, which is

part of the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning

at the Łódź University of Technology, a design exer-

cise was carried out as part of classes on the protection

and conservation of monuments in the Master studies in

a b

Fig. 3. The farm manager’s house – state of the building in 2019

(photo by F. Tomaszewski)

Il. 3. Dom zarządcy folwarku – stan budynku w 2019 r.

(fot. F. Tomaszewski)

78 Bartosz M. Walczak

the current state of research, the results of which were

presented during a guest lecture by Zbigniew Rybacki

– an archaeologist responsible for excavations at the mill.

Then, as part of the site visit, the students could also listen

to the representative of the scouts, Joanna Filipiak-Mar -

kiewicz, who pointed out serious problems and limita-

tions resulting from the current condition of the building.

In addition, the students were informed about the plans

of the city authorities regarding the future of the place.

According to the vision of the municipal oce, the area

of Wójtowski Młyn is considered as the location of one

of the pilot projects related to EXPO Horticultural, which

is to be organized in Łódź in 2029. After the renovation

works, the building would be used for one of the thematic

paths, combining the involvement of scouts and the topic

of water as a renewable energy source (RES) [12].

Over the subsequent six weeks, the students worked

in teams of two. First, they had to attempt to analyse the

existing state, identify cultural values, and formulate de-

sign and conservation guidelines. Based on these assump-

tions, they prepared architectural concepts. The subject

of the evaluation was the logical coherence of individual

elements of the task, as well as the quality of architectural

solutions. An aspect particularly assessed was whether it

was possible to create an architectural object that would

architecture

. The classes aimed to test the possibility of

activating the former Wójtowski Młyn in academic con-

ditions. In particular, it was about searching for such ar-

chitectural solutions (functional, spatial, and material)

that would make it possible to expose the multi-layered

and multi-faceted history of the property. The designed ar-

chitectural solutions were to take into account the results

of the research and constitute their physical interpretation

through a clear separation of what is a material relic, recon-

struction, hypothesis, and contemporary creation. A very

important assumption was also to maintain the unique at-

mosphere of the place, which makes being almost in the

city centre feel like being in the countryside. This feature

was considered particularly endangered due to the invest-

ment pressure on the surroundings of Wójtowski Młyn.

The last of the assumptions was to propose a new use that

would be attractive to contemporary society.

The project task lasted half a semester (7 weeks, i.e. 35

teaching hours according to the curriculum of the time).

First, the participants could familiarize themselves with

Tutors: dr hab. inż. arch. Jan Salm, prof PŁ, as a manager and

team members: dr hab. inż. arch. Bartosz M. Walczak, prof. PŁ, dr inż.

arch. Magdalena Bednarkiewicz, dr inż. arch. Maria Dankowska, mgr

inż. arch. Filip Tomaszewski.

Fig. 4. The water wheel as

a symbol of a mill and a source

of inspiration for new

architectural interventions:

a) a café by M. Szczęsna

and P. Wawrzyniak,

b) a sculpture by M. Canert

and M. Ciszewska

(source: Department of History of

Architecture, Revitalization and

Conservation of Monuments, TUL)

Il. 4. Koło wodne jako symbol

młyna i źródło inspiracji dla

nowych interwencji

architektonicznych:

a) kawiarnia autorstwa

M. Szczęsnej i P. Wawrzyniak,

b) rzeźba autorstwa M. Canert

i M. Ciszewskiej

(źródło: Zakład Historii

Architektury, Rewitalizacji

i Konserwacji Zabytków, PŁ)

The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation – the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź 79

not only be socially useful, respect the principles of protec-

tion and conservation of monuments, but would also have

a narrative function. Attention was also paid to whether

it was possible to combine architectural and natural ele-

ments, and whether the whole refers to the perception of

the place and its micro-identity.

Project outcomes

Over 30 projects were created during the implementa-

tion of the design task. It was sucient material to make

observations in the eld of heritage interpretation with the

use of architectural solutions.

When starting a project concerning a historic building,

one always has to face the issue of its cultural values. In

the realities of professional practice, architects rely on

recommendations developed by specialists. As mentioned

before, in this case, the students had to think for them-

selves about what determines the value of this place, what

elements are its carriers, what to keep from the house of

the manager of Scheibler’s farm, standing on the walls of

the Wendisch spinning mill, located in the place of Wój-

towski Młyn, and what to display from the earlier stages.

A large group of students focused on the reinterpretation

of the oldest stage of the site development, i.e. the former

water mill. Łódź has medieval roots – it was granted city

rights at the beginning of the 15

century, but its actual de-

velopment took place only during the industrial revolution,

whose legacy dominates the cultural landscape of the city.

Therefore, the existence of a structure older than 200 years

was apparently inspiring for people who have daily contact

with 19

-century factories as the main component of the

local heritage. It also shows how important it is to place the

heritage in a broader context, because only in this way can

the criteria and attributes that represent them determine its

value and uniqueness, even if only of local importance.

Antiquity in the opinion of experts is considered in

conjunction with other criteria for assessing the historic

value of the object. In this case, it grew to the symbolic

value of “the oldest building in Łódź”. However, since

there was not enough information about the appearance

of the mill, many students decided to manifest the exis-

tence and original use of the building in the most obvious

way – using a water wheel as an attribute. Translating it

into the language of architecture resulted in a series of

static spatial forms, more or less literally, in whole or in

part, referring to the drive of the water mill as a strongly

embedded cultural code (Fig. 4).

In this context, it is important to explain that any recon-

struction, as a rule, reduces the authenticity of the object

Fig. 5. A small pavilion

by A. Śmigielski and J. Włostek (a)

shaped on the basis of a virtual

reconstruction commissioned

by archaeologists (b)

(photo provided by Z. Rybacki

and M. Milczarek,

Department of History of

Architecture, Revitalization and

Conservation of Monuments, TUL)

Il. 5. Mały pawilon autorstwa

A. Śmigielskiego i J. Włostka (a)

ukształtowany na podstawie

wirtualnej rekonstrukcji

zamówionej przez archeologów (b)

(źródło: zdjęcie udostępnione

przez Z. Rybackiego

i M. Milczarka, Zakład Historii

Architektury, Rewitalizacji

i Konserwacji Zabytków, PŁ)

80 Bartosz M. Walczak

and its historical value. However, in some cases, creativity

is necessary to make the remains of the building’s original

form legible. Sometimes it is enough to carry out anasty-

losis on a fragment of ancient ruins, sometimes a modern

intervention must have a much broader scope – but it is al-

ways important to distinguish between new elements and

old ones, and to emphasize what is a reconstruction con-

rmed by research and what is only a hypothesis, a guess.

To illustrate this issue concerning Wójtowski Młyn, it

is worth using the example of one of the student projects

involving the “reconstruction” of the 16

-century mill, for

which – as mentioned above – the research results were

limited to a few basic data. As it turned out, the authors

of the project in question decided to use a virtual recon-

struction commissioned by archaeologists to promote

their excavations (Fig. 5). This case undoubtedly proves

the deceptive nature of virtual models and their potential

irregularity in the interpretation of heritage. In the case of

Wójtowski Młyn, the result was in stark contrast to the re-

quirements of the London Charter [13], an important doc-

ument based on a long-standing (and ongoing) debate on

the principles of presenting information on cultural heri-

tage in a digital environment, so as not to mislead wide

audience recipients [14]. The same principle should guide

designers of architectural representations of hypothetical

appearance of objects that no longer exist, which should

rather suggest and stimulate the imagination of visitors,

as Robert Venturi once did with Benjamin Franklin’s

house in Philadelphia, and today, for example, Edoardo

Tresoldi in the ruins of the church in Siponto in the south

of Italy.

This type of strategy was reected in the idea of anoth-

er team of students who proposed simple, white-painted

steel frames. Their geometry and arrangement suggest the

existence of a mill, and also the location of other objects,

including the Wendisch factory, which was so important

for the early industrialization of Łódź. The concept was

enriched with a kinetic installation (a rotating water wheel

connected to the gears through a transmission belt), refer-

ring to both stages of site development: our milling and

cotton yarn production (Fig. 6). In this way, it was possi-

ble not only to present a logically and visually coherent

architectural narrative regarding the development phases

of the buildings but also to emphasize that industrial heri-

tage is not only buildings but above all their technological

equipment.

This was not the only project that explored the palimp-

sest history through the overlapping volumes of buildings

Fig. 6. Representations of

the palimpsestic past:

a) frames and platforms reflecting

no longer existing constructions

by P. Jankowski and J. Mejer,

b) reinterpretation of the Wendisch

spinning mill intertwining with

the existing building according

to the idea of P. Mrowiński

and A. Rawa

(source: Department of History of

Architecture, Revitalization and

Conservation of Monuments, TUL)

Il. 6. Reprezentacje

palimpsetycznej przeszłości:

a) ramy i platformy

odzwierciedlające nieistniejące

już konstrukcje autorstwa

P. Jankowskiego i J. Mejer,

b) reinterpretacja przędzalni

Wendischa przenikająca się

z istniejącym budynkiem według

pomysłu P. Mrowińskiego

i A. Rawy

(źródło: Zakład Historii

Architektury, Rewitalizacji

i Konserwacji Zabytków, PŁ)

The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation – the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź 81

existing now and in the past. This design strategy in some

cases took into account not only the volumes of the build-

ings, but also more insightful interpretations. One of the

most comprehensive proposals included a minimalist plat-

form on the site of a medieval mill and a pavilion with

a skeletal structure, analogous to the former Wendisch

spinning mill, but with glass curtain walls and a textile

membrane cover. Decisions regarding the adopted solu-

tions were aimed at creating a structure that would be con-

sidered contemporary even by laymen.

The special atmosphere of the place was the last theme

running through the student projects. In this regard,

self-containment has proven to be the most fruitful design

strategy. Several proposals used very modest means to

present the history of the place to preserve the peaceful,

intimate character of the area with agricultural origins. In

this group of projects, the repertoire of functional and spa-

tial solutions included simple terraces, pergolas, as well as

properly shaped land development with skilfully selected

vegetation (Fig. 7).

Summary and conclusions

The building in question and its complex construction

history are excellent examples of problems related to the

protection and conservation of industrial heritage and in

particular its valorisation and revalorization. Waldemar Af-

felt tried to capture this issue in his method of evaluation,

which can be applied to any object recognized as a heritage

of technology, because in addition to “rigid” and dened

names of values, both their “exible” attributes and indi-

cators can and should be selected individually depending

on the type and state of preservation of technofacts

[15].

Cultural values were “deposited” and “grown” like the

cultural layers of an archaeological site – hence the term

“industrial archaeology”. In the case of Wójtowski Młyn,

we are dealing with real industrial archaeology, and its

According to the terminology adopted in Aelt’s methodology,

a technofact is any movable or immovable object included in the re-

source of the heritage of technology [15, p. 12].

Fig. 7. Simplicity and

self-containment as

a design strategy:

a) a project by P. Stelmach

and M. Zielińska,

b) concept by A.H. Służewska

and J. Zaręba

(source: Department of History of

Architecture, Revitalization and

Conservation of Monuments, TUL)

Il. 7. Prostota i samoograniczenie

jako strategia projektowania:

a) projekt P. Stelmach

i M. Zielińskiej,

b) koncepcja A.H. Służewskiej

i J. Zaręby

(źródło: Zakład Historii

Architektury, Rewitalizacji

i Konserwacji Zabytków, PŁ)

82 Bartosz M. Walczak

results, when confronted with the actual condition of the

object, force us to look for solutions that would tell the

history of a property in the best possible way to the con-

temporary society.

At the same time, due to its specic history, the build-

ing, despite being part of the industrial heritage, is free

from negative associations caused by deindustrialization

and economic decline. The intimate scale of the building

also means that it is not aected by many threats typical

of degraded post-industrial properties.

Due to the irretrievable loss of function, the protection

of post-industrial buildings requires their adaptive reuse to

an incomparably greater extent than in the case of other

types of monuments. Activities of this kind can signicant-

ly contribute to the renewal (revitalization) of crisis areas,

a phenomenon characteristic of former industrial districts.

The problem task presented in this article made it pos-

sible to test the eectiveness of selected design strategies

that would allow us not only to preserve the memory of

the buildings that once existed in Wójtowski Młyn, im-

portant for the history of the city both in pre-industrial

times and in the period of industrialization. Design should

therefore be treated as a research process leading to a new

interpretation of the site. In this approach, architectural

creation must be subordinated to the extraction and expo-

sure of identied cultural values. Since only “scraps” have

survived from the particular stages of the construction his-

tory, architectural solutions were needed that would bind

them together and, at the same time, be an eective tool

for telling stories from the palimpsestic past.

Based on the analysis of the identied approaches and

interpretations, the following observations can be made:

– choosing a leitmotif symbolizing the original func-

tion draws the recipient’s attention to the fact that the buil-

ding was something else than its architectural form sugge-

sts, but it does not fully refer to the complex history of the

place (it is more an anecdote than a story),

– creating an architecture that takes into account all

phases of transformation is a dicult task, but possible

to carry out provided that the narrative is well structured

(just like any complex, multi-threaded story),

– narration in architecture requires the appropriate se-

lection of forms and materials (e.g. reecting the state of

knowledge about the various stages of construction histo-

ry), and in addition, it should be understandable (and at-

tractive) for the contemporary recipient,

– it is especially dicult for young architects to be re-

strained and to understand that it is the subject of the story,

not the narrator, that should be at the centre of attention,

– the role of interpretation is of fundamental importan-

ce for the understanding of the object and the recognition

of its value by the contemporary recipient,

– the narrative must be adapted to the rank of the histo-

ric object and the available means, and consequently take

various forms.

In addition to issues strictly related to the narrative, the

discussed projects also revealed several problems essen-

tial for the eective interpretation of monuments, espe-

cially those belonging to industrial heritage.

First of all, it is signicant that, apart from the water

wheel technology, the engineering aspect of heritage has

been omitted, which is, however, problematic not only in

Poland but almost everywhere in the world [16], [17].

Secondly, preserving the genius loci turns out to be

a particularly dicult design challenge. The atmosphere

of the place is ephemeral and dicult to capture and

translate into architectural language. Moreover, changes

can easily destroy it. Architects must show the appropri-

ate sensitivity to successfully design solutions that respect

the atmosphere of a place with a high concentration of

cultural values.

Another important issue is adaptive reuse. It is of cru-

cial importance for monuments to be socially useful be-

cause emotional bonds are built through everyday contact.

It is equally important to present a technical monument in

such a way that its original function is understandable for

those who interact with the heritage. While most people

can easily imagine how a baroque palace or even a medi-

eval castle functioned in the past, members of post-indus-

trial societies are usually helpless when it comes to indus-

trial facilities. It is dicult to appreciate a monument that

is not understood. Therefore, in the case of sites related

to production or technology, interpretation explaining the

process determining the appearance of a historic object is

of particular importance. It is also worth explaining other

issues that allow for a better understanding of the monu-

ment and its embedded system of meanings.

To sum up, the architectural narrative concerning cul-

tural heritage can take various forms, which was perfectly

demonstrated by the discussed projects, whose authors af-

ter graduation will hopefully be better prepared to perpet-

uate the memory of (not only) industrial heritage.

Translated by

Anetta Kępczyńska-Walczak

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The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation – the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź 83

Abstract

The role of architectural design in industrial heritage interpretation – the case of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź

The article presents possible design strategies that can be used concerning industrial heritage on the example of Wójtowski Młyn in Łódź. In

particular, the possibilities of using the narrative role of architecture in the context of tangible and intangible cultural heritage have been outlined.

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Key words: industrial heritage, palimpsest, heritage interpretation, architectural narrative

Streszczenie

Rola projektowania architektonicznego w interpretacji dziedzictwa poprzemysłowego na przykładzie Wójtowskiego Młyna w Łodzi

W artykule, na przykładzie Wójtowskiego Młyna w Łodzi, przedstawiono możliwe strategie projektowe, jakie można stosować w odniesieniu do

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