Issue 2(32)/2012

DOI: 10.5277/ARCHITECTUS

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Articles

Barbara Widera - Contemporary architecture in the city culture creation – the case of Linz

doi:10.5277/arc120201

At the beginning of the 21st century the city culture is based on a subtle balance of complex, overlapping relations. The nostalgic values, connected with respect for traditions and historical heritage, do not preclude active development and the newest technologies. Modern societies appreciate the rapid transfer of information and recognize the value of knowledge. Contemporary media facilitate access to art and culture. The complex system of relations architecture. Virtual reality pervades the real architecture in more and more projects. Especially modern structures dedicated to art and culture promotion are often meant to revitalize urban fabric fragments and even entire cities. Their authors try to attract and inspire the viewer. They use innovative solutions, contrast, surprise and sometimes provocation. The atmosphere is constantly developed inside the building. Architecture has been a source of aesthetic, intellectual, and emotional experience. It is in dialogue with the user. Both material and immaterial aspects merge, creating the culture of the city.

Keywords:

    contemporary-architecture

    museum

    art

    culture

    linz

Maria J. Żychowska - Town-museum. Impression of Normandy

doi:10.5277/arc120202

A therapeutic influence of climate and sea baths was highly appreciated since the ancient times, whereas a holiday spent at the seaside has been a British tradition going back to the 18th century. The first bath facilities were developed there and the guests could take a bath in the North Sea or drink tea. With the advance of rail transport at the beginning of the 19th century, the coast was opened to everybody not only elites. Traveling by train proved efficient and inexpensive both for short excursions and vacation trips.     Similar trends can be observed on the other side of the English Channel. For example, in Normandy on the Picard coast in the years 1880–1896 a significant urban development of three cities located close to one another was noted, i.e. Eu, Le Tréport, Mers-les-Baines. The first important investment in Mers-les-Baines was a casino built in 1900, and on July 10, 1904, a railroad track was built to reach that place from Eu-Tréport.     In the scope of the architecture formation, we can notice three major phases of development and evolution of the local stylistics. The first phase comprises structures in a simple style in which brick constitutes a dominant material. Cast iron balconies or mansards rarely appeared as ornamentations. The second phase, which was more and more connected with tourism, was dominated by Anglo-Flemish influences with a perceptible diversity of stylistic programmes – villas and hotels with bay windows and balconies were becoming more and more impressive. In the third phase – in the glory times of architecture - it took full advantage of the abundance of patterns included in the flower style of art nouveau.

Keywords:

    normandy

    urban-planning

    architecture

Renata Gubańska - Culture in the city – the case of Gądów Mały housing estate in Wrocław

doi:10.5277/arc120203

Gądów Mały is one of the Wrocław residential estates built in the 1980s in the form of unified and non-stylish architecture of that period. Some- or several-storey blocks of flats determine the boundaries of public areas for residents or people who stay there. These spaces should be resident friendly and provide, among other things, convenient transport and pedestrian communication, an essential trade and service base, a zone of active and passive rest as well as ensure ‘eye pleasing’ aesthetical impressions.     Unfortunately, the fragment of the plot of land – with blocks of flats on it – which was chosen as the subject of a detailed study did not entirely meet the requirements as regards proper development of the area. Its present layout gives great design possibilities for urban planners and first of all for landscape architects. The article presents two design concepts which are similar with regard to the functional and spatial programme, however they are totally different in relation to the communication infrastructure arrangement. Concept one refers to the previous function of the developed area, whereas concept two refers to the existing local land development plan. Independently of the conditions which influenced their formation, both of the suggested solutions are definitely much more interesting than the currently existing one.

Keywords:

    gądów-mały

    culture

    development

Aleksandra Łukaszewicz - The comparative analysis of selected cycling solutions from Copenhagen and the current pro-cycling actions in Wrocław

doi:10.5277/arc120204

Searching for alternative transport solutions in a city is extremely important from the point of view of the current economic development of towns and their urban transformations. One of the possible solutions of communication problems which towns face, and in particular their crowded centres, is the development of a cycling network. There are many towns in Europe which invested in the cycling communication and till this day it occupies a significant place in the communication structure of those towns. The example presented in the article is the city of Copenhagen – a model city which spatially adapted to the cycling communication to such an extent that this means of transport takes circa 30% of all journeys every day.     On the basis of a comparative analysis of cities and the ways in which they work out their spatial policies and how they are enforced, it is possible to draw some interesting conclusions which may contribute to the improvement of the quality of spatial activities in Polish cities.     The article outlines types of solutions of cycling infrastructure which can be encountered in Copenhagen – one of the most cycling cities in the world. Also some cycling solutions which were recently introduced in Wrocław were presented for comparative purposes.

Keywords:

    bicycle

    city

    urban-design

Paweł Czajkowski, Barbara Pabjan - Perception of the architectural heritage elements of Wrocław by the students of Wrocław high schools

doi:10.5277/arc120205

Wrocław is a very interesting case of functioning of a collective memory and references to history. Due to its complicated history resulting from multi-cultural character, a collective memory cannot be attributed to one specific social community that lives in a given city at the particular time. Wrocław as a significant space and a crucial element of the cultural memory can become and indeed it is a point of a reference for the collective identity (and for history too) of various nations. Multidimensionality of the cultural and collective memory is complemented by a sociological assumption of the researchers – the works of which we shall refer to – that the collective memory of the present residents of Wrocław does not have and cannot have homogenous character either.     The most important observation I would like to draw attention to refers to a significant discrepancy in functioning of the collective memory between intellectual and political elites of the city and average citizens. Another significant assumption is the statement that Wrocław’s material substrate and material heritage contained in urban arrangements, architecture, buildings and public facility structures constitute a very important reference point for many collective memories of Wrocław.     Referring to some of these issues, we would like to discuss the results of specific empirical research that was carried out in secondary schools in Wrocław in September 2011. The research was conducted on a representative group of Wrocław youth within the framework of the international research project “The Memory of Vanished Population Groups in Today’s East and Central European Urban Environment. Memory Treatment and Urban Planning in Lviv, Černivci, Chişinău and Wrocław”.

Keywords:

    architectural-heritage-of-the-city

    cultural-remembrance-of-the-young-people

Zdzisław Pelczarski - Faces and determinants of contemporary architectural spacetime

doi:10.5277/arc120206

The spacetime of our life is the spacetime of the earth which refers to the limited space of the ecosystem of our planet and the relatively short time of existence of our civilisation within its framework. It has a dual character. On the one hand, it has a physical dimension and on the other hand a psychological one being a reflection of the former in our minds. Its character, therefore, is anthropogenic and anthropocentric – thus, in its essence it is a psychological (mental) spacetime of life. A physical and psychological space of life consists of two major notions within the framework of which the architectural spacetime is defined.    A human ability to reconstruct one’s internal mental order is limited and it does not follow faster and faster civilisation transformations. This thesis might be reversed by concluding that current dynamic changes taking place in our social and cultural living space, particularly in the scope of production and distribution of goods as part of a market economy, are characterised by partial or total arrogance towards the status quo of mental order of an average human being and in relation to the limited possibilities to quickly reshape this order. This situation leads to disharmony and conflicts between mental order in psychological space-time of life and physical-spatial order which constitutes architectural space-time and socio-cultural order reflecting the mentality and values on which this order is based.

Keywords:

    architectural-spacetime

    psychological-space-of-life

    mental-order

Irena Niedźwiecka-Filipiak, Zuzanna Borcz, Liliana Zielińska - The evolution of small towns in south-western Poland

doi:10.5277/arc120207

The article comprises partial research results which focused on small towns founded before and after 1945 in the following provinces: Lubuskie, Lower Silesian, Opolskie and Silesian. Each of these towns had its own specific history. The majority of small towns from this area have mediaeval origins and a characteristic spatial layout with a market, sometimes a town hall and dominants of church towers. After World War II many of them lost their town privileges, sometimes irrevocably, but some of them regained them after some time. Another observed phenomenon was the fact that certain small towns were incorporated into industrial city agglomerations while other small towns joined together. In the recent years in the Silesian province we can observe a reverse trend, i.e. certain districts – former independent small towns which were previously incorporated into big cities – become separated and get or try to regain their town privileges. These phenomena have an influence on the spatial system of towns and on their development.

Keywords:

    small-towns

    transformations

    civic-rights

Adam Nadolny - Postmodern architecture in the historical quarters of Poznań as a shaping element of the city’s cultural environment

doi:10.5277/arc120208

Both modern and postmodern architecture drew from the ideas of theorists and critics of earlier architecture – from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, it was postulated for instance by E. Kauffman. The principles of developing “modern” architecture with historical roots can be transposed to contemporary architecture. They include transparency and moderation in external appearance and outline as well as the dominance of right angles and straight lines, stereometric shape of the building. In respect of composition the elements placed closely next to one another or on one another. Peace, gravity, and height corresponding to the “size” of the materialized ideas or the tasks served by the buildings. Finally, ethos and morality instead of noisy glamour and representativeness.     Postmodernism restores the rank of facades and space edges, which existed in the 19th century. It differentiates them by means of a scale and by introducing contractions, passages, etc. It also gives an individual feature to buildings showing first of all their participation in creating the city space at the turn of the 20th century. The present times require great creativity from us, namely, we must bear in mind cooperation of art and architecture. The postmodern world was placed in a difficult situation of finding itself in the tumult of the present day. After announcing the idea of bankruptcy of painting and art and declaring that nobody and nothing is able to be surprising anymore and that everything has already happened, hardly any sort of activity gives rise to optimism. Where in that case is the place for art? For human sensitivity? The world will never be able to renounce art and architecture, however, the world has made them change their visage.

Keywords:

    small-towns

    transformations

    civic-rights

Hubert Mełges, Małgorzata Mełges - Archetype of city in the modern city space on the example of Cracow

doi:10.5277/arc120209

Changes occurring in societies are directly reflected in architecture and urbanism. The course of civilisation as well as (among other things) positivist and neo-positivist currents of thoughts accompanied by technocratic trends and unlimited access to the mass media offered a wide sphere of information called info-sphere. The world was introduced to discoveries referring to all domains of science as a result of which mankind, particularly in cities, changed their way of life. As a consequence, types of needs and services as well as a scale of demand and consumption have been transformed. A style of the so called excessive ‘speed of life’ began to dominate. The development of communication (including cars) resulted in the fact that the cities with the existing technical infrastructure (inter alia, communication one) cannot deal with the phenomenon of the automotive congestion. New construction technologies along with increasingly newer material solutions change the existing aesthetic appeal of cities, their scale and atmosphere. We are witnessing a common race in the technological market and a desire to impress others with new ‘architectural and constructional creations’. Poland, after many historical experiences which took place mainly in the 20th century (two world wars, a period of after-war Socialist Poland and now a process of an accelerated transformation in the scope of reducing civilisation differences), found itself in a very particular place, i.e. between the east and the developed west (with regard to the economic base). The attempts of quickly reducing the consequences of the economic collapse and the resultant errors in architecture and spatial planning caused a situation in which many actions got out of control as regards planning, architectural and ecological aspects also in cities. Cities with historical origins with multi-century cultural layers constitute valuable examples of continuity of the urban and architectural thought. They are specific ‘banks’ of interdisciplinary knowledge, we can even say that they are ‘mainstays’ of architectural and spatial ideas of towns. Architecture precisely registers civilisation changes which directly reveal all the knowledge and level of their actual authors. These transformations are clearly understandable. Due to a lack of land development plans, many decisions with regard to building permits are totally disconnected from long term strategic decisions of urban visions. In order to normalise this situation, it is necessary to start a social discussion in circles of specialists in various interdisciplinary sciences so that all the undertaken solutions constituted responsible decisions.

Keywords:

    archetype-of-a-city

    cultural-environment

    urban-and-architectural-composition

Małgorzata Doroz-Turek - The former abbey of Canons Regular of St. Augustine in the context of the city of Żagań

doi:10.5277/arc120210

The article presents transformations of the architecture of the former monastery complex of St Augustine Canon Regulars along with a church in Żagań. Since its erection the monastery in question has been connected with the culture of the city where it was founded. The great significance of the preserved monastery complex for Żagań and the community living there is exemplified by the fact that it was entered in the register of historical monuments. The document confirming this fact was signed by president Bronisław Komorowski on 11th March 2011.     The article came into existence on the basis of PhD thesis entitled Medieval monastery architecture of Saint Augustine canon regulars in Silesia which was written at the Faculty of Architecture of Wroclaw University of Technology. On the basis of architectural research conducted by the author in the years 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 it was possible to distinguish six medieval construction phases of the monastery complex. A medieval period lasted from the 13th to the 16th century and it was followed by the Renaissance and Baroque. Till the 18th century monumental architecture of the preserved complex with features of the Medieval, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles was formed. During these centuries the monastery was not only a leading religious centre but also a scientific one as it was equipped with a scriptorium and a library which in time became one of the biggest libraries in Central Europe.     It can be concluded that the activity of the monastery of Saint Augustine canon regulars and an impressive post-monastery architectural layout is inextricably linked with the culture of Żagań.

Keywords:

    abbey-of-canons-regular

    żagań

    monastery

Dorota Janisio-Pawłowska - The directions of evolution of church architecture in the background of the cultural landscape of seaside area of Western Pomerania

doi:10.5277/arc120211

The seaside area of Western Pomerania is the perfect example of the directions of evolution of church architecture after World War II in villages and small towns. In many cases the form of these structures differs significantly from the existing cultural landscape of the urban or rural tissue in which they are situated, thus constituting negative landscape dominants. Through their blatant form, which at times even violently aspires to prove its distinctness from the surrounding space, they constitute a significant cultural dissonance which is further intensified by a lack of historical connections testifying the continuation of certain traditions and canons of sacral buildings of this area in the past centuries. By all means this situation results in breaking the cultural continuity of these places and it is one of the significant elements introducing aesthetical chaos in the reception of changing landscape of these areas.

Keywords:

    church

    ecclesiastical-architecture

    cultural-landscape

Hans Schneider - The role of World Heritage Sites in sustainable community development

doi:10.5277/arc120212

The wooden churches in western Ukraine are unique in the world of architecture for their style, construction, and artwork. Due to the region’s history, local communities had contact with diverse groups throughout Eastern and Western Europe and this is reflected in the designs of the churches which have architectural features that combine not only the Greek Orthodox tradition, but also elements of the Roman Catholic tradition. They represent the local building styles of Old Halych (Rohatyn and Poletych), New Halych (Drohobych and Zhovka), Boyko (Uzhok and Matkiv) and Hutsul (Nyzhniy Verbizh and Yasynia).     On January 28, 2010 eight of the best examples of wooden churches in western Ukraine were nominated to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage List by the Department of Restoration and Reconstruction of Architectural Complexes at Lviv Polytechnic National University.

Keywords:

    wooden-architecture

    church

    world-heritage-sites

Patrycja Haupt - Hilversum – green interior of the media

doi:10.5277/arc120213

At present Hilversum is mainly known as the Dutch capital of the radio and TV industry. It became the location of seats, studios and archives of several stations, national and commercial ones, what is worth emphasising, in a way that does not interfere with the identity of the town and its special villa character. It was made possible due to situating the buildings connected with radio and TV technology in a park area in the northern part of the city. The buildings erected with respecting the existing townscape were blended in with natural topography and flora of the terrain. Thanks to the size limitations and the respect towards the environment so characteristic of Dutch architecture as well as the use of sustainable solutions in designing, even the large-sized structures were successfully given the character referring to the 19th-century city tissue.     Buildings situated in the area of the Media Park as a comprehensive complex have become a part of the panorama of city which surrounds it. Nevertheless, each of them retains its own unique character which is visible in the structural shape, façade design as well as the way of interacting with the surroundings. Each building constitutes an individual response of a designer to the problem of combining features characteristic of the media stylistics of the pop culture era in one structure with simultaneous attention to harmony with surroundings that is typical of contemporary trends of sustainable designing. Architecture created in accordance with such assumptions is an attempt to form a spatial sign – icon for a company represented in this way with simultaneous blending with the terrain, thus co-creating the townscape of contemporary Hilversum. Relations with the surroundings are explicitly visible in each of the park buildings; nonetheless, it is interpreted in a specific manner characteristic of a given structure and its designer. The relation architecture–nature is realised through blending the building in with the terrain topography, using the roof panels as a continuation of the public space, transparency and permeating with the surroundings as well as introducing elements of nature into interiors – internal gardens.

Keywords:

    architecture-of-media

    city-park

    sustainable-architecture

    sustainable-interior

Barbara Wycichowska - Multiplying the spirit of culture of Łódź – five times Kobro

doi:10.5277/arc120214

Łódź at the stage of creating a concept of the 20th century modern and cultural city within the framework of revitalisation focused on marking the presence of popular figures from the world of culture and art in the public spaces in a permanent way. A person who was particularly distinguished in the design concepts after many years of silence was Katarzyna Kobro – a remarkable sculptor who along with her husband Władysław Strzemiński created a unique collection of international avant-garde which was the only one in Poland. Due to their involvement in 1931 in Łódź the first exhibition of avant-garde art was opened and the city of Łódź started to be perceived as a European city of art.     In fact the city revelled in Kobro in the 21st century, for example, noted and admired works of Kobro which were always collected in the Museum of Art in Więckowskiego Street were transferred to the Museum of Art ms2 in Manufaktura, whereas the marketplace in a new city centre as well as the park near the Fine Art Academy are to be named after the artist; already the main avenue in Jan Kiliński Park was named in memorial of the artist. A question emerges: is this the right way to build a city of culture?

Keywords:

    city-of-art

    commercialization

    cultural-education

Tomasz Bradecki, Barbara Uherek-Bradecka - Cultural aspects of sauna and SPA architecture in the city – examples of design and execution

doi:10.5277/arc120215

The issues of modern sauna facilities and SPA are presented. The article deals with contemporary directions according to which such spaces are realized; moreover, a comparative analysis was carried out by checking whether and how the modern hot springs, baths or saunas resemble their equivalents known from history. There is also a discussion of ways in which such facilities impinged upon the culture of the city in the past and now. The scale and functional program of the modern SPA recreational complexes enable us to make a hypothesis that apart from their recreational function these facilities may also shape a lifestyle or even the culture of the city. As an example of the modern trends in this domain, the authors present their own project of a thematic saunas complex at the Wroclaw Aqua Park. The current state of knowledge on this issue was presented along with a role that this type of facilities may have in the formation of the culture of the city.

Keywords:

    spa-structures

    saunas

    recreation-spaces

Andrzej Białkiewicz - The cultural life in Vilnius in the interwar period

doi:10.5277/arc120216

During the period of partitions an important centre of keeping Polish national traditions alive was the town of Vilnius. After the fall of the January Uprising the cultural life of the city clearly collapsed. Only after 1919, when Stefan Batory University, closed by czarist authorities in 1832, was reactivated, were the important organizations of artists and scientific societies established in the city. The city soon became the center of the artistic community. As a result of its great achievements in the area of fine arts, theater, literature, architecture, conservation of historical sites and scientific research, Vilnius was an influential cultural center in the interwar period. It is worth emphasizing here the importance of activities of such artistic groups as, for example, Vilnius Association of Artists or Vilnius Association of Independent Artists Painters. The number of the organized exhibitions or activity of the Vilnius artists in Polish and foreign exhibitions constitute a testimony to the presence of this town in the Polish culture. Vilnius during the inter-war period also witnessed some architectural realizations which constituted important achievements of Polish architecture of that time. In this architecture it is clearly visible that architects closely cooperated with other artists such as sculptors or painters. All these phenomena prove the existence of the strong cultural circles during the interwar period that impinged not only on the city itself but far beyond it as well.

Keywords:

    vilnius

    artists

    interwar

Piotr Furmanek - The culture-forming aspects of revitalization – the case of extension of the Sarphatistraat Offices Building in Amsterdam

doi:10.5277/arc120217

Among numerous aspects of culture we ought to mention its city-creative function and a society-creative role. The extension of Sarphatistraat Offices building designed by American architect Steven Holl due to its untypical function integrates the local community. In this way revitalization of a downtown space performs a culture-producing role. An additional merit of this building is its innovative form inspired by the Menger sponge – one of the most famous fractal object. In the article a comparison was made of the forms of the realised design and a theoretical visual simulation was made with the use of a mathematical fractal model.

Keywords:

    culture

    revitalization

    menger-sponge

Elżbieta Ratajczyk-Piątkowska, Ksenia Piątkowska - The Museum of Johannes Hevelius and Gdańsk Science in the attics of st. Catherine’s church in Gdansk – the Johannes Hevelius Year Celebration

doi:10.5277/arc120218

Year 2011 was announced as the Year of Johannes Hevelius. Johannes Hevelius had his observatory in Gdańska, in the Old Town, near the oldest Gdańsk St. Catherine’s Church and the Main Town Hall on the highest floors of the townhouses at Korzenna Street. The astronomer’s tomb is in St. Catherine’s Church.     In May 2006 as a result of a fire the church roofs burned down. The brick tower, roof gables and vaults maintained their form but they needed repairs. Unfortunately, all the structure of the church roofs, the wooden construction and their spatial form were completely destroyed by fire. In this tragic situation a decision was made on reconstruction of the church roofs in accordance with the preserved photographs illustrating the roofs with a turret and a dormer from the period before a previous fire which was in 1905. According to this reconstruction design, a modern roof construction was accepted – it was made of steel above the presbytery while above the nave and church chapels it was made of glued laminated timber. Inside a new spatial attic the Hevelius and Gdańsk Science Museum was opened, with the church still maintaining its sacral function. Two main problems that had to be faced when executing the Museum design were controversies connected with the fact of joining the so far sacral function of the church with a new secular function – that of a museum as well as a lack of accessibility of the attic to potential visitors. The historical church is located in the immediate vicinity of the Radunia River and the monastery buildings between Katarzynki Street and Profesorska Street. In order to ensure comfortable and safe access to the museum for visitors, construction of a new independent entrance building was proposed on the river canal in a distance from the church. The entrance building was connected with the church by a link which was suspended on the attic level and there it joined the reconstructed roof dormer. This solution made it possible to preserve the historical character of the surroundings without interfering with the exposition field of the historical shape of the building. As there are very few preserved items from the studio of the Gdańsk scientists, the Hevelius and Gdańsk Science Museum shall function as an interactive exhibition. Its main attraction shall be the preserved church façade painting and the uncovered construction of the medieval vaults.

Keywords:

    museum

    st.-catherine

    “empty-churches”