Issue 4(48)/2016

DOI: 10.5277/ARCHITECTUS

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Articles

Karolina A. Krośnicka - Reconstruction of the spatial evolution of the medieval city and port of Szczecin

doi:10.5277/arc160401

The paper reconstructs the evolution of the urban growth of Szczecin between half of the 8th century and the beginning of the 14th century, basing on the interpretation of the available scientific literature on history and archeology of Szczecin, and on the method of planning analysis. A very important element of the description of urban structure of the early medieval Szczecin was a determination of the role and location of the port. The analysis of changes in the spatial layout of the city in the mentioned period allowed us to define the six successive stages of its development: 1. The open settlement on the Castle Hill and its’ haven (the 2nd half of the 8th century–the 2nd half of the 9th century), 2. The gord and its haven (the 2nd half of the 9th century–the 2nd half of the 10th century), 3. The early medieval urban complex: the gord, the slavic borough and its port (the 2nd half of the 10th century–half of the 12th century), 4. Town-like urban complex: the gord, the slavic borough and its port, German borough and its port Havening, open settlements (the 2nd half of the 12th century–the end of the first quarter of the 13th century), 5. The double city: “Lower town”, and “Upper town” (the end of the first quarter of the 13th century–the 8th decade of the 13th century), 6. The formation of the medieval city (8th decade of the 13th century–the end of the first quarter of the 14th century).     The early medieval Szczecin was not growing simply in a linear manner, but it was developing in a step-wise manner, by attaching new, already spatially organized settlements. Such a model of an urban growth, consisting of the existence of “double” or even “multiple” cities, can be an interesting alternative for the development of contemporary urban areas, which are struggling with the phenomenon of “urban sprawl”. The presented concept is basing in many places on assumptions, resulting from logic of the settlement process, known from urban planning theory. Therefore, this work should be regarded as a research hypothesis, until finding new archaeological evidences will give a chance for its verification.

Keywords:

    szczecin

    the-early-medieval-city

    early-medieval-port

    dynamics-of-urban-growth

    “multiple-cities”

Marzanna Jagiełło, Wojciech Brzezowski - Gardens of Gorzanów residence in the 17th and 18th centuries

doi:10.5277/arc160402

The article deals with one of the most interesting gardens of the former County of Kłodzko, realized on the basis of an extensive functional programme provided for the grand court complexes. The presentation covers two phases of transformation of the complex which took place in the period between the middle of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Keywords:

    garden-art

    court-garden

    17th-and-18th-centuries

    county-of-kłodzko

Aleksandra Marcinów - Modern adaptations of farm complexes in the area of the Jelenia Góra Valley

doi:10.5277/arc160403

In recent years, when an increasing number of old residences are being adapted for contemporary uses, farm complexes which accompany those residences are beginning to play a more significant role. After World War II, these structures were often neglected by their various users. Currently, they are often radically changing their original purpose. This means an important interference in their historic substance. The aim of the research was to show to what extent the work being carried out on valuable farm buildings ensures the preservation of their authenticity. The study examined five complexes in the Jelenia Góra Valley (Bukowiec, Łomnica, Staniszów Dolny, Staniszów Górny, Wojanów). The farm complexes chosen for hotel purposes have lost their authenticity value to the largest degree (Staniszów Dolny, Staniszów Górny, Wojanów) while those whose present uses are connected to the original ones have preserved more of their authenticity (Łomnica). In Bukowiec, the impact of the works on the historic substance will only be seen in a few years when works on all of its objects are completed. The examples show that the adaptation of farm complexes results, above all, in a decrease in authenticity of function, material, and the technological and constructional structure of the building. The authenticity of impact and associations connected with a historic building is also lost to a large measure.

Keywords:

    monument

    adaptation

    conservation

    farm-complexes

    jelenia-góra-valley

Alena Kononowicz - Former towns – today’s Wrocław settlements in the opinion of its citizens

doi:10.5277/arc160404

The article presents three estates of Wrocław – Brochów, Leśnica and Psie Pole, which were selected as the subject of study because of their former self-reliance as towns. After a brief outlining of the characteristics of historical, architectural and spatial qualities attention was focuse inter alia on the assessment of the extent to which the atmosphere of the ancient towns has an influence today on its residents.     Empirical studies have confirmed connections of the inhabiting community with its urban space, emerging from a system of values, knowledge and imagination that foster a sense of identity and help identification with the given area. The climate of the former towns such as Brochów, Leśnica and Psie Pole due to retaining their one-time urban and spatial systems forms the feelings of its inhabitants towards comprehending their identity. And so, care of space is very important not only due to its priceless value but also because its adequate shaping helps in maintaining proper social relations.

Keywords:

    brochów

    leśnica

    psie-pole

    wrocław

    former-towns

    social-studies

Jan Rabiej, Aleksandra Tomkiewicz - Architecture of modernist housing estates of 1950–1990. Tysiąclecie housing estate in Katowice against the background of European examples

doi:10.5277/arc160405

The modernist concept of a functional city and an equivalent model of the multi-storey and multi-family building decided about the direction of the European cities’ development in the second part of the 20th century. Actions taken after World War II realised the Athens Charter records and postulates of the International Congresses of Modern Architecture. They were an attempt to improve the spatial situation of centres affected with rapid industrialization and war damages.     The aim of the paper is to show the influences of the post-war modernism on the city space of Katowice. The city image was decisively influenced by the scale of interventions and aesthetical values of the realisations. Architects who worked in Katowice especially took care of the modern form and an individual character of new investments. Housing estates which came into being at that time entered into the main tendencies of shaping multi-family development in Poland in the second half of the 20th century. At the same time they determine an important element of the European modernism achievements. This is shown by analogies in the way of shaping whole complexes and single buildings. Results from comparative analyses of the Tysiąclecie housing estate in Katowice with selected European examples: Beaulieu – Le Rond-Point housing estate in Saint-Étienne in France and the Grindtorp complex in Täby in Sweden, confirmed these relationships.     The compositional features of the main integral elements of housing estates’ development were indicated in the research: complexes silhouette, the form of residential buildings and their relationships with the surroundings, and architectural detail, were characterised on the basis of the morphological method. Comparable analyses showed that researched features of the Tysiąclecie housing estate in Katowice have characteristic analogies to modernist housing estates built after World War II in the cities of western Europe.

Keywords:

    architecture-of-housing-estates

    post-war-modernism

    socmodernism

    modernism-in-katowice

Ewa Angoneze-Grela - Perception and evaluation of public spaces,recreation and public ­transport in the city based on the example of Rio de Janeiro and Brasília

doi:10.5277/arc160406

This paper presents the results of research conducted on a group of a hundred people, residents of Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. The purpose of the study was to examine how the residents evaluate public spaces, transport and security in the cities and a summary and comparison of results with urban studies and with observations made on site. The first part of the work describes the characteristics of the selected cities – Rio de Janeiro as a city with uncontrolled urbanization and Brasília – a city planned by Lúcio Costa. The second part of the work describes the result of research  ivided into three sections: public spaces in the city, public and individual transport and security. The last part of paper presents the opinion of Brazilians on urban changes associated with the organization of the FIFA World Cup 2014.

Keywords:

    utopian-city

    uncontrolled-urbanization

    public-space

    world-cup-2014

Marcin Proch - Wrocław murals mini-gallery

doi:10.5277/arc160407

The article describes the phenomenon of the presence of largeformat wallpainting (murals) in urban space and associated with this phenomenon, the term “plaster” (wall patch) and its role in the changing environment. The study was conducted on the example of one of the city arteries of Wrocław – Wyszyńskiego Street, in which, at a small distance, there are five murals. A detailed analysis of the forming composition as well as the functionalspatial one determines their importance in the context of place and shows their impact on the space in which they exist. The shown characteristics and dependencies occurring between them also allow us to illustrate and explain the fact of existence of an outdoor gallery which they form.

Keywords:

    mural

    city-spaces

    spatial-composition

    “plaster-wall-patch)

    street-art

    street-gallery

Agnieszka Boyko - Trends in modelling of the plastic form of culture objects against the example of the competition in Busan

doi:10.5277/arc160408

The article presents the trends in modelling the plastic form of large culture objects such as operas, philharmonic halls, museums, theaters and cultural centers. Their uniqueness, monumental size, sculptural structure and iconic character lead to large variety of plastic forms and originality. Nowadays, many revitalization programs in the hope of reactivation of degraded space try to replicate the miracle of the “Bilbao effect”. Really often in these kind of spaces it is common to design a space for culture. Example of this kind of object, built in the first decade of the 21st century are: the Opera in Oslo, Harpa in Reykjavík, Philharmonic Hall in Hamburg. At the beginning of the 21st century, many public facility projects were selected in competitions, which greatly improved the quality of artistic forms and architectural solutions. In the article on the Busan Opera House competition trends in contemporary design were distinguished. Object of culture as a symbol of prestige, claiming to be an icon, unlimited construction possibilities also material and technology enables architects in shaping the object’s form. This contributes to the development of the individual design techniques which in effect leads to a big variety. It becomes impossible assignment objects to a specific trend or style in architecture. Considering and analyzing all the dominant features, resources and solid relation, tectonics and matter, created a typology of competitive projects and assigned them to the composition of the following categories: a) organic heterogeneous; b) an organic homogeneous; c) the geometric, dynamic, homogeneous; d) the geometric, dynamic, heterogeneous; e) the geometric static; f) mixed. There is a strong tendency to design objects with organic shapes. Much less popular is geometric composition, which is usually dynamic. Most of competition projects are characteristic buildings-sculptures. They are monumental, original, abstract, and in effect determine the design trends for the coming years.

Keywords:

    spatial-composition-in-architecture

    building-icon

    the-“bilbao-effect”

    revitalization