Issue 3(63)/2020

DOI: 10.5277/ARCHITECTUS

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Table of contents

Articles

Bogna Ludwig - Fountains and fontanelle as urban monuments in modern Europe

doi:10.37190/arc200301

The paper presents the use of fountains as monuments in modern cities. It shows the genesis of this form. It extracts the main formal-iconographic types and characterizes their spread. These were the formal and iconographic types of fountains, but they also had the commemorative reasons. Neptune’s fountains were to commemorate the country’s marine superiority or the power of authority in general. In the Baroque, depiction of Neptune with Triton or Triton himself took on a new meaning – the symbol of peace, reconciliation and God’s mercy on the world. The Fountains of the Four Rivers became a symbol of temporal and eternal triumph. Representations of ancient gods and heroes embodied strength and victory over adversity in the city’s history. The city’s fountains symbolized the existence, duration and the affluent functioning of the city. They honored the founders and the benefactors and often expressed the loyalty to the state.

Keywords:

    fontains

    modern-town-planning

    renesaince

    baroque

Kamila Lucyna Boguszewska - Spatial transformations of the Zwierzyniec garden complex in the context of Polish landscapes of the 17th- and 18th-century residential gardens

doi:10.37190/arc200302

The garden complex of the Zamoyski Family Entail (Ordynacja Zamoyska) in Zwierzyniec, founded by Jan Zamoyski, is an example of a hunting garden transformed into a Baroque, one-axis garden layout and later into a romantic garden. The aim of the article is to analyse the influence of the 18th-century models of Polish and foreign garden art and their realisations that contributed to the way of shaping the landscape of the garden. The paper describes the subsequent stages of the creation of the Zamoyski villa complex as well as modern restoration activities aimed at reconstructing the historical water system. The author made an attempt to systematise the existing knowledge on the transformations of the Zwierzyniec’s garden, its historical substance being a starting point for later interventions of the Entailers adapting the garden to the newest trends in the shaping of residential parks at that time.

Keywords:

    zwierzyniec

    hunting-garden

    garden-art-models

Barbara Widera     - The role of daylighting and its distribution in buildings designed by Victor Horta

doi:10.37190/arc200303

The article presents the results of research on the role of daylight in selected buildings representative of the work of Victor Horta. A comparative analysis of four facilities located in Brussels was carried out, including: Hôtel Tassel, Hôtel van Eetvelde, Maison et Atelier Horta and Magasins Waucquez. In situ studies included analyses of the level of daylight illumination to determine the daylight factor. The research showed that for Horta daylighting was one of the basic elements shaping the architecture of the building, having the same importance as a properly designed functional and spatial layout or a structural system. The most significant assumptions defining the role of daylight in buildings designed by Horta were: the goal to provide the building users with contact with nature; the aspiration (inspired by nature) to illuminate all rooms in the building with daylight; the need to create open, bright and well ventilated spaces that were an indicator of functionality and elegance for the architect. Seven main methods, by which the architect achieved the objectives described above, were identified. These were: the experimental use of steel and glass in façades, skylights as well as in stained glass or lattice windows; innovative structures enabling the space opening and the light distribution nside the building; providing daylight to all rooms; visual connection of the interior with the outside; the use of staircases to distribute light and air; placing mirrors to enlarge the space and reflect light, and the introduction of materials with high luminance and reflectance. Analyses showed that due to the use of these methods in the tested buildings, a very high level of daylight factor (DF) was obtained. The highest maximum value of DF = 18.5% was achieved in Magasis Waucquez, while the average value of the daylight factor for the tested objects exceeded 8% and the minimum DF level in any of the buildings was not lower than 2%. The study confirmed that Horta was one of the first to achieve such excellent results in the field of building daylighting, being a precursor of the most current trends in the design of buildings comfortable for the users and safe for the environment.

Keywords:

    daylighting

    ecological-architecture

    nature-based-solutions

    innovativeness

    contemporary-architecture

Jerzy Wowczak - Korona Sports Club – a model project of Socialist Realism

doi:10.37190/arc200304

The subject of this article is the complex of Korona Sports Club in Kraków which has not been described in detail before. This work depicts the unique value and, based on a thorough source query, the history of this precious example of architecture in the 1950s in Poland. A lot of space was also devoted to the history of the facility transformations and its present state of repair. The discussed sports facilities complex was designed by Jan Krug in 1951. When the design was approved, it was considered “model sports conglomerate” by the board of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Culture. Also other outstanding artists contributed to the creation of Korona Sports Club. The interior design was developed by Zbigniew Chudzikiewicz, and the ceramic wall decorations made using the proprietary “piropiktura” technology were made by Helena and Roman Husarscy. The sports buildings at Kalwaryjska Street in Kraków are a mature example of functionalism giving the message of sparing, Modernist Classicism. Their noble form eludes the doctrine Socialist Realist standards in force in the 1950s in Poland. We should strive to preserve their undoubted values during the necessary future modernisation works.

Keywords:

    social-realism

    functionalism

    sports-architecture

    jan-krug

    “piropiktura”

Zygmunt Szparkowski - Shaping the architectural structure of elements of motion on the example of Atheneum in New Harmony (Indiana State, USA)

doi:10.37190/arc200305

The theme of the article is the shaping of the architectural structure by the elements of motion that form part of it. The aim is to describe an important aspect of architecture shaping, which plays an essential role in many design solutions. Motion depicts the way man moves and exists in the architectural space. It reveals the links of individual functional spaces, often remotely located. Without taking these links into account, architecture would become a collection of random elements, it would be chaotic and meaningless. Typically, architectural design begins with drawing up motion diagrams or tables of mutual approximation. The article is therefore intended to create a certain spatial imagination, which, in combination with preliminary sketches of functional links and approximations, allows you to create your own concept of space. The first part of the article used the construction method to review and analyze the selected motion elements. They are presented in the form of comprehensible graphic diagrams, with a brief textual justification. In part two, a comparative method is used. The elements of motion from part one of the study were compared and referenced to  ichard Meier’s New Harmony. This architectural object was chosen because of the well-known designer and theorist of architecture. Moreover, as highlighted in the study, these elements are the basis for shaping the exemplary architectural structure. Elements depicting motion usually take certain forms, which in the process of shaping the architectural structure retain their specific functions and identity. The information contained thereof, their geometric and ergonomic form should correspond to man. The shape is usually logical and is based on the fundamental elements of geometry. It should be noted that the principles discussed in the article are not widely used in the teaching of architecture and in architectural reality either.

Keywords:

    motion-image

    architecture

    elements-of-motion

    structure

    shaping-process

Marta Rusnak, Joanna Szewczyk, Piotr Chmielewski - How observers perceive the verticality of a gothic cathedral interior along with the change of its height? Eye tracking survey part III

doi:10.37190/arc200307

This paper constitutes last part of a three-part report considering an eyetracking survey that took place in 2017 at the Department of History of Architecture, Art and Technique at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. The first part of the report discussed the way people perceive the depth of the nave of agothic church. The second stage of research discused the phenomenon of so called “tunnel church”. This part of the study, the same as previous ones, made use of visualizations of 13th and 14th century French cathedrals. The researchers were interested in how much the slenderness of the nave of the Gothic cathedral translates into the perception of the entire cevolving interior.

Keywords:

    eye-tracking

    gothic-cathedral

    perception-of-architecture

    vertical

Ewa Kosiacka-Beck, Izabela Myszka - Hortitherapeutic gardens a place of welfare for people with neurological dysfunctions. Aspects of design

doi:10.37190/arc200308

Garden therapy is nowadays considered as a worldwide therapy method for people with various health disorders. Furthermore, the aspect of human’s unconditional need of contact with nature that is so crucial in the therapy became the groundwork for therapy research allocated to suit people with neurologic dysfunctions. The article presents guidelines for designing garden spaces for people with such conditions. Proposed principles are based on an in-depth study of literature of the given subject, as well as on the results of dialogues conducted by the authors with therapeutic centers authorities and their patients. The research was directly based on infomal interviews with patients and their family members as well as on an in-depth interview with therapists, on direct observation of facilities, on functional and spatial structure of potential therapeutic garden, as well as on observation of patients’ behavior and their participation in the daily activities provided by the center. Nonetheless, proposals that we have established are also collective results from the authors’ previous experience in creating therapeutic spaces. The research undertaken on designing green areas around health institutions clearly highlights the requirement of an individual approach towards each space and patients’ health condition, in order to maintainthe standards of modern therapeutic methods.

Keywords:

    natural-therapy

    hortitherapy

    neurological-disorders

    design-process

Dariusz Dziubiński - Beach bars in Wrocław. Private or public spaces?

doi:10.37190/arc200309

The article presents a continuation of research on the space of beach bars in Wrocław, observed in 2018, which was aimed to evaluate the space of these places with a particular focus on their operation (program + function). The results of the evaluation were compared with the official public spaces of the city. The main aim of this juxtaposition was to show the most significant similarities and differences between the two types of spaces and thus to explore the strengths and weaknesses of urban spaces, which could be helpful in their enrichment and development. Particular attention was paid to all those elements of the programme and functions which could strengthen social interaction – living in these spaces. An indirect aim was to answer the question raised in the title of the importance of ownership for the operation of spaces in a contemporary city (including beach bars). Both objectives are linked, allowing to check the initial assumption. An important conclusion from the research carried out is that in the assessment of residency-oriented space – the long stay of people, much more important, apart from the possibility of meeting different needs, seems to be the freedom of behaviour today, and this is certainly more difficult in urban spaces than in even fenced, but ingeniously conceived beach bar spaces. The issue of (lack of) “familiarity”, in other words the relationship of dependence between the scope of control and the freedom of behaviour and above all the freedom to decide – the possibility of making independent, not imposed choices, is also worth considering.

Keywords:

    beach-bar

    public-space

    private-spaces

    familiarity

Aneta Biała - A comparative analysis of natural and mechanical ventilation on the example of a single family house

doi:10.37190/arc200310

The paper presents a comparative analysis and an attempt to determine which of the analyzed types of ventilation is the most advantageous for single-family buildings. At first basic information on ventilation systems used in residential buildings is presented. Attempts have been made to bring its contemporary problems, resulting mainly from the lack of sufficient fresh air supply. The second part of the article is devoted to the comparative analysis of gravitational and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system taking into account 3 criteria: investment and operating costs, quality of the air supplied to rooms and energy demand for heating purposes. The subject of the research was the design of a single-family building with an area of 185 m2. The paper uses the author’s cost estimates of the construction of ventilation systems valid for 2018, measurement data from the provincial Inspectorate of Environmental Protection in Poznan as well as the methodology of determining the energy performance of buildings.

Keywords:

    natural-ventilation

    mechanical-ventilation

    heat-recovery

    air-exchange

    recuperation