Beata Makowska

Brak terenów zielonych w miastach, konieczność ich ekonomicznego planowania i wykorzystania sprzyja rozwojowi nowych technologii zielonych ścian. Celem artykułu jest prezentacja projektów Patrica Blanca i ich charakterystyka ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem ich wpływu na ekologię miejską. Wertykalne ogrody pełnią wiele ważnych funkcji w miastach, przywracając równowagę między kulturą ludzką a środowiskiem naturalnym, zwiększając walory przestrzeni miejskiej i podnosząc jakość życia mieszkańców.

Intensive urban development has created a shortage of urban green areas. The need to economically plan and use urban green spaces has fueled the redefinition of public spaces and parks so as to provide the residents with both recreation and relaxation facilities, as well as a forum for contact with culture. This paper discusses the case of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in the Kallithea district on the outskirts of Athens, near the Mediterranean Sea. It fills a gap in the research on the aspects of the practical functioning of such facilities. The methodology used in the research included an analysis of the literature, the SNFCC’s reports, and an in situ survey. The cultural center hosts a number of events aimed at promoting Greece’s natural and cultural heritage. The paper includes a detailed analysis of the events organized by the SNFCC in the period 2017–2020 and their immense impact on residents. The aim of the study is to show that the creation of the SNFCC with the park areas has functioned as a factor contributing to the improvement of the quality of urban space and the quality of life of the city’s inhabitants. The paper’s conclusions indicate that the sustainable SNFCC project, which fulfils the urban ecology criteria, has been very well received by the visitors—citizens and tourists alike. A program-centered innovation introduced by the SN Park has added great value to their lives. The project contributes to economic and cultural growth, as well as the protection and promotion of heritage.

The aim of this paper is to present the key features of façade details typical for townhouses erected in Krakow in the period 1918-1939. It emphasizes the importance of the townhouse details for Krakow’s cultural heritage and the pressing need to document them. Since the funds of the Social Committee for the Renovation of Krakow’s Monuments are allocated in the first priority to overhauls of public utility buildings and registered monuments, the modernist buildings have little, if any, chances for renovation. Meanwhile, they continue to fall into disrepair, which makes the documentation efforts even more urgent. Only a few most precious buildings from the interwar period are listed in the register of monuments. The remaining ones are not awarded by appropriate legal protection. Based on the analysis of the influences of a variety of trends on the development of Krakow’s townhouse façades and their details in the period 1918-1939, three basic groups of façades were identified. The first one relied on the historic style, the second, and most numerous one, combined historic and functionalist forms, while the third one emerged under explicit influence of functionalism. Key elements of the historic stylistics include: symmetry and division of the façade into three parts (bossage on the wall base, vertically articulated main part, finial), strong emphasis on the entrance portal, conspicuous cornices and decorations. In townhouses combining historic and functional forms, the prevailing stylistic elements include simple poles, lesenes (often worked in the plaster texture), enhanced with decorations (coats of arms, friezes, etc.). The ornamental-stylistic current typical of the ‘Krakow school’ comes in several different iterations. Few townhouses were explicitly influenced by the European functionalism. Designers aimed at simplifying the detail forms and their geometrization, producing an effect that revealed more deeply the functional content of the mass. The functionalist current in Krakow differed artistically from the avant-garde European projects. Nonetheless, it shared similar rationalist objectives – usability, economy and simplicity. Façade details often served as a link between contemporaneity and previous periods; they took account of features typical of the Krakow’s historic architecture.

Information about the paper titled "FREEHAND DRAWING EDUCATION AT THE FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE – INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING METHODOLOGY" at IATED Digital Library

Nowadays, cities experiencing fast-paced growth need to tackle a plethora of issues. It has become necessary to marry multiculturalism and individuality, booming tourism and the day-to-day lives of the residents. Not unlike other cities, Kraków is experiencing rapid development – many townhouses are being modernised, and their appearance is evolving; it is especially the details. One pertinent task is to adapt historic townhouses to their new functions, while respecting the needs of their owners. This is why the protection of precious architectural details has become a particularly pertinent issue. State laws and local legislation adopted by local authorities protect buildings as a whole – in terms of their form and mass – but provide insufficient protection to precious architectural details of historic townhouses. Only few buildings have become officially recognised as monuments and entered in a relevant register. One of the objectives pursued in this paper is to popularize the need to preserve and protect the architectural heritage in the form of historic details of Kraków townhouses. The analysis of townhouses from the turn of 19th and 20th century produced the necessary basis for drawing several key conclusions. The manner of rendering details provides a link between the townhouses and the cultural heritage of the region, as well as to its flora and natural resources. What is more, architectural details enable us to identify connections between the form and its background – objects created in different periods of time – in terms of composition and space. Their continuity testifies to respect for the place, its culture and tradition. What is more, the paper also emphasizes the role of details in creating friendly urban space. They constitute an immanent part of the buildings, closely related to the human scale. They catch our eye and inspire curiosity, motivating us to ponder on the meaning of metaphors and symbols that they represent. The diversity of detail renderings ensures variable stimulation of spatial perception, while their artistic value and capacity to influence our emotions leave a permanent mark in our memory, facilitating the identification and memorisation of forms. The ambiguity that the details contribute to architecture catch our eye and create the specific atmosphere of a place. Although such details can seem of secondary importance, they constitute an essential part of the urban structure, and determine its quality. As a result, urban space becomes friendly and attractive. Diversity in terms of forms and materials, the vast array of textures and colours, not to mention the artistic value, strengthen one's identification with one's living quarters and offer props that facilitate the memorisation of forms. The dynamism of the 21th century necessitates, once again, the unification of physical urban structures – buildings, spaces, streets – with the cultural and economic aspects of life. Architectural details found, among other things, on townhouse facades, can be instrumental to this process. Good quality details, referring to the history of the city and found across public spaces, contribute to the formation of new civilizational patterns and can provide inspiration for the development of new architectural forms.