The quotes below are Polish voices about recent architecture and urban development, and may serve as leads for discussions. References further below. 

 

1) ICONOSPHERE

Rogatka and Lewandowska (2018) state that after the transition in 1990, architects wanted to express social-economic changes in their designs. New investments are therefore symbols of new times – capitalism, modernity, European character, and even globalizations find its expression in architecture. “We have been observing an intense process of creating new buildings which have an iconic character, for some time we have witnessed emerging contemporary iconosphere, additionally generated by Polish access to EU structures in 2004 and European funds inflow.” 

 

2) POLISHNESS

In Central and Eastern Europe, new liberal democracy systems and a process of Europeanisation play a role. This may be at the cost of national cultures. “There is uncertainty about the direction that Polish architecture should take in this new free enterprise culture. Since the country now leans heavily towards the West, it was inevitable that the West’s architectural pluralism would be adopted. Although Poland has some distinguished architects, nearly all of their works follow Western abstract modes, which are unrelated to Polish culture and values.” (Januszkiewicz, 2014, 24)

 

3) LANDMARKS

“The significance of architects in creating and preserving identity in the spatial form is often emphasised and architects are respected and anointed to appropriately and responsibly materialize public wishes and convictions, as part of the place traditional context; at the same time – the places should show the technological and cultural progress , being clear symbols, tourist attractions or remaining elements of identity and the cause of the community pride – the places should be clearly identified as landmarks by future generations.” (Madurowicz, 2007, 77)

 

4) IDENTITY VALUES

For the case of new open spaces in Szczecin, Kozlwska and Krasucki (2021, 1) state that after the socialist period “In a process orchestrated by economic factors, as well as the scale of architectural and urban degradation, the squares under discussion have transitioned from spaces of dependency to spaces of emancipation. As a result, an architectural-urban structure characterized by new cultural and identity values has been created.”

 

5) USING LEGACY

Is new better, or regeneration to be preferred? Patricya Grzyś (2017, 5) states “Examples of Polish cities (Lodz, Katowice) prove, however, that focusing on local products and using their own identity, sometimes not so positive in the right, new way, allows the city to develop without foresaking its identity and achieving greater success than by removing the traces of history and the creation of a prosthesis of an urban image.”

 

6) INAPPROPRIATE (POST-)MODERNISM

“Since 1989, Polish architecture has lurched from an inappropriate socialist modernism imposed during the communist era to an equally inappropriate post-modernist style, making parts of Warsaw indistinguishable from other world cities. The prevalence of glass and steel skyscrapers is no coincidence, owing to deliberate choices to harmonize with the West rather than spontaneous adherence to elementary architectural ideas. The forces of globalization – common trade, communication, and education–continue to eradicate traditional boundaries separating architectural styles and techniques, prompting those who believe Polish architecture should reflect local culture to question whether the country should adopt Western modes of architectural expression so uncritically.” Januszkiewicz (2014, 5-6).

 

7) LESS IS MORE

Anne Cymer writes on Culture.PL in her blog entitled Less is More: Polish Architecture in 2018: “This year, Polish architecture took a step back from the large and spectacular buildings, which kept popping up over the past few years. It looks like we finally began to understand that true architecture doesn’t only have to mean flashy and impressive. We are finally learning to enjoy architecture and, most importantly, to believe that it can improve our lives.”

 

8) MODERNISM PARADOX

In their excellent study of the competition process of Polish main cities for the nomination of the European Capital of Culture, Kubicki,  Gierat-Bieroń and Orzechowska-Wacławska (2020, 142) write about Katowice: “There is no escaping the impression that, from a city-making point of view, the Katowice Culture Zone is something of a paradox. On the one hand, it is a space with large potential to become an image of Katowice’s cultural transformations, offering an interesting illustration of the direction in which the city is changing. On the other hand, it prevents the cultural buildings situated there from becoming “hotbeds” of city life. To a great extent, this is the result of thinking in terms of modernism: zoning and making the car the main means of transport.”

 

9) CITY MAKING ROLE

“The fact that the NFM [National Forum of Music] was needed in Wroclaw as a new representative cultural institution, especially in the year when the city held the title of European Capital of Culture, is usually beyond dispute. A separate matter, and a more contentious one, is whether the new NFM building plays a city-making role, and thus whether, and how, it influences city life. The reception of the NFM in society indicated by our study is at least ambivalent. Although the institution attracts public attention, in our respondents’ view it does not enliven the space, and is closed to the city, failing to resonate to its surroundings.” (Kubicki,  Gierat-Bieroń and Orzechowska-Wacławska, 2020, 157)

 

10) GOOD SPACES

On Katowice’s development, Sobala-Gwosdz and Gwodz (2017, 39) conclude: “1. Creating a new, internationally recognisable cultural identity and symbolism by a post-industrial metropolis is possible thanks to a high-quality architectural culture. The associated process produces path dependencies and self-reinforcing coupling, good architecture attracts other good projects (there would be no Culture Zone, and especially no Green Valley, in the area, nor would they exist in their present form, were it not for Spodek). 2. However, a new image and the attractive symbolism of a metropolis are not sufficient to create a city-like character of urban spaces. The modernist paradigm has its inevitable limitations. 3. In particular, the overarching objective should be to create good places and user-friendly public spaces. What is characteristic is that the green areas are the feature of the Culture Zone most appreciated by “ordinary” users.

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11) IDENTITY AS BASIS

Rytelewska (2016, 245-246) concludes her research on Gdansk, Katowice and Lodz with “These three examples show, how important it to keep city’s identity even during the fast and sometimes destroyed transformation. They also show, that identity should not be just located in the museum as a sign of the past but also it is the basic for building city’s future, structure and urban development. Moreover city identity is also a strong instrument in building cultural memory, sometimes used for manipulation of city’s heritage. It shows how important is to investigate city identity and preserving city’s roots in the world of unification and globalization.”

 

12. EINAR JARMUND (Norwegian architect) says:

“Architecture doesn’t happen when you put it down on the drawing board, architecture happens when someone looks at it.” and  "Things must hold some surprises, be a bit strange. A bit ugly, perhaps."

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