As of September, the Gliwice City Hall will be enriched by a new unit - the Office of the City Planner. Agata Twardoch, a renowned architect, professor at the Silesian University of Technology and designer associated with the 44STO office, has been chosen as the new Urban Planner of Gliwice. As of September 1 this year, she will make sure that Gliwice is developing architecturally in the right direction. Congratulations!
At the end of June this year, the City announced a recruitment for the head of the new City Planner's Office. This is the realization of one of the demands of the new mayor, Katarzyna Kuczynska-Budka, who promised to "change Gliwice from a concrete city back into a garden city." The city's urban planner is to work, among other things, with the Urban Planning and Architectural Commission, a four-member advisory body to the Gliwice mayor that reviews planning and zoning studies. Today the City announced the selection of Prof. Agata Twardoch for the position of urban planner of Gliwice. This is how Katarzyna Kuczynska-Budka comments the decision:
We have chosen a person who is close to the idea of designing the city, neighborhoods and the residents' immediate surroundings in a way that will be good for Gliwice residents and the environment. This is a person who is aware that changes must be carried out together with the citizens of Gliwice, who embodies the most important qualities of an urban planner and, in my opinion, will be the best creator and initiator of changes in the space of Gliwice, taking care of spatial order and Gliwice's architectural heritage," stresses the mayor, Katarzyna Kuczyńska-Budka.
The right person for the right job
Prof. Agata Twardoch of the Silesian University of Technology is involved in both the theory and practice of architecture and urban planning. Her scholarly activity focuses on housing policy issues. The summation of her research over the years was the publication in 2019 of the book "System forHousing", in which the author focuses on the idea of accessible housing, understood both at the economic and political, design and legal levels. A special place in the monograph was given to the concepts of housing cooperatives and cohousing. These important topics are also promoted in trade journals, social media and open lectures. Academically, Prof. Agata Twardoch is also involved in popularizing the role of women in the development of architecture and urbanism, which resulted in 2022 in the book "Female Architects. Will women design a better city", containing 15 interviews with prominent Polish female architects and urban planners. Agata Twardoch's architectural practice manifests itself in the design of interiors, small-scale buildings and public spaces. In April this year, she published on social media a concept for the architectural and urban development of Gliwice in the coming future.
I am very pleased and thank you for the trust you have shown. I have a lot of work ahead of me, which will certainly give me a lot of satisfaction. As for priorities - I would like to make Gliwice a more friendly city, green, interesting, offering great opportunities. Taking into account the history of the city and its development so far, these are, in my opinion, plans to be realized," comments Agata Twardoch for the gliwice.eu portal.
New responsibilities
What will be the responsibilities of the head of the new Office of the City Planner of the City of Gliwice? Prof. Agata Twardoch will be in charge of, among other things, determining the city's policy and setting goals in the field of spatial and urban-architectural development of Gliwice, searching for and creating innovative solutions and tools enabling the creation and transforming public space, as well as preparing and conducting architectural and urban-architectural competitions, and finally - providing opinions on projects and undertaking cooperation in the field of spatial and urban-architectural development of the city. The tasks of the head of the City Planner's Office will also include carrying out tasks on promotion, education in the field of spatial and urban-architectural development of the city, or initiating public consultations in the field of spatial and urban-architectural development of the city.
