To give a clear answer to the question of the direction in which contemporary architecture is heading is a breakneck task. For these directions are many - they depend both on geography, the economic and political context, and the awareness and responsibility of the environment itself. Even if we focus on our immediate surroundings, Europe and Poland, the divergence between mainstream, commercial architecture, which constitutes the bulk of activity in the market, and the more engaged and avant-garde architecture is significant. It seems that in order to better encapsulate the current dynamic situation, two questions should be asked - about aspirations and realities. In what direction do we want to go? And in what direction are we actually heading?
In what direction do we want to go?
It is an undeniable success for those working in the fields of architecture criticism and theory, exhibition and research projects that authors of contemporary projects are faced with the need to answer questions about their environmental impact, green solutions, public spaces or accessibility. It did not come quickly, but thanks to initiatives such as successive issues of the quarterly magazine "Self-Portrait" dedicated to the environment, the exhibitions "Anthropocene", "Zgruzowstanie" and "More Green", a message about the importance of architecture for the future in the face of the climate crisis is breaking through to the general public. Architecture is now being challenged to reduce its carbon footprint, consume energy, optimize the use of materials. Reuse and investment in already urbanized areas is being promoted. Thus, the architecture of the future is, above all, a greater responsibility for shaping space and influencing the surroundings, reducing the negative impact on nature, and, in the optimal version, its regeneration using design tools.
In the discussion of urban spaces, there are arguments about people who are often discriminated against - parents, children, people with disabilities, LGBT+ people, women. The realization of demands related to their needs works to the benefit of all users and users of space, which is expressed in transportation accessibility, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, sanitary facilities and public toilets, as well as ensuring a sense of security. The implementation of minority demands benefits all of us, and therefore noticing our differences and divergent needs, mapping them, including representatives of minorities in the planning process, also professionals in sociology, psychology or anthropology in the process of shaping projects is the future of architecture, in which we will all be able to feel good. Today, it is initiatives such as the Architects' Ball or the Architekonicz Women that indicate how the profession will change in the future.
However, the change is not only happening at the level of "soft" features and values of architecture. The approach to the buildings themselves - their historical, artistic, also environmental value - is also evolving. Until a dozen years ago, urban movements fought to preserve individual icons of socmodernism, including interwar architecture. Unfortunately, not always successfully - Poland lost the most valuable icons of that period, starting with the PKP railway station in Katowice, through Warsaw's Supersam and Emilia, to the ineptly rebuilt Rotunda. Today, it is becoming increasingly difficult to undermine the value of modernist architecture, but this would not have been possible if it were not for initiatives such as the Krakow Route of Modernism and Pomoszlak, Tu Było Tu Stało. Another step in this evolution is the observation that buildings do not need to be preserved only for their architectural and historical values, but also for their environmental values. Indeed, they represent a resource of materials, but also spatial values that we should benefit from. Protecting buildings from demolition must go beyond the historical-art discussion and enter the field of environmental responsibility. This discussion, however, will have to be accompanied by legal solutions - facilitating the adaptation and reuse of buildings with as little transformation as possible, financial incentives for the reuse of materials, also taxes and restrictions on vacancy, speculation and the demolition of buildings in good condition. Circularity and reuse are the future of urban areas, and architects will have to learn a more patchwork approach, using off-the-shelf elements - in the same way that interior designers do.
What direction are we really heading in?
As an architect, I watch with envy the changes taking place in the field of landscape architecture. Their dynamism and clear direction aiming at increasing biodiversity, retention, using the potential of the fourth nature or creating places of wildness in the city are years ahead of the changes that are slowly happening in the field of building design. It is landscape architecture that today offers hope for Polish cities, hurt by dozens of ridiculed "revitalizations" of squares and markets, most of which were designed by architects selected in competitions, unprepared for (and unaware of) this. Until a decade ago, landscape architecture was not a significant area of interest for investors and the public. Estates and office parks were filled with geometric zen gardens and trimmed lawns. Today, no one can imagine designing greenery in this way, and projects such as the Storm Action Park designed by topoScape and Archigrest are winning more awards in competitions previously dominated by architectural studios. It is the cooperation of these two industries, the recognition by architects of their own limitations and the surrender of some of their competencies, including in the area of judging competitions and building their regulations, that is the future of design. An example of such a practice combining landscape and architecture, among others, can be the activity of the Cracow studio eM4 . Pracownia Architektury . Brataniec.
Although it is becoming increasingly difficult for architects and architects to hide behind the veil of greenwashing, doubts about the certification of buildings are seeping into public opinion, and knowledge about the harmful impact on the environment of the formation and operation of architecture is increasingly widespread, it is difficult at first glance to distinguish between buildings designed today and those constructed a decade ago. Still in the panorama of large Polish cities grow glass boxes of skyscrapers requiring huge amounts of energy to maintain optimal thermal conditions in them, which are only an emanation of the investor's ego and financial capabilities, as well as aspirations and development. In the skyline of the capital's Wola district, however, they merge into a shapeless mass of blue glass that looks like it was designed by facade consultants rather than architects, creating a generic non-place that could successfully be the office district of both Astana and Brussels. One looks in vain for environmentally ambitious designs using wood, for example.
A similar unification can be seen in terms of residential architecture. Much of it is made up of painfully standardized blocks of flats with predetermined aesthetics that range from white blocks with gray stripes to white blocks with wood inserts (wood-like cladding). Looking at the estates being erected today, a keen eye - by the details or materials - can easily guess the developer. Those who design architecture are reduced to the role of PUM stuffers. However, more ambitious projects are emerging, although usually also less affordable. One of the reasons for the housing affordability crisis is designing on the edge of the law - commercial units as micro-apartments. A positive example is the realization of entire quarters and larger assumptions, a dozen years ago completely absent. Realizations and projects such as Browary Warszawskie or Towarowa 22 prepared by JEMS show that when a larger plot of land and a more interesting program are available, we are able to create living fragments of the city bringing added value to the neighborhood. However, they still represent an offer for the wealthy. That's why the most interesting thing to watch in residential architecture is the development of social and communal housing. This is where there is room for innovation, the aim of which is not to multiply profit, but to create valuable spatial solutions, as can be seen in the New Nikiszowiec of the 22Architekci studio, the housing estate in Łowicz of the two studios GDA Łukasz Gaj and Pracownia Architektury Rafał Mazur, or the Rybnik TBS block designed by SLAS Architekci.
Kacper Kępiński
more: A&B 11/2024 - Soul of Europe, Soul of the City,
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