Dr. Tomasz Bradecki
"Indicators, parameters and models in the formation of intensive multifamily residential development".
Published by Silesian University of Technology, 2021
Dr. Tomasz Bradecki, associate dean for cooperation and development at the Faculty of Architecture at the Silesian University of Technology and assistant professor in the Department of Urbanism and Spatial Planning, an active architect and urban planner, has published a monograph on the formation of intensive multifamily residential development and its creation possibilities in the face of the challenges of sustainable development. Keywords included in the publication include: urban indicators, models, urban design, residential environment, compact development, sustainable residential development and quantitative assessment.
In the book, the author presents the role of indicators, parameters and models in the analysis and urban design of residential complexes. Dr. Tomasz Bradecki analyzed the importance of the above factors for shaping the built environment in the context of current trends that can be observed in the design and implementation of residential development in Poland. He paid particular attention to the interrelationships between selected indicators and parameters.
Concepts such as PUMmax, concretosis, patodevelopment are widely known and described, but it is worthwhile to be able to describe them with indicator values and relate them to specific cases and locations, as well as to know the mechanisms that generate such phenomena. It is not uncommon for the realizations that we observe and vigorously comment on to be the result of planning provisions on the basis of which projects were created," the author explains.
residential development in quantitative terms
In the dissertation, Bradecki also addressed the issue of shaping residential development in quantitative terms. He conducted a discussion of possible boundary values of indicators and parameters, and presented numerous realized examples and their models.
A graph illustrating the relationship between the intensity of development and its spatial form
© Dr. Tomasz Bradecki
The symbolic graph on the cover of the publication illustrates the relationship between the intensity of development and its spatial form - the higher the intensity, the smaller the apartments and the higher the population density.
At the same time, access to green spaces and the symbolic tree visible from the window is becoming rarer and more difficult to achieve. The fact that we have access to public transportation and (eco)individual transportation - walking, biking, etc. and our daily trips are shorter, does not necessarily bring us closer to a more sustainable residential environment. Market mechanisms have resulted in the development of many spaces with housing, which, although sold, are not ideal and generate many problems that we will be left with for years to come: boarded-up, remote from cities, or segregated pens of hulking single-family estates in the middle of an open field, complexes with intensities hitherto unheard of, which bring us closer to those of Asia, or estates so sprawling that it is difficult to find oneself in them," enumerates Dr. Tomasz Bradecki.
housing development in the face of sustainable development challenges
Some of the described cases are projects from the professional practice of the author - an active architect and urban planner. Other cases presented in the work refer to studies of completed residential complexes in Poland. Bradecki also proposed new definitions of selected indicators and presented examples of analyses, projects and experiments performed with models in BIM, and parametric software.
In the author's words:
The increasingly widespread use of technology makes it possible to quickly, easily and repeatedly create various models of development at the architectural and urban scale.
The book also presents a redefinition of the model of the neighborhood unit in the context of contemporary directions in housing , as well as the author's system for evaluating the spatial qualities of housing complexes.
This makes it possible to formulate conclusions about the possible directions of development of residential areas and how to record them through digital models and conditional records of indicator values in planning documents, the author adds.
The publication "Indicators, parameters and models in the formation of intensive multifamily residential development," which you can download in full[here], is an attempt at an up-to-date theoretical view of the possibilities of creating compact, intensive residential development in the face of the challenges of sustainable development. The conclusions in it may be useful for architects, urban planners, planners, developers and all those responsible for shaping residential development.
The work was submitted to the competition for the best scientific papers and publications of relevance to the practice of the architectural profession, organized by the National Council of the Polish Chamber of Architects.
compiled by Dobrawa Bies
Dr. Tomasz Bradecki - associate dean for cooperation and development at the Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology. Assistant professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology in the Department of Urbanism and Spatial Planning, permanently combines professional work with teaching, member of the Silesian Chamber of Architects, from 2019 member of the Silesian Branch of the Commission of Architecture andUrban Planning of the Polish Academy of Sciences, author, co-author and editor of several books and dozens of scientific articles in the field of urban planning and architecture in Polish and English, manager at WAPŚ of the ARCHEA project - Architectural European Medium-sized City Arrangement (2018-2021). Author and co-author of exhibitions and seminars on models in urban planning, among others: Structure Models of the GZM, Structure Models of the City of Bologna.
His areas of interest are: design and analysis of residential complexes, public spaces. Creator of the series of workshops for children and young people in the series "Let's buildan estate together", since 2016 founder of the URBANMODEL research group dealing with models of place of residence, co-organizer of conferences, workshops and summer schools for students.
Authorized to design in the architectural specialty, co-owner of Studio BB Architects, author and co-author of at least dozens of projects for single-family houses and public buildings, winner and participant of architectural competitions. In 2021 he received the award for the best environmental project according to PLGBC, together with Barbara Uherek-Bradecki and Paweł Gembalczyk.
