There will be more new public housing. This is a good thing. However, they will be built without a design competition. This is worse. In Poznan, there is still no systemic idea for properly shaped urban housing estates. The local SARP opposes this and - presents a constructive proposal.
For several years, Poznań has been building more and more public housing and is planning more such projects in several points of the city: on Kopanin (160 apartments, south of the city), Darzybor (east, 252 units, seven blocks) and Nadolnik in the Główna district (north-east, 130 apartments, 3 buildings). Their projects will be selected in tenders announced by the Board of Communal Housing Resources (ZKZL).
This is a continuation of the investment offensive. Last year saw the completion of the largest municipal complex to date on Opolska Street (designed by "Archimedia" - Pracownia Architektoniczna - Architekci & Inżynierowie; we wrote about it here) comprising 287 apartments. This realization, like the slightly earlier enclave in Strzeszyn on Liryczna Street, presents a decent level, better than the blocks of flats according to a cheap and repetitive design, erected en masse throughout the city since 2015 (see the title photo). The quality of the architecture is decent, but not - very good, especially when it comes to the space around the buildings and space for services (presentation of Liryczna Street and other ZKZL developments: here).
Municipal housing estate on Opolska Street in Poznań, realization: 2021, proj. Archimedia - Pracownia Architektoniczna - Architekci & Inżynierowie
photo: Jakub Głaz
fast, cheap, tesco
The increasing scale of municipal investment intentions clearly indicates the need for a more systemic approach, of which architectural competitions should be a component. After all, there is no guarantee that - under the dictates of low price - the level of architecture will not return to the serially erected blocks of the previous decade. The information about the announcement of tenders was briefly commented by the Poznań SARP on its Facebook profile:
City of Poznań, where are these architectural competitions?
Officials did not respond, but - indirectly - the current approach of the magistrate to competitions was presented in an interview with WTK television by Agnieszka Górczewska of the Office of Coordination and Projects of the UMP, commenting on the abandonment of arranging a competition for the building of the Poznań railway station (more on this in our site: here):
An architectural competition is time, it's money. Here we hope it will be faster and cheaper.
SARP commented on the statement briefly and emphatically:
To paraphrase a classic: Fast, Cheap, Tesco.
constructive two steps
So much for laconic entries. The matter is serious, however, and representatives of the Association have much more to say. Wojciech Krawczuk, president of the Poznań branch of SARP, tells us:
We spoke with ZKZL about the competitions even before the pandemic, and I thought the matter was on the right track. Meanwhile, we learn that there will be a tender again, which is a worse solution. Yes, I admit that the recently completed municipal buildings in Poznań present a higher level than the houses from seven years ago. Nevertheless, the competition could have been an opportunity to develop even better solutions, especially regarding the space between buildings and accompanying services.
It is also worth adding that in the course of the competitions model estates could be created, showing what modest but properly arranged enclaves of residential development should look like. By the way, a higher level of urban housing would perhaps finally force an increase in the quality of the developer's offer, which - to win buyers - would equal and compete with public standards.
What should competitions for municipal housing developments look like? Wojciech Krawczuk submits for consideration a creative proposal based on the so-called Flemish formula, which has been used in Poznań for several years. Competitions for the design of communal houses could be in two stages. The president of the Poznań SARP specifies:
Each time the competition would involve a group of other stud ios selected in a two-stage procedure after verification of the offices' experience in designing good housing. The list of studios that would be at the disposal of the contracting authority would not be closed, but would give him a guarantee of cooperation with architects familiar with the problems of housing construction.
talent and willingness to screw
The fact that there would be both willing and talented designers can be evidenced by a statement by Szymon Januszewski, head of the Insomia studio, from which come very good and recently also award-winning housing projects in Poznań. In an interview with A&B he said a year ago:
I would like to get a commission to design a budget but carefully thought-out housing development for a public investor. Unfortunately, so far local governments or the state are not screwing up standards in this regard, although they should.
Barracks for Poles from the time of occupation on Opolskaya Street; the next stages of the public housing development will stand in their place
photo: Jakub Głaz
In the case of the upcoming investments, Poznan ZKZL will not raise the bar any further, but everything should be done to arrange competitions at last. This is especially true of the next stages of the investment at Opolska Street, where as many as a thousand apartments are to be built. This very large site is not only a challenge of urban planning and architecture, but also of difficult heritage. Brick barracks from the occupation times , intended for Poles displaced from the inner city, still stand there. And still today, communal tenants live in them.
