Perhaps the architectural profession requires the greatest prowess of all others. We are talking about prowess not during the design and implementation process, which is, as it were, inscribed in the arcana of our profession, but about the battles fought by designers in defense of buildings built many years ago. Battles for buildings that can disappear overnight, demolished in the name of official decisions, or completely change their appearance rebuilt, expanded or modernized by a new owner, of course without the knowledge of the architect - the author of the first project.
A few years ago Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak, the late great designer of Wroclaw architecture, confided that when passing by her realizations from 50-60 years ago she turns her head because she doesn't want to look at their gruesomely altered and painted elevations.
A different strategy was adopted by Professor Waldemar Wawrzyniak, co-author of the project for the Meteorological Observatory on Snezhka - the famous "Plates," designed together with Professor Witold Lipinski in the early 1960s and built in 1974. The facility has been awaiting major renovation for a long time and has been systematically deteriorating. For at least a decade, Professor Wawrzyniak has spoken out on this issue during every debate on architecture, sounding the alarm to all professional groups and individual architects. Each time and regardless of the circumstances, he appealed to prevent the destruction of the building, which, after all, is still and by everyone called an icon of Lower Silesian architecture. He took the opportunity to talk about the battle he waged over the issue, the pressures he succumbed to in terms of changing the function of the building and the steps that are necessary to obtain funding for the renovation. He sought support and understanding, seeing the lack of interest from the authorities, both at the national and local levels.
photo: wilkosia
The observatory was planned as a composition of three interconnected disks - the highest located smallest one, 13 meters in diameter, where weather observations were carried out, a lower one, 20 meters in diameter, where thewhich housed the station's business facilities and accommodation for meteorologists, and the lower, largest one, with a diameter of 30 m, where a shelter with a restaurant, its full facilities and sanitary facilities were located.
western elevation
© Archive of Professor Waldemar Wawrzyniak; polska-org.pl
Professor Wawrzyniak says that the good period of the facility's operation lasted during the lifetime of Mr. Tadeusz Holdys, its first manager, and the naming of the facility after him is proof of this. Unfortunately, things started to go badly later, both aesthetically and gastronomically, in the part open to tourists. The most popular product sold to customers was beer, although for a while the toilets in the facility were out of order. It's not hard to imagine the consequences of such a combination of circumstances. There were also new items of equipment in the restaurant hall that were completely incompatible with the original design, and stylistic chaos prevailed.
I said that it could not be like this, but in response I heard only the protest of all those who wanted to make money on Snezhka," the architect recalls.
The professor began to act - he sent his first letters to the Directorate of the Karkonosze National Park and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management of the National Research Institute in Warsaw. He wrote letters proposing cooperation, traveled to meetings. He had several talks in Warsaw, which yielded little, and he received no response at all from Jelenia Gora. He also tried to talk at the level of the IMGW PIB representative office in Wroclaw, made various offers, and waited for answers, mostly to no avail.
Such habits annihilate any joint action," he concludes.
The turning point in the fight for the facility was when the smallest upper disk suffered a construction disaster. In March 2009, it collapsed and rested on the middle disk. The reason was too much snow, overhanging icicles, i.e. excessive load, not foreseen in the design.
photo of the mockup
© archive of Prof. Waldemar Wawrzyniak
After the accident, I was the hero of four TV stations and seven newspaper editorials," recalls Professor Wawrzyniak. - It must be said that the renovation was carried out quickly, restoring the condition in accordance with the original documentation.
Then other events occurred, limiting the operation of the facility, as a result of which, in autumn 2015, the owner of the "Plates", the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, closed the restaurant part until further notice. In early 2020, due to a strong windstorm, the roofing of the top drive was again damaged. And this problem was quickly dealt with, but there were increasing questions about a general overhaul.
There were also some very positive reactions to the professor's vote. Such a small victory ended with the conference in Liberec, Czech Republic, brilliantly prepared by SARP O. Jelenia Góra as part of the 30th anniversary KASA 2018 Karkonosze Architectural Meetings, held jointly with the Czech Republic.
I had a speech at the conference about the Observatory on Snezka and presented a plan to renovate it and give it a completely different meaning," the architect recalls. - I spoke on the same topic during a debate on Lower Silesian architecture organized by the Lower Silesian District Chamber of Architects in December 2019. I have been with this plan to the Governor of Wroclaw, who took an interest in it, I have also been to the Rector of Wroclaw University of Technology, who also liked the initiative, as well as to the Rector of the University of Arts in Poznan, and there I also found understanding.
north elevation
© archive of Prof. Waldemar Wawrzyniak; polska-org.pl
And it turned out that this constant reminding of the problem, pestering the audience and tormenting the directors of the institution served to integrate the environment and jointly establish guidelines - thoughts were formulated and letters written, a preliminary initiative was taken. The SARP branches of Jelenia Góra and Wrocław, as well as DSOIA, were involved.
The battle was not fruitless - in June 2020 the building of the Tadeusz Holdys High-Mountain Meteorological Observatory on Śnieżka was entered in the register of monuments of the Lower Silesian province. The decision emphasized that it is "a work of contemporary architecture with high historical, artistic and scientific values, an object that deserved to be included in the register of monuments."
Now, with the support and supervision of the conservator, it will be easier to carry out the complicated and very expensive process of renovation and modernization of the building. Would this also have happened without the involvement of one of the observatory's creators? Rather not.
I owe the entry in the register of monuments directly to two people: Waldemar Więckowski, former president of SARP O. Jelenia Góra, who addressed the issue in a very committed and elegant manner, and Pawel Orlowski, current president of the Jelenia Góra branch of the association, who physically shouldered the burden of bringing about the entry," adds Waldemar Wawrzyniak. - It turned out that any citizen can apply for a monument statute for an object, but not everyone is treated equally.
photo: ania prewysz-kwinto
When asked why this is happening and whether it should be the architect who fights the battle for interest in old valuable buildings, the professor answers:
For several generations there was no education in the field of art, including architecture. No one took care of the appropriate level of society, to educate it to prepare it to be an informed viewer of its surroundings. Today it turns out that it is possible to demolish the houses of excellent artists, because no one knows who they were and the value of the buildings they designed. In this way, everything can be destroyed. -This should be countered by the professional self-government and the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. If the designer feels responsible for his realizations and feels obliged to defend them, because he took money for the projects, then he should fight for them and press by all means on investors and officials to save them," Professor Wawrzyniak added.
