After a pandemic hiatus, the SARP Jelenia Góra Branch has resumed its cyclical KASA meetings, or Karkonosze Architectural Meetings, which have been held every second autumn in the Jelenia Góra Basin for more than thirty years.
Since 2018 and the last anniversary meetings, the formula is as follows - the organizers tour the participants of the event (SARP members from different branches) around the area of the Kotlina, showing selected, most interesting new realizations, which are then judged by this group in a competition for the title of "Mister KASA." The next day is devoted to objects built at the same time on the other side of the border, i.e. at our Czech neighbors (already without the competition evaluation), and finally everyone participates in a conference prepared by both sides at the Faculty of Architecture in Liberec. In the evenings, after dinner, there are, of course, talks and discussions about the different Polish and Czech approaches to design in the Karkonosze region. This is also the main goal of the organizers - confrontation, dialogue and exchange of experiences, including at the academic level. On the Czech side, students of the Faculty of Architecture and their instructors participate in KASA, and the time spent together on tours of the sites, on the bus and in the hotel - this time in Swieradow-Zdroj - promotes international and intergenerational integration. This is how three days full of architecture, emotionally diverse sights and a large dose of impressions from both sides of the border pass.
bigger and bigger volumes, more and more controversy
This year, once again, it must be said: praise to the organizers - Pawel Orlowski, chairman of the branch, Wojciech Drajewicz and the entire Board of SARP O. Jelenia Góra - for the fact that, thanks to the KASA meetings, Polish architects from many different cities were able to see great new projects in the Jelenia Góra Basin, as well as see with their own eyes how our professional group puts its hand to the infamous development of foothill regions with oversized and styleless buildings. This duality of feelings - admiration and embarrassment - has accompanied meeting participants for nearly a decade. Unfortunately, the bad emotions are well remembered, and I will start with them too.
Oversized hotels, aparthotels and apartment buildings are springing up on the slopes of hills, obscuring everything that until recently was an asset of Karpacz, Szklarska Poreba, Świeradów - beautiful views of mountains and valleys. The second major issue is the quality of this new, overgrown architecture, leaving much to be desired. Either they are buildings imitating, often too literally, the old Sudetenland or - even worse - Podhale designs, or detached from their surroundings and context, universal "blocks" with steel, glass and wood on the facades.
So it was not the first time at the evening discussion meeting that Wojciech Drajewicz was asked the question: how to build at the foot of the Karkonosze Mountains? And also not for the first time we could hear the answer: in moderation and in good style. But what should this style be? This was no longer possible to define precisely.
Too much luxury
To confirm the difficulty of the topic, one can cite impressions from trips to several new hotels built in Karpacz and its vicinity. At least four-star, impressive in size, overshadowing everything around, with better or worse shaped blocks, with rich interiors abounding in details not necessarily related to the mountain landscape. Observations from the outside - too big and heavy, although pretending to the atmosphere of the surroundings, because they imitate the Podhale style. Even worse in the interiors - splendor and pseudo-elegance not fitting either to the location or to the function performed, first of all, the accommodation and catering base of a tourist and sports center. In the basements, as a rule, large SPAs with pools and saunas for a minimum of 500 people.
Against the backdrop of these large and expensive luxuries, a smaller guesthouse - an open-air guesthouse, which is an extension of the old facility(Gościniec Nowa Prowincja, Chrosnica, design: Jarosław Kłak), was a pleasant surprise. With a greater sense of scale, decorated on a local, rural note, intimate, yet comfortable.
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Gościniec Nowa Prowincja, Chrosnica, proj.: Jarosław Kłak
© organizers archive
A reflection occurred to many participants of the tour that the Polish investor is rather not having a problem with finances, but with how to spend them. He would like to have a unique object, so sometimes he dabbles in Chinese, Japanese, Indian or Norwegian accents, combining in this one realization everything he has ever liked during his trips around the world. One may ask - where is the architect in all this? And as it turns out, he is often no longer there, because he did not persevere to the end of the construction and, with increasing disagreements with the investor, gave up further cooperation. The effect of such an end is unfortunately visible to the naked eye.
Here another problem returns - the trust and authority that an architect should enjoy in society. This seems to be a song of the past, the only thing that counts is money and the ability to earn it quickly. For the investor, it is important that the investment make a profit as soon as possible, and for the architect - to quickly and painlessly do the project, get the required permits and get paid. Public interest is irrelevant in the face of financially backed private interest. The view of the mountains, the surrounding greenery, ecology and environmental protection - these are not topics that anyone is going to waste time on. Build and make money, that's business and so-called development in today's Poland, the rest doesn't count.
continuation instead of contrast
This problem was addressed - at a conference held on the last day of KASA at the Faculty of Architecture and Art in Liberec - by Janusz Korzeń, an architect and urban planner representing the Karkonosze Society, who has been professionally involved in the Jelenia Góra region for more than forty years. In a lecture entitled "Continuation or uproar in space? Problems of Contemporary Architecture in the Western Sudetenland," he spoke about how conflicts between private and common interests can be resolved, opposing the "minimum public interest in the protection of space" principle that prevails today. He gave an old and at the same time the simplest recipe, known and used for centuries by architects designing in the foothills regions: first - to carefully inscribe the building in the natural and landscape surroundings, second - to secure an appropriate size of undeveloped space around the new building, third - to maintain an appropriate scale of development so that it does not disproportion with the surroundings. On top of this, it is desirable to use local building materials and to be inspired by existing indigenous architecture, but on the basis of continuity, not imitation.
Seemingly everything known, clear and understandable, and yet difficult to implement. Janusz Korzeń summed up his speech by saying that we will never achieve good results by shocking with contrasting solutions and the title shriek in space. The expectation is to continue on the principle of maintaining the dimensions, materials and colors, but this is difficult and requires an architect to have an excellent workshop.
renovations top
Fortunately, not all is so dire. Among the newest buildings we visited on the Polish side of the border were a few old, historic ones, recently renovated or modernized in a way that is truly worthy of presentation. These projects were able to impress with both investor moderation and designer flair. They liked Ornamental Farm in Bukowiec (proj.: the "horseshoe: CCI" building, the "barn", "sheepfold" and "brewery" buildings: Anna Kościuk, "management" building: Arch-E), the Lubiechowa Palace (design: Alykhov Engineering Team) and the yet-to-be-completed Museum and Education Center of the Karkonosze National Park in Sobieszow (design: Pracownia Architektoniczna 1997). Exceptionally beautifully reconstructed Silesian House of Prayer (translocation: Zbigniew Zbyszynski) in the vicinity of Lomnica Palace, the original of which stood until 2009 in Rzasnik, but due to complete ruin, was demolished. A museum with a multimedia exhibition showing the history and architecture of the Lower Silesian Houses of Prayer, about two hundred of which were built in the 18th century, was created in the reconstructed building.
Silesian House of Prayer (translocation: Zbigniew Zbyszynski)
© organizers archive
The expansion of the Pakosz Palace in Pakoszow (designed by Christopher Schmidt) was also extremely successful. A new part, charming in its simplicity, yet unique, was added to the historic structure, housing hotel rooms and apartments on two floors - right on the shore of the lake, in harmony and harmony with the surrounding nature. The interiors, treated with moderation and even asceticism, combine modernity with respect for the preserved original elements from centuries ago.
An advantage of all the above examples is also a certain distance from the hustle and bustle of well-known tourist destinations - Karpacz, Szklarska Poreba, Świeradów. Objects that delighted us do not compete with their neighbors, do not fight for profit, but located on the sidelines, blended into the landscape, are intended to serve lovers of peace and quiet recreation.
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