Students of the Technical Institute, majoring in Architecture at the Podhale StateUniversity in Nowy Targ have been engaged since the winter semester of 2022/2023 in designing public facilities and small commercial buildings that could be built as part of the reconstruction of the destroyed cities of Ukraine—Makarov and Lviv. The task is carried out in cooperation with the Kiev National University of Construction and Architecture.
male and female students designed commercial and public utility centers
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Makary is located between Bucha and Irpin, two towns known for their alarming media accounts of the destruction and genocide perpetrated there by the aggressor's soldiers. The town was badly damaged during repeated shelling by tanks and artillery. In consultation with partners from the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture in Makarov, we identified locations where PPUZ students could place their projects. The General Plan of Makarov's Spatial Development that we received was, at the time we began our work, only an archival image that allowed us to understand the way in which the local community of this town saw future development opportunities—unfortunately, brutally derailed by the war. Nevertheless, even in the midst of it, the possibility of rebuilding the destruction should not be abandoned, while trying to improve the quality of the urban layout and architecture of the newly designed buildings," says Boguslaw Podhalanski, PhD, professor of PPUZ.
The boards present projects of, among others, kindergartens and a health center
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Projects for Makarov
During the winter semester, third-year PPUZ architecture students, under the guidance of Bogusław Podhalanski, PhD, designed 16 concepts—a school, a kindergarten and a civic center with public storage facilities for Makarov, which were then evaluated by a committee composed of representatives of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUBA) and the Chamber of Architects of Ukraine. The best ones were selected from among them, which were displayed at an exhibition in Katowice in February this year.
The students also designed residential buildings
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It is important for students to learn and gain experience from real-life examples. It's sad that the war is such an example, because what could be more distant than the destruction of war and the work of an architect? Students realized the importance of life, health and safety for the continuation of the process of civilization and the preservation of life on our planet. The key words that carry the full meaning are: safety, integration of communities (urban, rural, local), accessibility, participation—active participation in the creation of the living environment, provision of jobs, opportunities for education, leisure and development—Prof. Yuriy Kryvoruchko of the Institute of Architecture and Design at the Lviv and Zaporizhzhya National University of Technology, coordinator of the project from the Ukrainian side.
exhibition
In the spring semester, students under the guidance of Bogusław Podhalanski, PhD, Małgorzata Mełges, PhD, and Hubert Mełges, PhD, continued the design task, which resulted in an exhibition, opened on June 30 this year in the lobby of the Didactic and Library Center „Tatry”. The selected 34 projects were presented in the form of boards, on which we can see, among other proposals: a center for refugees, a psychological assistance center, residential buildings, an integration settlement, farm buildings, or commercial buildings.
The exhibition „Students of Ukraine” can be seen until mid-July this year.
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The ceremonial opening was accompanied by Prof. Oleksandra Kashchenko, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, and Prof. Valery Tovbych, Head of the Department of Information Technologies in Architecture from Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture. The opening was conducted by Dr. Bianka Godlewska-Dzioboń, Acting Rector of PPUZ. The invited guests thanked the male and female students for the completed projects of public buildings for Makarov and Lviv, and then presented certificates of participation in the autumn exhibitions in Katowice and Kiev.
Opening of the exhibition „RPC students of Ukraine”.
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Further expositions of the exhibition in selected Faculties of Architecture of the country's universities and its supplementation with further works made at these faculties are planned, as well as, like last year, expositions in Kiev and Lviv, and finally the transfer of the whole to the authorities of Makarov and Lviv. As a result of the didactic experience to date, talks have been held about further permanent cooperation between the universities involved," concludes Dr. Bogusław Podhalanski, Professor of PPUZ.
