Malgorzata TOMCZAK

Architecture and politics
- how much does an architect earn in Poland?

The July-August holiday issue is two-themed.

Thefirst theme, a cover story, is wrapped around a study we conducted to illustrate how much an architect/architect earns per square meter of a residential, single-family home and office building in relation to real estate market prices, taking into account the CSO's cost of each construction sector incurred by the builder.

The second topic is the impact of politics on architecture. Politics, as we know, has a large and real impact on the shape and development of urban spaces, filling them as much as possible with another layer of content resulting from the doctrines, ideas and worldviews of the time.

Deyan Sudjic, author of the famous book "The Building Complex. The Architecture of Power," published in Poland by the Center for Architecture in 2015 in a conversation conducted by Agnieszka Rasmus-Zgorzelska, argues that the changes that have taken place in London in recent years are the result of such an approach. "Architecture has a magnetic effect on the most egocentric individuals, eager to use it for their glory - millionaires sitting on museum boards, skyscraper builders and mansion owners. But it can just as well be used by reform-minded mayors who want to improve cities. In the end, it turns out that - regardless of the designers' intentions - their work is defined not by their language, but by the motives for which the rich and powerful hire architects to try to influence the shape of the world." - reads the book's conclusion.

Starting with this issue and continuing through the next few, we will be examining the housing specs law in great detail - its flaws, advantages and implementation process. After the first wave of criticism, there are more and more voices saying that the housing speculative law (a.k.a. lex developer), properly processed, can be a good planning instrument that will benefit the city and its residents. Whether this will be the case, time will tell.

Through the voice of Agata Twardoch, we also comment on the housing policy enshrined in the Polish Deal, a political program announced on May 15 this year.