The end of December - because that's when we finished preparing the January issue - is the best time for all kinds of summaries. And like every year, we ask practitioners and architecture critics to write what they consider a success and what they consider a failure in a given year. We do it in the convention of Kits and Hits. We give our Authors and Authors total freedom of expression and exceptionally we do not moderate this discussion. We are simply very curious about it.
Robert Konieczny on hits and putts in 2021
FromA&B issue 01|2022
When the editor-in-chief of Architecture & Business asked me two years ago to identify the hits and kits of 2019, I wrote that we had a very intense time. This past year was much the same, with the latter part of it completely dominated by foreign projects and events. I recently returned from Estonia, where I had to focus on projects not from our backyard, and the responsibility was all the greater because I was a one-man jury selecting the country's best projects. We also just opened our "Moving Architecture" exhibition at Galerie d'Architecture Paris.
In both Estonia and France, the topic of the New European Bauhaus, with which we all have high hopes, often came up in conversation . It's an unquestionable hit, and the fact that a Pole - Hubert Trammer - was also invited to participate in the development of this idea also deserves mention. We are keeping our fingers firmly crossed for him.
Despite the commitment to foreign topics, my attention has not escaped two buildings from our native backyard. These are Villa Reden, which was built in Chorzow (designed by Franta Group) and the headquarters of Press Glass in Konopiska (designed by Konior Studio). The two buildings are somewhat similar to each other, even though they differ in scale and budgets. However, they have that something about them, which is why I mention them here as hits.
As for the hits, I definitely have to point out the law on houses up to 70 square meters without a building permit, under the Polish Deal program. I would like to point out here that I do not consider the very idea of such a project to be entirely bad. I think it could be a good solution that would help many people and the space itself. However, I'm afraid that the fact that this program was prepared on the knee will cause it to end all very badly.
