"There is no future without the past". The second day of the Architecture Biennale in Krakow

Dobrawa Bies

27 of October '21

Discussion after the panel on the Wesoła district

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The International Architecture Biennale in Krakow took place under the banner of RE-USE. The 16th edition, was held in a hybrid format, new for the event, which could be followed both in the ICE Congress Center building and online. The theme of the second day focused on the industrial heritage of Nowa Huta and the newly forming Wesoła district, to which the interdisciplinary urban planning workshops, which had been running since Monday, were dedicated.

more about MBA Kraków 2021

coverage of the first day of the biennale (26.X) information and program MBA Kraków 2021

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International Architecture Biennale Krakow 2021

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This year's Biennale was organized by the Krakow branch of SARP, the Małopolska Regional Chamber of Architects, the Faculty of Architecture at the Krakow University of Technology and the editors of the Architektura & Biznes monthly magazine. The entire event could be followed on-site at ICE or virtually - thanks to free registration.

The Architecture Biennale was held at the ICE Congress Center

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

we wouldn't be without industrial heritage

The second day began with a panel entitled Industrial Heritage of Nowa Huta, led by Marcin Brataniec of eM4 studio . Architecture Studio . Brataniec. who emphasized that:

Nowa Huta is facing changes [...]. We are losing industrial monuments at a high rate, and without them there is no testimony of cities. We talk a lot about the Avenue of Roses, but not about places like the combine, and there is no more serious and meaningful topic in terms of RE - USE in Krakow.

The panel was initiated by art historian Michal Wisniewski, introducing the topic and outlining the history of the Nowa Huta combine. He also said that Nowa Huta is the gallery of post-war and post-modern Poland - a very diverse heritage for which we must find a plan.

panel on the heritage of Nowa Huta

from left: Marcin Brataniec (moderator), Michał Wiśniewski, Łukasz Urbańczyk, Przemo Łukasik, Adam Hajduga

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The next speaker was Łukasz Urbańczyk, architect, Municipal Conservator of Monuments in Ruda Śląska, who talked about the protection and adaptation of post-industrial monuments, presenting the audience with the author's decalogue of revitalization of saving heritage. The decalogue consisted of such points as: 1) Save the object, 2) Provide legal protection, 3) Regulate ownership, 4) Protect against devastation, 5) Determine the direction of transformation, 6) Conduct an architectural competition, 7) Design adaptation, 8) Provide investment financing, 9) Renovate the object, 10) Launch and maintain the object. The conclusion? We must seek new functions for industrial architecture and not allow such cultural heritage to be lost.

Przemo Łukasik and Adam Hajduga

Photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The last speaker of this part of the panel was Dr. Adam Hajduga, sociologist, Vice President of the European Route of Industrial Heritage Association. He talked about ERIH, an organization dedicated to industrial cultural heritage, emphasizing that it pays attention to both tangible and intangible aspects. According to him, industrial heritage, is a universal heritage, characteristic of the whole of Europe, and the main task of ERIH is to disseminate and adapt it to new functions, related to culture and tourism.

The panelists then moved on to a discussion built around the question: Can post-industrial architecture inspire? Where to get money to make money? Przemo Lukasik of medusa group spoke first, humorously beginning:

I can tell you the most about corrosion [...]. Rusted sheet metal, grating, concrete - these aesthetics, are the aesthetics of my childhood and adolescence that influenced me.

What helps in the use of post-industrial architecture according to Przemo Lukasik? Good resourcefulness and courage to think out of the box, adapting to current precincts, non-stop redefining themselves. There is no future without the past," he concluded.

On the other hand, Lukasz Urbańczyk stressed that it is necessary to invest wisely, looking for multiple ways of financing, and this will definitely pay off. They all agreed that there is no other challenge like Nowa Huta in Poland, and we from Krakow, can learn from Silesia how to use industrial heritage.

Workshops were going on all the time during the biennale

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The second part of the panel dealt with the future of industrial architecture, with participants showing by example how it can be wisely reused. It began with Peter Backes, who spoke about the heritage and history of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Völklingen ironworks. The facility is an incredible story of transformation from which we can take an example.

from left: Peter Backes, Marcin Brataniec, Urszula Forczek-Brataniec, Piotr Śmierzewski, Adam Hajduga

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

Urszula Forczek-Brataniec, landscape architect and professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Krakow University of Technology, spoke about contemporary post-industrial landscapes, comparing them to paradise lost. Using many examples, she argued that we can transform such areas into a reclaimed garden by making nature a subject.

Piotr Smierzewski of Analog Architecture talked about the Full Life Factory as the new center of Dąbrowa Górnicza. You can read about the whole concept here.

Re-use is a palimpsest strategy - adding more layers, uncovering what is and adding more meanings, creating a place that it always wanted to be [...]. The balance of maintaining authenticity," concluded Smierzewski.

A&B's besieged booth

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

What will Wesoła look like?

The second part of the day was devoted to, presentations, a summary of the urbanism workshop and a discussion on Wesoła. From Monday, architects, city councilors, urban planners, design students, sociologists and activists, divided into three groups, worked on identifying the spatial-functional-communicative potential of Vesola, so that the newly emerging district would respond to the needs of the city's residents and become an open, friendly space in the city center. Guided by the outlined framework points: properly designated communication, greenery, users, functions, public spaces and nodal places, they presented the effect of their work on stage.

Workshop group I

From left: Karolina Górnisiewicz, Paweł Hałat, Marcin Kościuch, Bartłomiej Kisielewski

Photo: Lubomir Nikolov

I group comprising: Marcin Kościuch and Tomasz Osięgłowski (architects, Ultra Architects), Bartłomiej Kisielewski and Dominik Darasz (architects, Horizone Studio), Artur Buszek (City Councillor of Krakow), Maciej Siuda (architect, Maciej Siuda Pracownia), Artur Celiński (DNA of the City), Paweł Hałat (Przestrzeń-Ludzie-Miasto Association), Karolina Górnisiewicz (interior designer, Goryjewska.Górnisiewicz) and architecture students approached the theme of Wesoła as a health resort. Their goal was to relate to the identity of the place, to heal relationships and spaces, and to create a place of respite. They decided that the area of Wesola would be healed and used by residents and visitors alike, betting on introducing life - peaceful and respectful.

The 2nd workshop group set its sights on greenery

Photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The second group composed of: Romuald Loegler (prof. KAAFM architect, Atelier Loegler), Marcin Włodarczyk (Ph.D. architect, W+W Studio Architektoniczne), Bartosz Haduch (Ph.D. architect, Narchitektura), Cezary Ulasinski (sociologist), Łukasz Maślona (City Councilor of Krakow), Alek Janicki (artist, designer) and students of the Faculties of Architecture Bartłomiej Bogucki, Wiktor Żukliński andPaula Jaworek set their sights on the slogan Healthy Wesoła, focusing on highlighting the unique value and distinctive features, taking health understood by many aspects as the core. They proposed introducing blue infrastructure in the form of ponds, preserving maximum greenery as an oxygenator, creating a park for good recreation, and activities for seniors. They were guided by the idea of openness, partnership, holistic approach. Here, too, it was said that the process of building Wesola is to be slow, but emerging according to strict rules.

Workshop group III on stage and porwadząca Malgorzata Tomczak

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The3rd group, whose members were Natalia Paszkowska, Mateusz Świętorzecki (architects, WWAA), Magdalena Buczyńska (architect, beDDJM), Dominika Kucharska (graduate of the Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology), Kuba Snopek (urban planner), Joanna Erbel (sociologist), Grzegorz Stawowy (Cracow City Councilor), Monika Firlej (Zielone Grzegórzki Association) and students of the Faculty of Architecture called their work Operation Merry. The designers stressed that when thinking about the area, they approached it as a living organism, a tissue. Their main conclusion was - don't build! And what, they supposed, would that mean? To design an institution to manage the whole area, to give it to an institution, to conduct a kind of experiment.

all workshop participants on stage

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

The presentations ended with a discussion, which included Rafał Matyja (professor, Cracow University of Economics), Jan Pamuła (Ph.D. in economics, President of the Cracow City Development Agency), Paweł Jaworski (Experimental Urban Planning), Magdalena Sroka (cultural manager), Marceli Łasocha (Department of Spatial Planning, Cracow City Hall), and the moderators were:
Małgorzata Tomczak (editor-in-chief of A&B) and Tomasz Janowski (Institute of Civil Communities).

from left: Tomasz Janowski, Rafał Matyja, Jan Pamuła, Paweł Jaworski, Magdalena Sroka, Małgorzata Tomczak

photo: Lubomir Nikolov

Jan Pamula said that the proposals proposed by the workshop participants would certainly improve the city's proposed local plan, and noted that when the investment begins, it will be freed from all fences and gates and open to the city. And what threatens Wesola in the near future? The density of functions growing around it, too many growing proposals and expectations, encasing the subject in more expectations, so making a decision will be very difficult. Let's hope that the city will make it wisely and without pressure.

closing of the Biennale

From left: Marcin Włodarczyk, Małgorzata Tomczak, Magdalena Kozień-Woźniak, Marcin Brataniec, Bogdan Biś Lisowski, Marek Kaszyński

We would like to remind you thatdetailed material devoted to the Biennale will appear in a special December issue of A&B magazine . We are already inviting you to the next Biennale, and in the nearer future to the OEES, taking place on November 16 and 17, at which we will also discuss Merry.