Architecture rediscovered

Architects tend to work late and don’t like getting up early, said Mariusz Ścisło, the president of SARP on welcoming everyone to the home of the association. However, this relaxed beginning to the festival gave no hint of what was to follow. The workshops, discussions, and presentations of innovative products in the exhibition hall were to be topped off by the presentation of the Eurobuild Awards in Architecture. This was what awaited those who came to this year’s festival.

The first panel discussion was on how revolutionary changes in architecture over the last twenty years have changed the architecture of today but the opportunity was also taken to highlight the role that the association (which celebrates its 140th anniversary this year) has played over this period. Among the speakers in the discussion were three previous winners of the association’s Honorary Award: Marek Dunikowski, Krzysztof Ingarden and Bolesław Stelmach, but it was the speech given by special guest, Mikael Colvill-Andersen, which was as refreshing as the morning coffee. The urban planner, cycling advocate and founder of the Copenhagenize Design consulting company argued that the construction of bicycle paths leads to the transformation of cities and changes people’s habits. In many cities all over the world, where the cycling infrastructure has been quickly and adequately improved it is as if something “has fallen from the sky” – as Mikael Colville-Andersen put it, and these days in many of these cities over 20 pct of people usually travel by bicycle. As a result of this change, he claims, many cities are very different being much friendlier places. Bicycles are not only a remedy for city transportation problems but also help to combat many of the diseases of civilisation such as diabetes and obesity.

Grzegorz A. Buczek, a lecturer on Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology moderated the next panel on the cities of the future with the zeal of a scientist. He set the other members of the panel the rather difficult task of naming those factors that are going to most affect the cities of the future but the discussion simply showed how difficult making such forecasts is: the panel talked about everything from climate changes to EU treaties (the New Athens Charter, the Leipzig Charter, etc.) and social consultation in regard to spatial planning – the plethora of factors and the broadness of the issues that needed to be taken under consideration were staggering. So the only honest answer to the question of what are cities going to be like in the future seems to be that such predictions are like forecasting the weather. And the further you look into the future, the less you can make out. The morning was closed by a much more relaxing presentation. Joanna Kloc, a project service manager at Deante talked of the sanitary fittings that her company produced and she set out to prove that good design can also be ecological.

After the coffee break the topic turned to access for the disabled. The problem was once ignored but nowadays the issue is not whether but how to make buildings and public spaces accessible. “Every debate such as this results in more people seeing the needs and expectations of those with disabilities and reacting against this unacceptable discrimination which is widespread in buildings and public spaces,” summed up the moderator Joanna Borowczyk, a lecturer at the Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Łódź University of Technology.

The next discussion was on malls and was moderated by Marta Machus-Burek, the director of the retail space department and partner at Colliers International. To introduce the panel, a presentation was given by Andrzej M. Chołdzyński, urban planner and architect, on retail over the centuries. He concluded that shopping centres have stopped being exclusively retail centres and are beginning to resemble the market places and streets that once made up big city life. “The retail market has been undergoing the greatest format transformation in its history. Catering and entertainment is beginning to dominate as such services are taking up more and more space in retail centres. When their share of gla reaches 50 pct, it’ll no longer be justifiable to talk of shopping centres,” summed up the moderator.

After lunch, the discussion turned to whether there is any sense in investing in luxury apartments in historic buildings. It turned out that only a few people present preferred new buildings to historic ones. “Today’s technology and materials make it possible to meet the expectations of demanding clients that are looking for such properties. The key to success mostly involves combining the ‘old’ and the ‘new’, which results in the client receiving a unique product with soul in a modern format,” summed up Askaniusz Kocemba, the development director at Home Broker who was moderating.

The last panel talked of the current boom in building museums. Such buildings, which often have unique designs and high budgets represent a juicy morsel for architects. But the discussion touched on not only the problems of their design but also of working together with those who commission such projects as well as with contractors. “For the first ever time it’s turned out everyone agrees and that design and operation strategies need to take into account maintenance throughout the entire life cycle of a project,” concluded Krzysztof Sołoducha, the editor-in-chief of Grupa Sztuka Architektury and the moderator of the discussion.

The end of the panels was not the end of the festival. There was an hour-long cocktail party in the exhibition room which was to be followed by the announcement of the winners of the Eurobuild Awards in Architecture. Soon taxis started arriving and more people crowded into the main hall. Even last year, it was clear to be seen that these awards had very much been welcomed by the market. The winners are chosen not only by respected architects but also leading developers. Those who receive awards point out that it is also a great distinction to receive an award because the votes are cast by their competitors. This seemed very much confirmed by the thunderous applause when these everyday rivals and colleagues walked up to be handed their awards.