Autoportret REGIONALISMS / MODERNISMS / POSTMODERNISMS

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2[57]2017

Q U A R T E R LY

O N

G O O D

A QUARTERLY OF MALOPOLSKI INSTYTUT KULTURY

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ISSN 1730–3613

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INDEKS 362816

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REGIONALISMS / MODERNISMS / POSTMODERNISMS

S P A C E

I would like to begin with a text that in fact was not written for this issue, but its subject in some way reflects a problem which is rather central to the discussion of regionalism. Why do regional souvenirs (including those manufactured in China) remain such a bastion of kitsch, why do they not somehow adopt new, fashionable designs?

Let us try to pose some questions that this seemingly banal issue provokes. On the surface, it is a matter of aesthetics, but in fact, the problem goes deeper: after all, kitsch is the art of happiness. It is the bliss that our ancestors knew (we think) before the outbreak of modernity, back when the world was harmonious and comprehensible (or was it?), and the unity of place was revealed in every detail and ornament.

Such an image of the past, embedded in time and place, is basically utopian, yet anoth-

in autoportret

autoportret. a quarterly on good space ISSN 1730–3613, circulation: 1000 copies

museums 1 (2002) libraries 2 (1/2003) railway stations 3 (2/2003) revitalization 4 (3/2003)

PUBLISHER Małopolski

spaces of sound 5 (4/2003)

Instytut Kultury

streets and squares 6 (1/2004) gardens 7 (2/2004)

ul. 28 Lipca 1943, 17c,

local communities 8 (3/2004)

Kraków

children's spaces 9 (4/2004)

tel.: 012 422 18 84

spaces of communication 10 (1/2005)

www.mik.krakow.pl

around the functionalism 11 (2/2005) sacral spaces 12 (3/2005)

er dream that we dream about ourselves.

One of the main assumptions in working on the present issue, which we gave the working title of Regionalisms, was a desire to look at trends pertaining to the region without nostalgia or the rhetoric of returning to the source. We have gradually embraced modernisms and postmodernisms, and incorporated them into the title – we wished to show the creative potential inherent in the inspiration with a native (despite the limitations of that denomination) tradition and place.

Dialogue with the perception of modernity is, after all, crucial to the debate on

housing estates 13 (4/2005) spaces of the old age 14 (1/2006)

ADVISORY BOARD

spaces of commerce 15 (2/2006)

Adam Budak, Andrzej Bulanda, Wojciech Burszta,

organic architecture 16 (3/2006)

David Crowley, Piotr Korduba, Ewa Kuryłowicz, Maciej

spaces of book 17 (4/2006)

Miłobędzki, Agostino de Rosa, Ewa Rewers, Tadeusz

spaces of emptiness 18 (1/2007)

Sławek, Łukasz Stanek, Magdalena Staniszkis, Dariusz

spaces of stage 19 (2/2007)

Śmiechowski, Gabriela Świtek, Štefan Šlachta

spaces of healt 20 (3/2007) private spaces 21 (4/2007) spaces of power 22 (1/2008)

EDITOR IN-CHIEF Dorota Leśniak­‑Rychlak

nobody's spaces 23 (2/2008)

had many regional variations, and has often developed from strictly local conditions

DEPUTY EDITOR Emiliano Ranocchi

death in Central Europe 24 (3/2008) spaces of light – light in space 25–26

SECRETARY OF THE BOARD Marta Karpińska

and circumstances. Postmodernism – despite sanctioning a return to tradition and

the potential for creating regional architecture today, while modernism itself has

history and revivingan interest in the region – often reduced the latter to a num-

(4/2008–1/2009) virtual spaces 27 (2/2009)

ber of perfectly trivial gestures, decoration, and scenography. Subscribing to the

boundlessness 28 (3/2009)

phenomenological approach to the postmodernist trend, we find Kenneth Frampton’s

colonial spaces 29 (4/2009)

views, expressed in his now classic essay on architecture as a resistance movement against globalization, on the role of climate and place; as well as Juhani Pallasmaa’s understanding of tradition, his critique of the obsession with novelty, and his reading of architecture in terms of existential experience.

When we deal with the unique experience of architecture and human perception in the phenomenological sense – at that very moment – the global, social and economic perspectives seem to disappear. The abstract system does not fit into the field of the direct language of multi-sensory experience, but at the same time, undoubtedly it does not cease to impact on and alter the lives of individuals. The unifying narrative of modernization, globalization and the Internet actively transforms reality – including the spatial reality – of communities large and small.

The critical potential of regionalism is unlikely to arise from architecture… And yet, does this mean that we should not turn there for the tools of our dissent?

modernities 30 (1/2010) home in Poland 31 (2/2010) imagining nations 32 (3/2010) language and space 33 (1/2011) utopias 34 (2/2011)

TRANSLATION Dorota Wąsik EDITING AND PROOFREADING Nicholas Hodge EDITORIAL COOPERATION Agnieszka Lula SUBSCRIPTION Marta Karpińska ASSOCIATE AUTHORS Michał Choptiany, Paweł Jaworski, Dorota Jędruch, Krzysztof Korżyk, Piotr Winskowski, Michał Wiśniewski, Jakub Woynarowski, Marcin Wicha

senses/perception 35 (3/2011) identity after '89 36 (1/2012) participation and participation 37 (2/2012)

contact autoportret@mik.krakow.pl

post-body 38 (3/2012) countryside 39 (4/2012) industrial post-industrial 40 (1/2013)

COVER

space as it is 41 (2/2013)

illustration: Kuba Skoczek, cover design: Marcin Hernas

sustainable development? 42 (3/2013)

P. Ricoeur, Universal Civilization and National Cultures,

limitation 43 (4/2013)

in: P. Ricoeur, History and Truth, Northwestern Univer-

spaces of knowledge 44 (1/2014)

sity Press: Evanston, Illinois, 1965, p. 280

motion 45 (2/2014) war 46 (3/2014) eeriness 47 (4/2014) matter/materiality 48 (1/2015)

Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak

LAYOUT DESIGN AND TYPESETTING Kuba Skoczek

landscape 49 (2/2015)

The Polish version of the quarterly is available in sale at www.mik.krakow.pl in empik bookstores and in subscription.

myths of modernism 50 (3/2015) archtecture of community 51 (4/2015) man on the net 52 (1/2016) convervation / reconstruction 53 (2/2016) transformation 54 (3/2016) organicity 55 (4/2016) planning 56 (1/2017)

The issue is published with the financial support of the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage

regionalisms / modernisms / postmodernisms 57 (2/2017)

The issue is published with the

property 58 (3/2017)

financial support of

architecture of the avant-garde 59 (4/2017)

International Visegrad Fund

…

www.visegradfund.org

Table of Contents Regionalism: a manner of perception or a development strategy? Ákos Moravánszky 5 Towards a Critical Regionalism Kenneth Frampton

11

The five legs of the chameleon Jarosław Szewczyk 22 Tradition and newness Juhani Pallasmaa 29 Constructions of Fascism Tullia Iori, Sergio Poretti 38 What does and does not make a region Jurko Prochaśko 47 Bliss An interview with Roman Rutkowski 52 The Curse of Tradition Damas Gruska 59 Snapshots of Slovak regionalism Daniela Majzlanová, Martin Varga 62 The Form of the Face of the Earth Kamila Twardowska 69 The Embassy An interview with Stanisław Deńko 79 Landscapists of Warsaw, geometricians of Kraków Maciej Miłobędzki 84 More than iconic Jana Tichá 92 Demolition and improvisation while the rivers flow as they always did Magdalena Zych 95

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 4

ÁKOS MORAVÁNSZKY

ILLUSTRATIONS: KUBA SKOCZEK

Regionalism: a manner of perception or a development strategy?

In the last years of the twentieth century,

of the 1980s and ’90s. Friedrich Achleitner,

the term ‘region’ could justify exclusion,

regionalism became a key concept for all

Viennese writer and architectural critic,

devaluation and even defamation and

kinds of aspirations. In particular, the

believes the concept of ‘region’ – along

discrimination. 1

program of ‘critical regionalism’ proposed

with those of ‘homeland’ and ‘nation’ –

by American art historian Kenneth Framp-

to be potentially dangerous because all

ton stirred the minds of architects and

three can be manipulated, used and abused

significantly influenced the architecture

by various ideologies. He argues that

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 5

1

F. Achleitner, Region, ein Konstrukt?, [in:] Region, ein Konstrukt? Regionalismus, eine Pleite?, Basel: Birkhäuser, 1997, p. 101–111.

In Europe, the concept of regions has gained pop-

extending from the Netherlands to the industrial

article Obszar nadbałtycki jako region artystyczny

ularity in the context of discussions on the Euro-

district of Milan. In 2002, the Dutch architec-

w XVI w. [The Baltic area as an artistic region in

pean Union, as it could contribute to supporting

tural firm MVRDV, with pragmatic and ironical

the sixteenth century]. 4 Białostocki defines the

the idea of the independence of certain areas.

flair, created the Regionmaker software, which

region not as an intra-national unit, but a supra-

Particularly in the 1980s, there was debate about

allows the user to determine the specific identity

national one, crossing the borders of individual

the growing role of regions such as the Basque

of any given area, using a set of parameters

countries. He is not concerned with the “national

Country, South Tyrol or Brittany within the fed-

determined and analysed numerically. 2

spirit”, but with a common starting point, the

eralist administration of the European Union. As

identical landscape and material conditions, as

And yet, this perception of the region –

well as the same social background.

soon as state borders lose their importance, re-

namely, the result of successful cooperation

gions will have the chance to gain independence

and marketing – seems to clash with another

and strength – it was said at the time – because

definition of that notion: an identity, built on

potential thanks to the spatial turn concept, de-

they will have the opportunity to develop a more

specific relationships between the geographic

rived from neogeography. In his works, Marxist

competent and better functioning administra-

location and the culture of the given territory.

philosopher and sociologist Henri Lefebvre

tion, they will become more competitive and will

A summary of the major theses of artistic geog-

described how space is produced as a social

reduce the distance from their citizens.

raphy, which flourished in German literature

form – notably in La production de l’espace 5. He

in the field of art history in the 1920s and ’30s,

distinguished three poles of a trialectic rela-

was established. This organization currently

would go beyond this definition of the region.

tionship: spatial practice – in terms of the living

brings together 250 regions from 30 European

Since the late nineteenth century, the humanities

space, the territory that the person encounters

countries. The principle of subsidiarity remains

have sought to describe regionalism and the

physically, directly, in which they live and which

inseparable from the popular “synesthetic”

“landscapes of art”. In these descriptions, the

they shape; representations of space – signi-

regionalism: the region has been discovered as

landscape, climatic conditions, language, folk

fying its portrayal through images, plans and

an inexhaustible source of sensory experiences,

customs as well as regional culture and art make

sketches, which imply the readability of space.

provided by tourism, local wines and exquisite

up an organic whole. Architecture constitutes an

The latter is also a conceptual level (relating to

restaurants. Regionalism understood in this way

important element thereof, because climate and

thought) – the level of architectural and urban

is in contradiction to the concept of Europe that

geographic location are directly related to local

design. The third element Lefevbre distinguishes

is managed from Brussels. Instead of the efficient

construction materials, structural types, and

is the representational (unreal) space. By this

administration and standards regulating the an-

architectural forms.

he means places such as a cathedral or an agora,

In 1985, the Assembly of European Regions

The concept of the region has gained new

3

In the 1960s, after a break of about thirty

gle at which a banana bends, we find a patchwork

which gain social significance not through space

of moods and aromas. Of course, old dreams of

years, a new generation of art historians re-

in practice or representation, but by the force of

independence and territorial claims do exist,

raised the question about the distinctiveness of

symbols associated with them, which give rise

lying dormant under the blanket of regionalism,

artistic regions (albeit without any propagandist

to a specific imagined space. The concept of a re-

as demonstrated by the examples of Flanders or

or nationalist undertones). It is worth mention-

gion is shaped by these three elements of space:

Scotland.

ing the texts by Paul Pieper, Harald Keller and

spatial practice, representations of space, and

Local politicians have begun to redefine the areas – attractive from the point of view of

Reiner Haussherr. Jan Białostocki used the concept of the region in a similar way, in his seminal

industry, trade, or tourism – which, precisely

4

artystyczny w XVI w., [in:] Sztuka pobrzeża

because of their convenient locations, spanning across state borders, show exceptional growth dynamics. In this way, the so-called Blue Banana came about – a densely populated European area with a high-level technological development

J. Białostocki, Obszar nadbałtycki jako region Bałtyku. Materiały sesji Stowarzyszenia Historyków

2 3

MVRDV, KM3. Excursions on Capacities Barcelona:

Sztuki, ed. H. Fruba, Gdańsk, November 1976,

Actar, 2005, p. 1304 and ff.

Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1978, p. 9–18.

T. Da Costa Kaufmann, Toward a Geography of Art Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press, 2004.

5

H. Lefebvre, La production de l’espace, Paris: Anthropos. Translation and Précis, 1974.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 6

the representational spaces. Expressions such

The cardinal points – east, west, north and south

Scandinavians saw similarities between their

as “Alpine region” indicate that geographical, his-

– play a significant role in the definition of iden-

own folklore, discovered on the occasion of trav-

torical and cultural conditions, similarities and

tity; they are rooted in the value system. The

elling to distant villages, and certain American

utopias (e.g. Alpine Architektur by Bruno Taut 6)

concept of homeland derives from this cultural

models. 12

affect us to this day.

division of the universe. Land cultivation, the

11

Regions have come to occupy an extremely

social, economic, administrative, military and

important place on the mental map drafted at the

historian Christian Norberg-Schulz proposed

cultural structures of the homeland, all remain

turn of the century, providing potential points

a phenomenological view of places and land-

inseparable from the native mythical geography.

of resistance to the dangers of progressing mod-

scapes. He referred to the Heideggerian differen-

The latter also affects the infrastructure of the

ernization – just as in the 1980s, when Kenneth

tiation between space and place (Raum und Ort 8),

region. We look after our monuments, and pro-

Frampton recognized the region as a potential

but went on to propose a more rigid, rigorous

tect our nature. We take care of material culture

impediment to globalization; admitting that the

definition of the region, based directly on the

objects that confirm the truth of local myths.

latter endangered local architecture through the

term genius loci, which goes back to Antiquity.

Archaeology is of great importance, because its

influence of media images. No wonder, since the

It denotes the “spirit that rules the place”, that is

task is to provide evidence.

existence of the region is closely linked to the

In his 1979 book Genius loci , Norwegian art 7

a concrete – even if mythological – reality con-

Mountain travellers described the geological

development of local infrastructure: the starting

fronted by man in everyday life. The existence

formations they visited. These natural forms

point for modernization. Regions have become

of the “spirit of the place” provides the architect

influenced nineteenth-century architectural

a field for projecting the fears and hopes of the

with guidelines: architecture means “visualiz-

thinking. John Ruskin was interested in the

inhabitants of big cities. The threat was suppos-

ing the genius loci, and the architect’s job is to

world of plants and minerals, as evidenced by his

edly in the expansion of infrastructure, which

help people, by designing a meaningful place of

drawings and watercolours from his travels in

could cause the region to “dissolve” and blend in

inhabitation for them.”

the Swiss Alps. He considered geological forma-

with the state.

9

A region’s geography plays an important role in the beliefs of its inhabitants about their identi-

tions to be insights into the sublime writing of nature, the work of divine creation.

In the nineteenth century, the local regional

ty, especially in the case of imagined regions. In

There are areas that appear in the geography of the nation as real and imagined at the same time. These include Podhale – the foothills of

this mythical geography, space is not homogene-

landscape proved to be an important source of

the Tatras, the Wallachian land in the Beskid

ous, but it consists of specific places. Ernst Cas-

inspiration for the paintings and metaphors of

mountains, Kalotászeg in Transylvania and the

sirer wrote in his Philosophie der symbolischen

local art in the United States of America. Rather

Catalan mountain massif of Montserrat. These

Formen about the “typical perception of reality,”

like monuments did in Europe, it played an im-

are usually mountains or submontane areas

through which all kinds of existence possess

portant role in shaping identity. Urban planners

along the borders in a strictly geographical

their “homeland” within space – elements of an

and architects such as Frederick Law Olmsted

sense, but they also play a major role in national

all-encompassing cosmic system. 10

and Henry Hobson Richardson regarded the

mythology; their belonging to one country or

6 7

fascination with nature and the critique of the

another was repeatedly questioned and changed

B. Taut, Alpine Architektur, Hagen: Folkwang

big city by Henry David Thoreau and Ralph

depending on political turns. Regional legends

Verlag, 1919.

Waldo Emerson as expressions of identity in

and myths played a legitimizing role. They were

the American art of construction, dominated by

important in discussions on identity and nation-

See: M. Heidegger, Bauen Wohnen Denken, [in:]

natural materials, granite and wood. This way of

al style at the turn of the century. Discovering

Vorträge und Aufsätze, Pfullingen: Neske, 1954,

thinking has inspired the search for a national

these lands and documenting the processes

p. 145–162.

style in many European countries. Especially the

Ch. Norberg-Schulz, Genius loci: Landschaft, Lebensraum, Baukunst, Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, 1982.

8

9

Chr. Norberg-Schulz, op. cit., p. 5.

10 E. Cassirer, Philosophie der symbolischen Formen, Bd. 2. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1964, p. 108 and ff.

12 See: Das entfernte Dorf. Moderne Kunst und 11

See: R. Shields, Places on the Margin: Alternative

ethnischer Artefakt, ed. Á. Moravánszky, Wien,

Geographies of Modernity, London: Routledge, 1991.

Köln, Weimar: Böhlau, 2002.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 7

taking place therein is inextricably linked to the

and believed that the use of folk features would

as in his earlier, more famous work The Image of

cult and artistic interpretation of regions.

contribute to the creation of a functional art,

the City 16 he attempted to analyse images created

anchored in everyday life.

by the various inhabitants of cities. For Lynch,

Regions were considered vulnerable areas, with potential threats coming not only from

The identity of the region is explored using

the regions have sensuous or sensory qualities;

neighbouring countries, but also from modern-

the same grid of terms as the identity of place. It

and he is primarily concerned with examining

ization. Geographical barriers protected them

is about a specific historical aspect, as opposed

the visual aspects. For Lynch, the region is – for

from two imagined perils: the enemy, and the

to the timelessness of space. The Mediterranean

example – a place that, with the help of building

railroad or highway. Thanks to the “insular”

region has been described by Fernand Braudel,

regulations, should be shaped as aesthetically

position in remote, inaccessible valleys, these re-

Georges Duby and Maurice Aymard on the

homogeneous. “Regional authorities can provide

gions made it possible for organic communities

grounds of similarities in climate and atmos-

a coordinated framework for local actions, and

to survive, where unpolluted art and lifestyles

phere (sun, rain, dusk) and common history. 14

level the differences in quality between various

were preserved in their original, ancient forms.

The role of the “cradle of civilization” of the

groups. They are able, like no other entity, to

How fragile an existence it seemed to be. Artists

Mediterranean world has rooted it in the past,

collect, analyse and disseminate sensory infor-

and ethnographers discovering these areas were

as the original homeland. It is believed that

mation. Local sensory programs and feasible

aware that their own exploring and collecting

this habitat is still based on the foundations of

solutions can be used by local groups, both as

passion accelerated the erosion of this unpollut-

community and ritual. It is not difficult to see

a target and as a reference point.” 17 Lynch has

ed culture. The very process of discovery and

how this diagnosis of reconciliatory utopia can

developed a method known as cognitive mapping,

description of the region carries the germ of

affect the future of this region. Norberg-Schulz

which tracks the relationship between the city’s

destruction in itself; just as the first ethnologist

defines genius loci along similar lines as Braudel

structure and its representation in the residents’

visiting an unknown tribe in the jungle contrib-

and his colleagues – the crucial features include

minds. This is about the connection between

utes to its demise. The distinction and specificity

the phenomenological criteria of the territory’s

a specific, directly perceived environment and

of the region should therefore be protected. At

properties, its defensive function (to be consid-

the unreal, perceived whole that exists only

the same time, discovering the region is linked to

ered together with the issue of borders), and

in the imagination. Lynch uses the interview

the hope that the “authentic” values ​​of the “dying

the possibility of a reasonable orientation. The

method, often asking residents to draw sketches

village” will contribute to a renaissance within

problem of a region’s cartography can be seen

of their surroundings; his goal is an ordered city,

the culture of the centre. 13

in a broader context when we assume that maps

just as the ideal of a “reasonable place” by Nor-

are ideological instruments showing imaginary

berg-Schulz, where easy orientation is possible

sans were inspired by folk culture and had their

relationships between the subject and the condi-

thanks to the clarity and unambiguity of borders

share in collecting and organizing exhibitions of

tions of its existence. It is precisely this ratio that

(where the tissue of the place ends or breaks), via

ethnographic artefacts. They received support

has become the central, starting point for the

nodes, monuments and districts. This well-formed

from the official cultural policy, which signifi-

analyses of urban tissue, conducted by architect

place evokes a positive relationship between the

cantly influenced the direction of their collecting

Kevin Lynch.

cognitive structure of the inhabitants and the

Many painters, architects, artists, and arti-

activities. Sometimes these were retrograde-nos-

In his 1976 publication titled Managing the

talgic tendencies; but more often the artists

Sense of a Region the author seeks to sketch

interested in exploring and presenting rural

a mental picture (or pictures) of a region – just

15

culture were part of the avant-garde movement,

“inhabited” area, allowing for orientation, memorization and easy movement around the city.

Even today, Lynch’s cognitive mapping method is used in studying the differences between

14 F. Braudel, G. Duby, M. Aymard, Die Welt des Mittelmeeres. Zur Geschichte und Geographie 13 See: Á. Moravánszky, Die Entdeckung des Nahen.

Das Bauernhaus und die Architekten der frühen Moderne, [in:] Das entfernte Dorf…, op. cit. p. 95 and ff.

kultureller Lebensformen, Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 1987.

15 K. Lynch, Managing the Sense of a Region, Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1976, p. 13.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 8

16 Ibid., Obraz miasta, transl. T. Jeleński, Węgrzce: Archivolta, 2011.

17 K. Lynch, Managing the Sense of a Region, op. cit., p. 24.

cognitive maps of various social classes and

has become a “mousetrap”. Koolhaas describes

“programmed” territories (through branding

minorities. In his book Managing the Sense of

“a city without qualities” – a territory consisting

and other strategies) will turn into “perceived

a Region, Lynch demonstrates that the image of

of a weave of highways, residential quarters,

regions”. Or, in other words, what forms of

the city as perceived by the black residents of

industrial parks and green spaces, extending

discourse, activity and organization will make

a Los Angeles suburb covers only a few quarters

like the aforementioned Blue Banana. Recently,

the politically conceived profile of the region

of their nearest neighbourhood; it is only a frac-

the architectural office of the Basel Polytechnic

grow with the place, encourage activity and be

tion of the large map of Anglo-Americans living

in Zurich (Roger Diener, Jacques Herzog, Marcel

appreciated by the locals. In spite of Koolhaas’s

in the middle-class Westwood district. In Lynch’s

Meili, Pierre de Meuron, Christian Schmid),

assertion, we might still talk about regional iden-

research, space is understood to be something

under the influence of Koolhaas, began working

tity – though not as a given phenomenon, still

that has a communicative function, conveying

on an “urban portrait” of Switzerland with the

awaiting discovery, but as a result of a successful

a message. The mental map used by Lynch

intention of de-mythologizing the prevailing pat-

design of the territory.

illustrates the political-spatial system. Its author

terns and criticizing the “culture of avoidance;

follows his own ideal of a visually clear envi-

as well as preventing excessive densification,

The text is a record of Ákos Moravánszky’s speech

ronment, easily communicable. The very title,

height, mass, concentration, randomness, and all

at the Region-Kunst-Regionalismus conference,

Managing the Sense of a Region, indicates that the

the other qualities expected of a city.” 20 However,

held on April 1-3, 2005, at the Herder-Institut in

authorities should seek to consciously “manage”

there is another idea behind this formulation

Marburg. We would like to thank the Author for his

the region’s sensory values ​​as a spatial system.

– to render unto the urban what belongs to the

permission to publish.

Mapping regions is by no means a passive process; instead, it influences reality and

urban.

If we rethink the concept of the region in

organizes the country by projecting a map onto

the historical perspective, we will not only see

a territory. Therefore, the thesis that the concept

the search for identity or nationalisms, but

of a region constitutes only a rhetorical topos,

also a critical potential. Achleitner writes in

a spatial articulation of ideas about economics,

his article: “Region-ness and regionalism are

culture or language, seems far too superficial.

expressions of the experience of separation,

Perhaps the most recent examples of that are

distance, isolation and an isolationist world-

maps used in Middle Eastern politics. 18

view. Regions can only be experienced through

The very existence of a regional identity

strangeness, differentness, through the new

is often questioned today. French ethnologist

and the unknown.” 21 The possibility of shaping

Marc Augé says that we increasingly often find

this worldview has already been emphasized

ourselves in locations such as airport terminals

by Kevin Lynch when he proposed to “manage”

or lobbies, which are completely devoid of any

the “spirit” of the region. Creative space shaping

trace of belonging to the territory in which they

produces incentives that make it possible to

were built. He calls these locations non-places. 19

explore the region anew, and to engrave it in

Also, for the Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas,

the collective consciousness. To program the

identity has lost its meaning; he believes that it

region according to its specificity – the question remains whether and how the politically

18 See: Territories: Islands, Camps and Other States of Utopia, ed. K. Biesenbach, Berlin: KW, 2003.

19 M. Augé, Nie-miejsca. Wprowadzenie do antropologii hipernowoczesności, transl.

R. Chymkowski, Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, 2010.​

20 R. Diener, J. Herzog, Die Schweiz: Ein städtebauliches Porträt, Vol. 1, Basel: Birkhäuser, 2006, p. 17.

21 F. Achleitner, op. cit., p. 111.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 9

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 10

KENNETH FRAMPTON

Towards a Critical Regionalism:

PHOTO BY M. MIŁOBĘDZKI

Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance The phenomenon of universalization, while

civilizations of the past. This threat is ex-

get on to the road toward modernization,

being an advancement of mankind, at the

pressed, among other disturbing effects, by

is it necessary to jettison the old cultural

same time constitutes a sort of subtle de-

the spreading before our eyes of a mediocre

past which has been the raison d’etre of

struction, not only of traditional cultures,

civilization which is the absurd counter-

a nation? ... Whence the paradox: on the

which might not be an irreparable wrong,

part of what I was just calling elementary

one hand, it has to root itself in the soil of

but also of what I shall call for the time

culture. Everywhere throughout the world,

its past, forge a national spirit, and unfurl

being the creative nucleus of great cultures,

one finds the same bad movie, the same slot

this spiritual and cultural revindication

that nucleus on the basis of which we inter-

machines, the same plastic or aluminum

before the colonialist’s personality. But in

pret life, what I shall call in advance the eth-

atrocities, the same twisting of language

order to take part in modern civilization, it

ical and mythical nucleus of mankind. The

by propaganda, etc. It seems as if mankind,

is necessary at the same time to take part in

conflict springs up from there. We have the

by approaching en masse a basic consum-

scientific, technical, and political rational-

feeling that this single world civilization

er culture, were also stopped en masse at

ity, something which very often requires

at the same time exerts a sort of attrition

a subcultural level. Thus we come to the

the pure and simple abandon of a whole

or wearing away at the expense of the cul-

crucial problem confronting nations just

cultural past. It is a fact: every culture can-

tural resources which have made the great

rising from underdevelopment. In order to

not sustain and absorb the shock of modern

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 11 Town Hall of Säynätsalo, designed by Alvar Aalto, 1949-1952

civilization. There is the paradox: how to

Twenty years ago the dialectical interplay

Ever since the beginning of the Enlightenment,

become modern and to return to sources;

between civilization and culture still afforded

civilization has been primarily concerned

how to revive an old, dormant civilization

the possibility of maintaining some general

with instrumental reason, while culture has

and take part in universal civilization. 1

control over the shape and significance of the

addressed itself to the specifics of expression –

urban fabric. The last two decades, however,

to the realization of the being and the evolution

have radically transformed the metropolitan

of its collective psycho-social reality. Today

centers of the developed world. What were still

civilization tends to be increasingly embroiled

essentially 19th-century city fabrics in the early

in a never-ending chain of “means and ends”,

1960s have since become progressively overlaid

wherein, according to Hannah Arendt, “The ‘in

Modern building is now so universally

by the two symbiotic instruments of Megalop-

order to’ has become the content of the ‘for the

conditioned by optimized technology that

olitan development – the freestanding high-rise

sake of;’ utility established as meaning gener-

the possibility of creating significant urban

and the serpentine freeway. The former has

ates meaninglessness.” 5

form has become extremely limited. The

finally come into its own as the prime device

restrictions jointly imposed by automotive

for realizing the increased land value brought

distribution and the volatile play of land

into being by the latter. The typical downtown

speculation serve to limit the scope of urban

which, up to twenty years ago, still presented

design to such a degree that any intervention

a mixture of residential stock with tertiary and

The emergence of the avant-garde is insepa-

tends to be reduced either to the manipu-

secondary industry has now become little more

rable from the modernization of both society

lation of elements predetermined by the

than a burolandschaft city-scape: the victory

and architecture. Over the past century-and-a-

imperatives of production, or to a kind of

of universal civilization over locally inflected

half avant-garde culture has assumed differ-

superficial masking which modern develop-

culture. The predicament posed by Ricoeur –

ent roles, at times facilitating the process of

ment requires for the facilitation of market-

namely, “how to become modern and to return

modernization and thereby acting, in part,

ing and the maintenance of social control.

to sources” now seems to be circumvented by

as a progressive, liberative form, at times

Today the practice of architecture seems to

the apocalyptic thrust of modernization, while

being virulently opposed to the positivism of

be increasingly polarized between, on the

the ground in which the mytho-ethical nucleus

bourgeois culture. By and large, avant-garde

one hand, a so-called “high-tech” approach

of a society might take root has become eroded

architecture has played a positive role with

predicated exclusively upon production and,

by the rapacity of development.

regard to the progressive trajectory of the

Paul Ricoeur, History and Truth

1. CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION

3

4

Enlightenment. Exemplary of this is the role

on the other, the provision of a “compensato-

played by Neoclassicism: from the mid-18th

ry facade” to cover up the harsh realities of this universal system.

2

3

Ricoeur, p. 277.

4

Fernand Braudel informs us that the term “culture” hardly existed before the beginning of the 19th

1

2

2. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE AVANT-GARDE

century onwards it serves as both a symbol of and an instrument for the propagation of uni-

Paul Ricoeur, “Universal Civilization and National

century when, as far as Anglo-Saxon letters are

versal civilization. The mid-19th century, how-

Cultures” (1961), History and Truth, trans. Chas. A.

concerned, it already finds itself opposed to “civili-

ever, saw the historical avant-garde assume

Kelbley (Evanston: Northwestern University Press,

zation” in the writings of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

1965), pp. 276-7.

– above all, in Coleridge’s On the Constitution of

an adversary stance towards both industrial

That these are but two sides of the same coin has

Church and State of 1830. The noun “civilization”

perhaps been most dramatically demonstrated in

has a somewhat longer history, first appearing in

concerted reaction on the part of “tradition” to

the Portland City Annex completed in Portland,

1766, although its verb and participle forms date to

the process of modernization as the Gothic Re-

Oregon in 1982 to the designs of Michael Graves.

the 16th and 17th centuries. The use that Ricoeur

The constructional fabric of this building bears

makes of the opposition between these two terms

vival and the Arts-and-Crafts movements take

no relation whatsoever to the “’representative”

relates to the work of 20th-century German think-

scenography that is applied to the building both

ers and writers such as Osvald Spengler, Ferdinand

inside and out.

Tonnies, Alfred Weber and Thomas Mann.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 12

process and Neoclassical form. This is the first

5

Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958), p.154.

up a categorically negative attitude towards

historical avant-garde founders on the rocks

religion, to therapy. The arts could save

both utilitarianism and the division of labor.

of the Spanish Civil War.

themselves from this leveling down only by

Despite this critique, modernization continues

Not least among these reactions is the re-

demonstrating that the kind of experience

unabated, and throughout the last half of the

assertion of Neo-Kantian aesthetics as a sub-

they provided was valuable in its own right

19th century bourgeois art distances itself pro-

stitute for the culturally liberative modern

and not to be obtained from any other kind

gressively from the harsh realities of colonial-

project. Confused by the political and cul-

of activity. 7

ism and paleo-technological exploitation. Thus

tural politics of Stalinism, former left-wing

at the end of the century the avantgardist Art

protagonists of socio-cultural modernization

Despite this defensive intellectual stance, the

Nouveau takes refuge in the compensatory

now recommend a strategic withdrawal from

arts have nonetheless continued to gravitate,

thesis of” art for art’s sake,” retreating to

the project of totally transforming the exist-

if not towards entertainment, then certainly

nostalgic or phantasmagoric dream-worlds

ing reality. This renunciation is predicated

towards commodity and – in the case of that

inspired by the cathartic hermeticism of Wag-

on the belief that as long as the struggle be-

which Charles Jencks has since classified as

ner’s music-drama.

tween socialism and capitalism persists (with

Post-Modern Architecture 8 – towards pure

the manipulative mass-culture politics that

technique or pure scenography. In the latter

full force, however, soon after the turn of the

this conflict necessarily entails), the mod-

case, the so-called postmodern architects

century with the advent of Futurism. This

ern world cannot continue to entertain the

are merely feeding the media-society

unequivocal critique of the ancien régime

prospect of evolving a marginal, liberative,

with gratuitous, quietistic images rather

gives rise to the primary positive cultural for-

avantgardist culture which would break (or

than proffering, as they claim, a creative

mations of the 1920s: to Purism, Neoplasticism

speak of the break) with the history of bour-

rappel a l’ordre after the supposedly proven

and Constructivism. These movements are the

geois repression. Close to l’ art pour l’ art,

bankruptcy of the liberative modern project.

last occasion on which radical avant-gardism

this position was first advanced as a “holding

In this regard, as Andreas Huyssens has

is able to identify itself whole heartedly with

pattern” in Clement Greenberg’s” Avant-Gar-

written, “The American postmodernist

the process of modernization. In the immedi-

de and Kitsch” of 1939; this essay concludes

avant-garde, therefore, is not only the end

ate aftermath of World War I – ”the war to end

somewhat ambiguously with the words:

game of avant-gardism. It also represents

all wars” – the triumphs of science, medicine

“Today we look to socialism simply for the

the fragmentation and decline of critical

and industry seemed to confirm the liberative

preservation of whatever living culture we

adversary culture.” 9

promise of the modern project. In the 1930s,

have right now.” Greenberg reformulated

Nevertheless, it is true that moderniza-

however, the prevailing backwardness and

this position in specifically formalist terms

tion can no longer be simplistically identified

chronic insecurity of the newly urbanized

in his essay “Modernist Painting” of 1965,

as liberative in se, in part because of the

masses, the upheavals caused by war,

wherein he wrote:

domination of mass culture by the media-in-

The progressive avant-garde emerges in

6

revolution and economic depression, followed

dustry (above all television which, as Jerry

by a sudden and crucial need for psycho-social

Having been denied by the Enlightenment

Mander reminds us, expanded its persuasive

stability in the face of global political and

of all tasks they could take seriously, they

power a thousandfold between 1945 and

economic crises, all induce a state of affairs in

[the arts] looked as though they were going

which the interests of both monopoly and state

to be assimilated to entertainment pure

capitalism are, for the first time in modern

and simple, and entertainment looked as

history, divorced from the liberative drives of

though it was going to be assimilated, like

cultural modernization. Universal civilization and world culture cannot be drawn upon to sustain “the myth of the State,” and one reaction-formation succeeds another as the

7

Greenberg, “Modernist Painting,” in Gregory Battcock, ed., The New Art (New York: Dutton, 1966), pp. 101-2.

8

See Charles Jencks, The Language of Post-Modern

9

Andreas Huyssens, “The Search for Tradition:

Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1977).

6

Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch,” in Gillo Dorfles, ed., Kitsch (New York: Universe

Avant-Garde and Postmodernism in the 1970s,”

Books, 1969), p. 126.

New German Critique, 22 (Winter 1981), p. 34.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 13

1975 10) and in part because the trajectory of

the optimization of advanced technology and

any humanistic architecture of the future

modernization has brought us to the thresh-

the ever-present tendency to regress into

must pass. 12

old of nuclear war and the annihilation of the

nostalgic historicism or the glibly decorative.

entire species. So too, avant-gardism can no

It is my contention that only an arrière-garde

The fundamental strategy of Critical Region-

longer be sustained as a liberative moment,

has the capacity to cultivate a resistant, iden-

alism is to mediate the impact of universal

in part because its initial utopian promise

tity-giving culture while at the same time

civilization with elements derived indirectly

has been overrun by the internal rationality

having discreet recourse to universal tech-

from the peculiarities of a particular place. It

of instrumental reason. This “closure” was

nique. It is necessary to qualify the term ar-

is clear from the above that Critical Region-

perhaps best formulated by Herbert Marcuse

rière-garde so as to diminish its critical scope

alism depends upon maintaining a high level

when he wrote:

from such conservative policies as Populism

of critical self-consciousness. It may find

or sentimental Regionalism with which it has

its governing inspiration in such things as

The technological apriori is a political

often been associated. In order to ground ar-

the range and quality of the local light, or in

apriori in as much as the transformation of

rieregardism in a rooted yet critical strategy,

a tectonic derived from a peculiar structural

nature involves that of man, and inasmuch

it is helpful to appropriate the term Critical

mode, or in the topography of a given site.

as the “man-made creations” issue from

Regionalism as coined by Alex Tzonis and

But it is necessary, as I have already

and re-enter the societal ensemble. One

Liliane Lefaivre in “The Grid and the Path-

suggested, to distinguish between Critical

may still insist that the machinery of

way” (1981); in this essay they caution against

Regionalism and simple-minded attempts to

the technological universe is “as such”

the ambiguity of regional reformism, as this

revive the hypothetical forms of a lost ver-

indifferent towards political ends – it can

has become occasionally manifest since the

nacular. In contradistinction to Critical Re-

revolutionize or retard society… However,

last quarter of the 19th century:

gionalism, the primary vehicle of Populism is the communicative or instrumental sign.

when technics becomes the universal form of material production, it circumscribes an

Regionalism has dominated architecture in

Such a sign seeks to evoke not a critical per-

entire culture, it projects a historical totality

almost all countries at some time during the

ception of reality, but rather the sublimation

– a “world.” 11

past two centuries and a half. By way of gen-

of a desire for direct experience through the

eral definition we can say that it upholds the

provision of information. Its tactical aim is to

individual and local architectonic features

attain, as economically as possible, a precon-

against more universal and abstract ones.

ceived level of gratification in behavioristic

3. CRITICAL REGIONALISM AND WORLD CULTURE

In addition, however, regionalism bears the

terms. In this respect, the strong affinity of

Architecture can only be sustained today as

hallmark of ambiguity. On the one hand,

Populism for the rhetorical techniques and

a critical practice if it assumes an arrière-gar-

it has been associated with movements of

imagery of advertising is hardly accidental.

de position, that is to say, one which distances

reform and liberation; ...on the other, it has

Unless one guards against such a conver-

itself equally from the Enlightenment myth

proved a powerful tool of repression and

gence, one will confuse the resistant capacity

of progress and from a reactionary, unreal-

chauvinism… Certainly, critical regional-

of a critical practice with the demagogic

istic impulse to return to the architectonic

ism has its limitations. The upheaval of the

tendencies of Populism.

forms of the preindustrial past. A critical

populist movement – a more developed

arrière-garde has to remove itself from both

form of regionalism – has brought to light

The case can be made that Critical Regionalism as a cultural strategy is as much

these weak points. No new architecture can 10 Jerry Mander, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television (New York: Morrow Quill, 1978), p. 134.

11

emerge without a new kind of relations between designer and user, with out new kinds

Herbert Marcuse, One-Dimensional Man (Boston:

of programs… Despite these limitations

Beacon Press, 1964), p. 156.

critical regionalism is a bridge over which

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 14

12 Alex Tzonis and Liliane Lefaivre, “The Grid and the Pathway. An Introduction to the Work of Dimitris and Susana Antonakakis,” Architecture in Greece, 15 (Athens: 1981), p. 178.

a bearer of world culture as it is a vehicle

we are not yet capable of conquering the

European Modernism whole because its own

of universal civilization. And while it is

skepticism into which we have stepped. 13

regionalism had been reduced to a collection

obviously misleading to conceive of our

of restrictions. 15

inheriting world culture to the same degree

A parallel and complementary sentiment was

as we are all heirs to universal civilization,

expressed by the Dutch architect Aldo Van

The scope for achieving a self-conscious

it is nonetheless evident that since we are,

Eyck who, quite coincidentally, wrote at the

synthesis between universal civilization and

in principle, subject to the impact of both,

same time:

world culture may be specifically illustrated

we have no choice but to take cognizance

by Jørn Utzon’s Bagsvaerd Church, built near

today of their interaction. In this regard the

Western civilization habitually identi-

Copenhagen in 1976, a work whose complex

practice of Critical Regionalism is contingent

fies itself with civilization as such on the

meaning sterns directly from a revealed

upon a process of double mediation. In the

pontificial assumption that what is not like

conjunction between, on the one hand, the ra-

first place, it has to “deconstruct” the overall

it is a deviation, less advanced, primitive,

tionality of normative technique and, on the

spectrum of world culture which it inevi-

or, at best, exotically interesting at a safe

other, the arationality of idiosyncratic form.

tably inherits; in the second place, it has to

distance.

In as much as this building is organized

14

around a regular grid and is comprised of

achieve, through synthetic contradiction, a manifest critique of universal civilization.

That Critical Regionalism cannot be

repetitive, in-fill modules concrete blocks in

To deconstruct world culture is to remove

simply based on the autochthonous forms

the first instance and precast concrete wall

oneself from that eclecticism of the fin de

of a specific region alone was well put by

units in the second – we may justly regard

siècle which appropriated alien, exotic forms

the Californian architect Hamilton Harwell

it as the outcome of universal civilization.

in order to revitalize the expressivity of an

Harris when he wrote, now nearly thirty

Such a building system, comprising an in situ

enervated society. (One thinks of the “form-

years ago:

concrete frame with prefabricated concrete in-fill elements, has indeed been applied

force” aesthetics of Henri van de Velde or the “whiplash-Arabesques” of Victor Horta.) On

Opposed to the Regionalism of Restriction is

countless times all over the developed world.

the other hand, the mediation of universal

another type of regionalism, the Regional-

However, the universality of this productive

technique involves imposing limits on the

ism of Liberation. This is the manifestation

method – which includes, in this instance,

optimization of industrial and postindustrial

of a region that is especially in tune with the

patent glazing on the roof – is abruptly

technology. The future necessity for resyn-

emerging thought of the time. We call such

mediated when one passes from the opti-

thesizing principles and elements drawn

a manifestation “regional” only because it

mal modular skin of the exterior to the far

from diverse origins and quite different

has not yet emerged elsewhere… A region

less optimal reinforced concrete shell vault

ideological sets seems to be alluded to by

may develop ideas. A region may accept

spanning the nave. This last is obviously

Ricoeur when he writes:

ideas. Imagination and intelligence are

a relatively uneconomic mode of construc-

necessary for both. In California in the late

tion, selected and manipul – that is to say, the

No one can say what will become of our civi-

Twenties and Thirties modern European

vault signifies sacred space – and second for

lization when it has really met different civ-

ideas met a still-developing regionalism. In

its multiple cross-cultural references. While

ilizations by means other than the shock of

New England, on the other hand, European

the reinforced concrete shell vault has long

conquest and domination. But we have to ad-

Modernism met a rigid and restrictive

since held an established place within the

mit that this encounter has not yet taken

regionalism that at first resisted and

received tectonic canon of Western modern

place at the level of an authentic dialogue.

then surrendered. New England accepted

That is why we are in a kind of lull or inter-

15 Hamilton Harwell Harris, “Liberative and Restric-

regnum in which we can no longer practice

13 Ricoeur, p. 283.

tive Regionalism.” Address given to the Northwest

the dogmatism of a single truth and in which

14 Aldo Van Eyck, Forum (Amsterdam: 1962).

Chapter of the AlA in Eugene, Oregon in 1954.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 15

architecture, the highly configurated section

exception of cities which were laid in place

place depends upon the concrete, clearly

adopted in this instance is hardly familiar,

before the turn of the century, we are no

defined nature of its boundary, for, as he puts

and the only precedent for such a form, in

longer able to maintain defined urban forms.

it, “A boundary is not that at which some-

a sacred context, is Eastern rather than West-

The last quarter of a century has seen the

thing stops, but, as-the Greeks recognized, the

ern – namely, the Chinese pagoda roof, cited

so-called field of urban design degenerate

boundary is that from which something begins

by Utzon in his seminal essay of 1963, “Plat-

into a theoretical subject whose discourse

its presencing.” 18 Apart from confirming that

forms and Plateaus.” Although the main

bears little relation to the processal realities

Western abstract reason has its origins in the

Bagsvaerd vault spontaneously signifies its

of modern development. Today even the su-

antique culture of the Mediterranean, Heideg-

religious nature, it does so in such a way as

permanagerial discipline of urban planning

ger shows that etymologically the German ger-

16

to preclude an exclusively Occidental or Ori-

has entered into a state of crisis. The ultimate

und building is closely linked with the archaic

ental reading of the code by which the public

fate of the plan which was officially promul-

forms of being, cultivating and dwelling, and

and sacred space is constituted. The intent

gated for the rebuilding of Rotterdam after

goes on to state that the condition of “dwelling”

of this expression is, of course, to secularize

World War II is symptomatic in this regard,

and hence ultimately of “being” can only take

the sacred form by precluding the usual set

since it testifies, in terms of its own recently

place in a domain that is clearly bounded.

of semantic religious references and there-

changed status, to the current tendency to

by the corresponding range of automatic

reduce all planning to little more than the

to the merit of grounding critical practice

responses that usually accompany them.

allocation of land use and the logistics of

in a concept so hermetically metaphysical

This is arguably a more appropriate way of

distribution. Until relatively recently, the

as Being, we are, when confronted with the

rendering a church in a highly secular age,

Rotterdam master plan was revised and up-

ubiquitous placelessness of our modern

where any symbolic allusion to the ecclesi-

graded every decade in the light of buildings

environment, nonetheless brought to posit,

astic usually degenerates immediately into

which had been realized in the interim. In

after Heidegger, the absolute precondition of

the vagaries of kitsch. And yet paradoxically,

1975, however, this progressive urban cultur-

a bounded domain in order to create an ar-

this desacralization at Bagsvaerd subtly re-

al procedure was unexpectedly abandoned

chitecture of resistance. Only such a defined

constitutes a renewed basis for the spiritual,

in favor of publishing a nonphysical, infra-

boundary will permit the built form to stand

one founded, I would argue, in a regional

structure plan conceived at a regional scale.

against-and hence literally to withstand in an

reaffirmation – grounds, at least, for some

Such a plan concerns itself almost exclusive-

institutional sense-the endless processal flux

form of collective spirituality.

ly with the logistical projection of changes

of the Megalopolis.

in land use and with the augmentation of

4. THE RESISTANCE OF THE PLACE-FORM

existing distribution systems.

In his essay of 1954, “Building, Dwelling,

While we may well remain skeptical as

The bounded place-form, in its public mode, is also essential to what Hannah Arendt has termed “the space of human

Thinking,” Martin Heidegger provides us

appearance,” since the evolution of legitimate

The Megalopolis recognized as such in 1961

with a critical vantage point from which to

power has always been predicated upon the

by the geographer Jean Gottman 17 contin-

behold this phenomenon of universal place-

existence of the “polis” and upon compara-

ues to proliferate throughout the devel-

lessness. Against the Latin or, rather, the

ble units of institutional and physical form.

oped world to such an extent that, with the

antique abstract concept of space as a more or

While the political life of the Greek polis did

less endless continuum of evenly subdivided

not stem directly from the physical presence

spatial components or integers – what he terms 16 Jørn Utzon, “Platforms and Plateaus: Ideas of a Danish Architect,” Zodiac, 10 (Milan: Edizioni Communita, 1963), pp. 112-14.

17 Jean Gottmann, Megalopolis (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1961).

spatium and extension – Heidegger opposes the German word for space (or, rather, place), which is the term Raum. Heidegger argues that the phenomenological essence of such a space/

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 16

18 Martin Heidegger, “Building, Dwelling, Thinking,” in Poetry. Language, Thought (New York: Harper Colophon, 1971), p. 154. This essay first appeared in German in 1954.

PHOTO BY M. MIŁOBĘDZKI

Town Hall of Säynätsalo, designed by Alvar Aalto, 1949-1952

and representation of the city-state, it

that the potentialities for action are always

Nothing could be more removed from the

displayed in contrast to the Megalopolis the

present will power remain with them and

political essence of the citystate than the ratio-

cantonal attributes of urban density. Thus

the foundation of cities, which as city states

nalizations of positivistic urban planners such

Arendt writes in The Human Condition:

have remained paradigmatic for all Western

as Melvin Webber, whose ideological concepts

political organization, is therefore the most

of community without propinquity and the non-

important material prerequisite for power. 19

place urban realm are nothing if not slogans

The only indispensable material factor in the

devised to rationalize the absence of any true

generation of power is the living together of people. Only where men live so close together

19 Arendt, p. 201.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 17

public realm in the modern motopia. 20 The

nature than the more abstract, formal

and the temporally inflected qualities of

manipulative bias of such ideologies has never

traditions of modern avant-garde architec-

local light. Once again, the sensitive mod-

been more openly expressed than in Robert

ture allow. It is self-evident that the tabula

ulation and incorporation of such factors

Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction in

rasa tendency of modernization favors the

must almost by definition be fundamentally

Architecture (1966) wherein the author asserts

optimum use of earth-moving equipment

opposed to the optimum use of universal

that Americans do not need piazzas, since they

inasmuch as a totally flat datum is regarded

technique. This is perhaps most clear in the

should be at home watching television . 21 Such

as the most economic matrix upon which to

case of light and climate control. The generic

reactionary attitudes emphasize the impotence

predicate the rationalization of construc-

window is obviously the most delicate point

of an urbanized populace which has paradoxi-

tion. Here again, one touches in concrete

at which these two natural forces impinge

cally lost the object of its urbanization. While

terms this fundamental opposition between

upon the outer membrane of the building,

the strategy of Critical Regionalism as outlined

universal civilization and autochthonous

fenestration having an innate capacity to

above addresses itself mainly to the mainte-

culture. The bulldozing of an irregular

inscribe architecture with the character of

nance of an expressive density and resonance in

topography into a flat site is clearly a techno-

a region and hence to express the place in

an architecture of resistance (a cultural density

cratic gesture which aspires to condition of

which the work is situated.

which under today’s conditions could be said

absolute placelessness, whereas the terracing

to be potentially liberative in and of itself since

of the same site to receive the stepped form

of modern curatorial practice favored the

it opens the user to manifold experiences), the

of a building is an engagement in the act of

exclusive use of artificial light in all art

provision of a place-form is equally essential

“cultivating” the site.

galleries. It has perhaps been insufficiently

to critical practice, inasmuch as a resistant

Clearly such a mode of beholding and

Until recently, the received precepts

recognized how this encapsulation tends to

architecture, in an institutional sense, is neces-

acting brings one close once again to Heide-

reduce the artwork to a commodity, since

sarily dependent on a clearly defined domain.

gger’s etymology; at the same time, it evokes

such an environment must conspire to ren-

Perhaps the most generic example of such an

the method alluded to by the Swiss archi-

der the work placeless. This is because the lo-

urban form is the perimeter block, although

tect Mario Botta as “building the site.” It is

cal light spectrum is never permitted to play

other related, introspective types may be

possible to argue that in this last instance the

across its surface: here, then, we see how the

evoked, such as the galleria, the atrium, the

specific culture of the region-that is to say,

loss of aura, attributed by Walter Benjamin

forecourt and the labyrinth. And while these

its history in both a geological and agricul-

to the processes of mechanical reproduction,

instances entirely discount the latent political

tural sense-becomes inscribed into the form

also arises from a relatively static application

and resistant potential of the place-form.

and realization of the work. This inscription,

of universal technology. The converse of this

which arises out of “in-laying” the building

“placeless” practice would be to provide that

into the site, has many levels of significance,

art galleries be top-lit through carefully con-

for it has a capacity to embody, in built form,

trived monitors so that, while the injurious

the prehistory of the place, its archeologi-

effects of direct sunlight are avoided, the am-

cal past and its subsequent cultivation and

bient light of the exhibition volume changes

Critical Regionalism necessarily involves

transformation across time. Through this

under the impact of time, season, humidity,

a more directly dialectical relation with

layering into the site the idiosyncrasies of

etc. Such conditions guarantee the appear-

place find their expression without falling

ance of a place-conscious poetic-a form of

into sentimentality.

filtration compounded out of an interaction

5. CULTURE VERSUS NATURE: TOPOGRAPHY, CONTEXT, CLIMATE, LIGHT AND TECTONIC FORM

20 Melvin Webber, Explorations in Urban Structure (Phil-

What is evident in the case of topogra-

between culture and nature, between art and

phy applies to a similar degree in the case of

light. Clearly this principle applies to all fen-

Architecture (New York: Museum of Modern Art,

an existing urban fabric, and the same can

estration, irrespective of size and location.

1966), p. 133.

be claimed for the contingencies of climate

A constant “regional inflection” of the form

adelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1964).

21 Robert Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 18

North elevation and cross-section of the Lutheran church in Bagsværd, designed

by Jørn Utzon, 1973-1976 Source: K. Frampton, Towards a Critical Regionalism [in:] H. Foster (ed.) The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture, Port Townsend: Bay Press, 1983, p. 23.

arises directly from the fact that in certain

Despite the critical importance of topogra-

his book Die Tektonik der Hellenen (1852);

climates the glazed aperture is advanced,

phy and light, the primary principle of ar-

and it was perhaps best summarized by the

while in others it is recessed behind the

chitectural autonomy resides in the tectonic

architectural historian Stanford Anderson

masonry facade (or, alternatively, shielded by

rather than the scenographic: that is to say,

when he wrote:

adjustable sun breakers).

this autonomy is embodied in the revealed

The way in which such openings provide

ligaments of the construction and in the way

“Tektonik” referred not just to the activity

for appropriate ventilation also constitutes

in which the syntactical form of the struc-

of making the materially requisite con-

an unsentimental element reflecting the na-

ture explicitly resists the action of gravity.

struction ... but rather to the activity that

ture of local culture. Here, clearly, the main

It is obvious that this discourse of the load

raises this construction to an art form… The

antagonist of rooted culture is the ubiquitous

borne (the beam) and the load-bearing

functionally adequate form must be adapted

airconditioner, applied in all times and in

(the column) cannot be brought into being

so as to give expression to its function. The

all places, irrespective of the local climatic

where the structure is masked or otherwise

sense of bearing provided by the entasis of

conditions which have a capacity to express

concealed. On the other hand, the tectonic

Greek columns became the touchstone of

the specific place and the seasonal variations

is not to be confused with the purely techni-

this concept of Tektonik. 22

of its climate. Wherever they occur, the fixed

cal, for it is more than the simple revelation

window and the remote-controlled air-con-

of stereotomy or the expression of skeletal

ditioning system are mutually indicative of

framework. Its essence was first defined by

domination by universal technique.

the German aesthetician Karl Botticher in

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 19

22 Stanford Anderson, “Modern Architecture and Industry: Peter Behrens, the AEG, and Industrial Design,” Oppositions 21 (Summer 1980), p. 83.

the body senses its own confinement; the momentum of an induced gait and the relative inertia of the body as it traverses the floor; the echoing resonance of our own footfall.

Luchino Visconti was well aware of these factors when making the film The Damned, for he insisted that the main set of the Altona mansion should be paved in real wooden parquet. It was his belief that without a solid floor underfoot the actors would be incapable of assuming appropriate and convincing postures.

A similar tactile sensitivity is evident in the finishing of the public circulation in Alvar Aalto’s Saynatsalo Town Hall of 1952.

The main route leading to the second-floor council chamber is ultimately orchestrated in terms which are as much tactile as they are visual. Not only is the principal access stair lined in raked brickwork, but the treads and risers are also finished in brick. The PHOTO BY M. MIŁOBĘDZKI

kinetic impetus of the body in climbing the The inside of the Lutheran church in Bagsværd, designed

by Jørn Utzon, 1973-1976

stair is thus checked by the friction of the steps, which are “read” soon after in ,contrast to the timber floor of the council chamber itself. This chamber asserts its honorific status through sound, smell and texture, not to mention the springy deflection of the floor

The tectonic remains to us today as a poten-

environment in terms other than those

underfoot (and a noticeable tendency to lose

tial means for distilling play between ma-

of sight alone suggest a potential strategy

one’s balance on its polished surface). From

terial, craftwork and gravity, so as to yield

for resisting the domination of universal

this example it is clear that the liberative im-

a component which is in fact a condensation

technology. It is symptomatic of the prior-

portance of the tactile resides in the fact that

of the entire structure. We may speak here

ity given to sight that we find it necessary

it can only be decoded in terms of experience

of the presentation of a structural poetic

to remind ourselves that the tactile is an

itself: it cannot be reduced to mere infor-

rather than the re-presentation of a facade.

important dimension in the perception of

mation, to representation or to the simple

built form. One has in mind a whole range

evocation of a simulacrum substituting for

of complementary sensory perceptions

absent presences.

6. THE VISUAL VERSUS THE TACTILE

which are registered by the labile body: the

In this way, Critical Regionalism seeks

intensity of light, darkness, heat and cold; the

to complement our normative visual expe-

The tactile resilience of the place-form

feeling of humidity; the aroma of material;

rience by readdressing the tactile range of

and the capacity of the body to read the

the almost palpable presence of masonry as

human perceptions. In so doing, it endeavors

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 20

to balance the priority accorded to the image

POSTSCRIPTUM

and to counter the Western tendency to

will have a hard time surviving this brutal treatment. A case in point is the venerable

interpret the environment in exclusively

We asked Kenneth Frampton to answer the

city of Albi in France, even if it has so far

perspectival terms. According to its etymol-

question of whether critical regionalism is

been spared the random exploitation of high-

ogy, perspective means rationalized sight

still possible in 2017.

rise construction, its traditional shopping street in the centre has been totally emptied

or clear seeing, and as such it presupposes a conscious suppression of the senses of

Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak, Michał Wiśniewski:

out due to the long-time presence of suburban

smell, hearing and taste, and a consequent

A lot has changed since 1983 – especially the

supermarkets in the automotive territory

distancing from a more direct experience of

role of the computer in the design process, and

surrounding the city. This ‘emptying out’ has

the environment. This self-imposed lim-

the Internet has brought a massive change in

been replicated countless times in the US and

itation relates to that which Heidegger has

architectural practice. Is the call for an archi-

also elsewhere and it is clear that the growth

called a “loss of nearness.” In attempting to

tecture of resistance valid today?

of digital markets a la Amazon will have the

Your description of the architectural

counter this loss, the tactile opposes itself to

same effect. Where the “city-state” still has

the scenographic and the drawing of veils

reality fits contemporary Poland very well.

a modicum of power there is just a chance that

over the surface of reality. Its capacity to

Architecture is a tool of capital, we are

the city will be able to defend itself against the

arouse the impulse to touch returns the

witnessing investments on plots of land that

goals of late capitalist consumerism.

architect to the poetics of construction and

are devastating most cities. With the constant

to the erection of works in which the tectonic

flux of money as a major force creating the

paranoid deprivations imposed by the Stalin-

value of each component depends upon the

urban structure, is the postulate of becoming

ist State) was, in my view, a total disaster with

density of its objecthood. The tactile and the

arriere garde still valid?

long term historical consequences which are

The fall of the Soviet Union (despite the

only now becoming fully evident. For without

tectonic jointly have the capacity to transcend the mere appearance of the technical

Kenneth Frampton: In Ray Bradbury’s Fahr-

the socialist ‘other’ there is only the vision-

in much the same way as the place-form has

enheit 451 , various intellectual figures are

less rapacity of capitalist hyper-consumer-

the potential to withstand the relentless

given the task of memorizing whole sections

ism. In this regard Arnold Gehlen’s concept

onslaught of global modernization.

of world literature since it is feared that, in

of post-histoire is instructive wherein he

the near future, all printed material will

argues that once progress becomes routine (as

Kenneth Frampton’s text was originally pub-

be totally consumed by fire and hence lost

in the consumerist culture of next) it empties

lished in an anthology edited by Hal Foster:

forever. They wander around repeating the

itself out.

The Anti-Aesthetic. Essays in Postmodern Cul-

precious texts to themselves in order to rein-

In a world such as this, architecture, let

ture, issued by Bay Press in 1983. We would

force their memory. I feel that this is a fitting

alone direct democracy (as also hinted at in

like to thank the Author for his permission to

analogy for the historical situation in which

“Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance”)

publish.

we are trapped.

can only survive as a deliberately defend-

23

Despite this, my 24 year old text still has Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

ed condition of ‘otherness” set against the

a certain appeal to architects worldwide as

techno-scientific maximization of every-

a remaining viable parti pris for some kind of

thing. Where there is a will there is a way for

resistant cultural strategy. However, we are

an arriere-garde.

currently witnessing a universal globalizing Neo-Liberal onslaught, taking place on an unprecedented scale. Clearly the historic city

23

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 21

JAROSŁAW SZEWCZYK

ILLUSTRATIONS: DOMINIKA WILCZYŃSKA

The five legs of the chameleon Regionalism in architecture eludes objective

traditions, while in today’s “critical regional-

closer to our times (such as Lewis Mumford, or

judgment. Like a chameleon, it glimmers with

ism”, architecture instead seeks links with a place

Paul Ricœur) and those quite modern (including

thousands of colours and shades, only to melt

through allusions to its topography, its “tecton-

an increasing number of architectural phenom-

back into the background. Its agile, grasping

ics”, or even its metaphysical “spirit” of genius loci.

enologists). This claw willingly grasps “the need

limbs will cling to any old twig, dry stalk or leaf.

Nowadays it also dons shades of green, or “eco”

to reach the peculiar character of things, their re-

colours, as seen in the justification for the Pritz-

vitalizing creative power,” as John Ruskin wrote

ker Prize awarded in 2002 to Glenn Murcutt for

in 1849, quoted by Władysław Ekielski half a cen-

the ability to reconcile architectural modernism

tury later 2. Nevertheless, it changes its colours so

The first leg of the chameleon is the need to equip

with environmentally sensitive modernist houses

quickly and so perfectly that the predators – that

architecture with a local identity. The latter

that respond to their surroundings and climate 1.

is, the critics – get confused and mistake it for

I. THE CHAMELEON’S LEGS

comes in a variety of colours: echoes of outmoded

The second leg of the chameleon is the need

postmodern stubble that grows around it. This

for an ideological identity – including the desire

is not surprising, since it also enjoys the soft off-

ry ago) or an even more ancient fascination with

to allocate architecture content based on a sys-

shoots of linguistics, the lush foliage of signs, sym-

the landscape and climate, resulting in “highland

tem of meanings. It is a skilful, clever leg with

bols, messages, metaphors, cultural codes, some-

styles” created by our great-great-great-grand-

a perfect grasp, practised in centuries-old intel-

times differing from postmodernism only in the

parents: Bavarian, Alpine, or the Zakopane Style;

lectual acrobatics, supported by the genius of an-

idiomatic nature of its semantics and syntax, and

here and there you can see traces of the inspira-

cient minds (like Goethe, Proust, or Ruskin), those

the reluctance to engage in extreme relativism.

1

2

patriotism (as in: national styles of over a centu-

tion with the place, and sometimes with the local folklore. The need for an identity had been exemplified in the instillation of local architectural

Justification of the prize: www.pritzkerprize. com/2002/announcement [accessed: 3 March 2017].

W. Ekielski, Johna Ruskina "Siedem lamp architektury”, Architekt 1903, issue 7, p. 77–78.

The third leg of the chameleon is a hunger for in-

the history of Mongolia, in search of architec-

inspiration: it tells, pontificates, persuades, pro-

spiration, although it is not only specific to archi-

tural sources of creative power – and of idola-

claims, translates, explains, and even ironizes, as

tects representing the regional trend. Most of to-

try, as they pay tribute to the mature apologists

in the neo-modernist projects of the Spanish Sub-

day’s young architects were brought up in the

following the cult of the out-of-the-blue idea, the

arquitectura group: 360 House and 73 Dwellings

tradition of American and Western European ed-

idols of “creative ad hoc”, including those wholly

in a Cliff. It not so much grows out of the place as

ucational models that promote creative attitudes

neo-modernist ones, such as Winy Maas and Na-

grows into it. The relationships between inspira-

towards all forms of personal, professional and

thalie de Vries of the MVRDV group. And while

tion and narration are sometimes bidirectional,

hobbyist endeavours alike. Be creative! Be inspir-

the classics themselves, as well as the recipients

as in peculiarly and playfully pseudo-vernacular

ing and inspired! – advocate educators and teach-

of this worship – the MVRDV, Mecanoo or Rem

projects such as EUROPAN 11 (Subarquitectura)

ers, starting from the kindergarten all the way to

Koolhaas – formally distance themselves from

and Glass Farm (MVRDV). These examples, how-

graduate studies, echoed by corporate employers

architectural regionalism as unnecessary ballast,

ever, rather make fun of regionalism. The festival

as well. Against this polyphonic background, to-

they actually work to its advantage by proclaim-

of truly regional architecture, seriously so, and

day’s academic architects-seniors, who had been

ing the primacy of “design driven by consistent

based on official and pompous regional and na-

leading the way in creative exploration, do not

contextual thought” or even raising provocation

tional narration, is found in the subsequent edi-

seem all that inventive. Their students are more

that emerges from the context (geographic, situ-

tions of The World Expo: each one is an exhibi-

creative than they used to be, already at the onset

ational, problematic) to the rank of the method.

tion of instrumental architecture, architecture

of their design careers, having absorbed certain

The fourth leg of the chameleon, parallel in rela-

as a propaganda tool for the nations of the world

patterns of thought even before their architec-

tion to the third, and very similar to it, and also in

(often also of smaller regions, organizations and

tural studies – namely the previously acquired

line with the second (the identity), is the need for

companies), of neocolonial architecture – and yet

openness to be inspired. As a result, for nearly

narrative in architecture 3. Architecture not so

they present creativity at the highest level.

two or three decades, almost every open interna-

much arises from inspiration, but produces that

tional architectural competition has been flooded with projects inspired by the QR code, Möbius ribbon, Led Zeppelin music, pop star Monika

This (fourth) leg also supports the skeleton of critical regionalism as defined by Alexan-

3

For several years now, it has been generating

der Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre over half a cen-

a steadily growing interest; it is perceived as

tury ago, as interpreted by Kenneth Frampton

Brodka’s hair, the Italian Renaissance villa, bats’

a style-independent, universal feature. Krzysz-

and theoretically developed by Christian Nor-

ears, dissonance of a procrastinating personality,

tof Bizio (“Narracje struktury w architekturze

berg-Schulz and Thomas Thiis-Evensen. Narra-

and so forth. The search for inspirational sources is stimulated by the very organizers of the ever multiplying, self-financing architectural competitions, held under such slogans as Camboo Bamboo Landmark Design, Mango Vinyl Hub, Design

współczesnej. Wybrane aspekty”, Czasopismo Techniczne 2010, issue 15) interprets it in relation to architectural modernism, postmodernism,

tion, in this context, is a subtle medium between the place and the work of architecture.

deconstruction, and neomodernism; Anna Maria Wierzbicka (Architektura jako narracja znaczeniowa, “Prace Naukowe Politechniki Warszawskiej – Architektura”, issue 11, Warszawa: Oficyna

II. THE CHAMELEON’S TAIL

Wydawnicza Politechniki Warszawskiej 2013)

The chameleon, nevertheless, has five legs. The

ing Back, Moving Forward – to name only some of

perceives it as inseparable from the realms of

fifth – that is, its tail – is the largest and stron-

those announced in early 2017.

metaphysics; Krzysztof Lenartowicz (“Architektura

gest of all. The fifth leg of the chameleon is the el-

an Iconic Home of the Future, Post-Fossil City, Look-

The young participants of the hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of such competitions will thus follow

trwogi”, Zwoje, www.zwoje-scrolls.com/zwoje40/ text24.htm [accessed: 10 March 2017]) sees narrative quality architecture in a psychological, if not

ement of opposition, of dissent.

Let us take a look at said limb. It boasts an ex-

everything and anything that smells of unique-

sociotechnical dimensions; he explores one of the

ceptionally rich palette of colours. The bright,

ness, and brings refreshing inspiration, while

most eminently narrative projects, the Holocaust

vibrant orange of neo-vernacularism and the

also exploring exotic cultures, digging through ethnography textbooks, through volumes on cultural regionalism, on Sherpa construction, or

Memorial Museum in Washington, and finds “aspects that affect the viewer’s somatic, automatic,

deep blue of critical regionalism set the tone for

and subconscious experience, independent of his

a spectrum of reactions against architectural

knowledge, consciousness or memory.”

uniformism and universalism.

Is regionalism, therefore, an act of conscious opposition, of dissent, or is it a natural mechanism of resistance? Is the subject of that opposition simply civilization as such, or merely some of its degenerated mechanisms? Or maybe the protest only concerns a few rules of the game: the mechanical leveling of cultural subtleties, a cultural bulldozer? It is difficult to answer that, because the chameleon’s tail seems to have mysteriously unpredictable grasping preferences; the mechanisms of resistance have a multifaceted nature: different on a highly abstract level, differPHOTO BY AGC GLASS EUROPE / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC 2.0

ent on the level of a subtle intellectual discourse,

Glass farm (De

and different on a vulgarized, simplified level.

In the last few years, a perfect candidate for the object of opposition has appeared, namely, the “mainstream” – the personification of an unspecified evil.

III. BIOTOPE OF THE CHAMAELEONIDAE Most species of the Chamaeleonidae family inhabit Africa and Madagascar. The chameleon’s biotopes include wet tropics as well as dry savannahs and deserts.

Glazen Boerderij),

Are not the beautiful rainbow hues of this leg the

nological and aesthetic climax? Perhaps archi-

Jan Heestershuis

“rust of criticism”, which, as Waldemar Łysiak

tectural regionalism with its many currents

similar. It does not do well in the climate of the

Museum in Schijndel,

once wrote, were going to devour the “golden

expresses the fear of change? Maybe it provides

(conventionally understood) mainstream civi-

handcuffs of [architectural] uniformity” ? Or

a remedy for the passing of time and things,

lization, genetically Mediterranean and West

perhaps “the development of technology, upon

which happens all too quickly? Maybe – as Ken-

European, and in reality, more North Ameri-

designed by MVRDV, 2013

4

The occurrence of regionalism is rather

reaching a certain ceiling […] [by nature] pre-

neth Frampton has stated – it is a natural, civili-

can, geographically designated roughly by the

supposes the development of counter-uniformi-

zational, immune response against the globaliza-

the zig-zagging axis of Rome-Berlin-Paris-Lon-

ty tendencies”, necessary for reaching the tech-

tion-triggered “subtle destruction not only of tra-

don-Washington. It does not do well in great

ditional cultures… but also the creative nucleus

metropolises, giant port towns or business

of great cultures” ?

hubs.

5

4

W. Łysiak, “Pozłacane kajdany uniformizmu”, Archi-

6

And yet, outside of this civilizational core,

tektura 1973, issue 4, p. 166–167.

5

J. Sławińska, A. Gabryszewski, “Regionalizm i uniwersalizm w architekturze współczesnej”, Part 3:

6

K. Frampton, Towards a Critical Regionalism. Six

it flourishes, nurtured by its patrons and aficionados, especially the benefactors of archi-

“Nurty dekoracyjne i awangardowe w architektu-

Points for an Architecture of Resistance, [in:] Anti-Aes-

rze okresu międzywojennego”, Architektura 1973,

thetic. Essays on Postmodern Culture, Seattle: Bay

tectural competitions and sponsors of awards

issue 4, p. 164–166.

Press, 1983, p. 268.

– for example, by the Aga Khan (as in the Aga

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 24

Khan awards, granted on behalf of the Islam-

local by its very nature […] if not accidental-

and justified. However, after the first cursory

ic world), The Asian Regional Council of Archi-

ly, then by conscious design”, 7 and always by

reading, it is hard to perceive immediately the

tect (the ARCASIA Awards for Architecture,

our natural sensitivity to the mystery of the

correct view expressed therein, namely that

granted on behalf of East Asia), editors of the

place, which in essence, is also the basis for

architecture was, is, will be, and by its very na-

World Architecture magazine (WA Chinese Ar-

the feeling and experiencing of architecture.

ture must be regional, while the subject of dis-

chitecture Awards, granted on behalf of the Chi-

The quoted statement – which is actually quite

cussion, at most, may be the scope, the degree,

nese quarter of the population of our planet),

a bit more extensive, going on for three pages

and the literality of its assignment to the triple

or Japan Institute of Architects’ Architecture

– is a foreword to a nearly five-hundred-page-

context of place, time, and meaning.

Awards (granted for architectural designs with-

strong book of essays by a multitude of au-

in Japan), and so on, and so forth. In its original

thors, on the essence of architectural regional-

non-European and non—(north)American bio-

ism as a phenomenon that is perfectly obvious

topes, the average representative of Chamaeleo-

Some 202 species of the Chamaeleonidae fami-

nidae merges with the background and is not

ly exist. They vary in colour, size and shape. The 7

disturbed by anyone. Its existence in distant

Architectural Regionalism. Collected Writings on Place, Identity, Modernity, and Tradition, ed. V.B.

and exotic (from our point of view) territories is

Canizaro, New York: Princeton Architectural Press,

perceived as immutable, accepted as the eternal

2007, p. 12.

order of things.

Meanwhile, in our parts, Chamaeleonidae are found only in the zoo. Out of its bounds, they create consternation: perhaps they might bite? Prick? Spit venom? Cause an electric shock? And so, their European and North American lovers – just in case – put an array of collars, constraints and muzzles on their pets, with safety certificates glued to them.

Therefore, any praise for architectural regionalism is scanty, and labelled with restraining

cluding’, ‘except’, ‘though’, and so on). As a result, some of the comments on the subject, in the first reading, create the impression of crushing criticism of regionalism, and only after a deeper penetration into their true meaning does it turn out that the author was concerned with exactly the opposite – the text is supposed to be (or was intended to be) a joyful exhortation of the phenomenon. For example, in 2012, Vinzent B. Canizaro described the regionalism theory as “a misunderstood discourse of architecture, which, after all, is

PHOTO BY ©NOISYTOY.NET / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 4.0

adjectives (“critical regionalism”) or even reservations and disclaimers (‘but’, ‘anyway’, ‘in-

IV. SPECIES DIVERSITY

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 25

smallest, Brookesia micra, is 2 centimetres long, and the largest, Furcifer oustaleti, can grow up to one metre.

Kaap Skil Maritime Museum in Oudeschild, Texel Island, designed by Mecanoo, 2007–2011

Ōita Prefectural Art Museum –

Similarly, there are also many “architectural re-

as a threat to the continuity of tradition, but

of decentralization, autonomy and uniqueness,

gionalisms”. Because “regionalism may be an in-

“neo-vernacular regionalism” treats it as a tool

while the fashion for ethnic emancipation, na-

tent, a strategy, a tool, a technique, a position,

working for the benefit of that same tradition;

tionalism, chauvinism and separatism is a thing

an ideology or a mental habit” 8 – writes Caniza-

“regionalism” as Lewis Mumford would have it,

of the past.” 9 According to other authors, archi-

ro. No wonder. After all, a chameleon may be yel-

is to be one of the components of the antidote to

tectural regionalism is a way of allegorizing

low, green, brown, beige or iridescent blue, and

the venom of civilizational mechanisms; “critical

form, while according to Kenzo Tange (whose

the aversion to a given colour does not negate the

regionalism” in Frampton’s definition is a natu-

words I quote after Charles Jencks) “the so-called

fact of the chameleon’s existence.

ral mechanism of civilization, while in the defini-

regionalism […] is no more than a decorative use

tion of Tzonis and Lefaivre, instead, it is a plane

of traditional elements. Such a kind of regional-

Creative attitudes, which contain in their de-

building awarded

nomination the word “regionalism” are so var-

of reflection and debate – actually, over the past

ism always looks back and the same must be said

in 2015 with the

ied today that they become not only alternatives,

thirty years or more, Lefaivre and Tzonis have

about tradition” 10. Jencks then asks: “And why

Japan Institute

but mutual opposites, or antipodes. “Conserva-

claimed that various regionalisms existed, see-

should […] the decorative use of traditional ele-

tion regionalism” perceives creative freedom

ing that the prophets of present-day regional-

ments – or rather simple ornaments and tradi-

designed by Shigeru

isms reject their predecessors, and that “the

tional styles – be wrong?” In the 1960s, no one

Ban Architects, 2015

only constant thing is the pursuit of the ideas

was prepared to ask such questions so brazenly. 11

Architecture Award,

8

Ibid., p. 20.

If “critical regionalism” in its assumptions takes into account – albeit at a high level of abstraction – the natural sensitivity towards the spirit of the place, and the need for a reference system, and the mysticism of the context, and background semantics, making them a complement to the sophisticated postmodernist discourse on the relativity of all things, putting the concept of ‘context’ on a pedestal of a nearly religious rank – then this “architectural regionalism” commonly understood by the general public exists at a completely different level of discourse, it has a different system of meanings, and wholly different purposes. Not to mention its need to refer to the term “region”.

PHOTO BY 大分帰省中 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 4.0

of Architects

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 26

V. SPECIES PROTECTION The rainbow camouflage of the chameleon protects it from its predators. It confuses 9

L. Lefaivre, A. Tzonis, Architecture of Regionalism in the Age of Globalization. Peaks and Valleys in the Flat World, London–New York: Routledge, 2012, p. VIII.

10 Ch. Jencks, Architektura postmodernistyczna, Warszawa: Arkady, 1987, p. 86.

11

Ibid.

Gando Elementary School - Agi Khan Award-winning building in 2004, designed by Kéré Architecture, 2001

them and discourages them from attacking.

Likewise, in the world of architecture and art the predators – that is, the critics – lurk and wait, ready to pounce on the careless representatives of hostile species. The smallest trace of architectural and aesthetic provincialism, scenography, separatism, enclaveism, ghettoisation, naive vernacularism, retrogression (“yesterday’s thing is worse than today’s” – as the members of the BLOK group used to say, a century ago), epigonism or imitation might provide the motive, an excuse to attack. Explanation does not really help the attacked victim: that imitation is supposed to counterbalance invention, because it prolongs the continuity of culture, while invention deepens it. 12 It is also hardly helpful to refer to the public good and the necessity of lex rei sitae: local regulations, local plans, buildother circumstances that tie architecture to agiven region or place – after all, city planners, historians and monument conservators, who strive to maintain this continuity, constitute a hostile and competitive species from the point of view of the architects.

The critique of regional architecture, in fact, also reflects a far deeper breach, a gap in the ideological outlook, and it also encompasses non-ethical categories, including allegations of ethnocentrism, tribal thinking, nationalism,

PHOTO BY GANDOLT / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 3.0

ing codes, conservation requirements and any

and racism (these are increasingly often associated with the architecture of the East).

In the face of such attacks, camouflage still remains the best defense. “Critical regional-

POSTSCRIPT. FROM THE “SEVEN LAMPS OF ARCHITECTURE” TO THE “FIVE LEGS OF THE CHAMELEON”

ism” is hiding behind the mask of ultra-mod-

of auction sets such as Ruskin’s “seven lamps of architecture” or Frampton’s “six points for an architecture of resistance.” Following this trail, the arithmetic logic leads us to the “five

ernism; it adapts modernism, broadcasts the

In the history of architecture, there is no short-

legs of the chameleon”. This is a reductionist

value of authenticity, and claims for itself the

age of turmoil and fluctuations. At such times,

approach, and in the long run, a uniformiz-

prefix of ‘neo-’.

the auction of arguments has become the tra-

ing one.

dition of the discipline. The method proved 12 See: Architectural Regionalism…, op. cit., p. 22.

to be successful, as evidenced by the career

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 27

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

JUHANI PALLASMAA

Tradition and newness Continuity and meaning in architecture and art Time present and time past

than discussed among artists and architects.

Are both perhaps present in time future,

In our age, obsessed with the notion of

And time future contained in time past.

progress, the eyes are exclusively fixated

If all time is eternally present

on the present and the future. During the

All time is unredeemable. 1

past few decades, uniqueness, invention and newness have become the sole criteria for

***

quality in architecture, design and art. The

PHOTO BY SIJUWJ / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

coherence and harmony of the landscape or An interest in the significance of tradition

cityscape and their rich historical layring are

is today usually seen as nostalgia and

not seen as objectives in architecture today.

conservatism, and traditions should be left

Artistic uniqueness and formal invention

to the historians and anthropologists rather

have, in fact, replaced the quest for existential meaning and emotive impact, not to speak

1

'Burnt Norton' in Four Quartets, Harcourt Brace

of the desire for spiritual dimensions and

Jovanovich, New York – London, 1988, p. 13.

beauty.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 29 Fragment of the façade of the Ningbo History Museum, designed by Wang Shu, 2003-2008

In his acceptance speech of the 2012 Pritzker

of inherited crafts, timeless and selfless

a comparative and quasi-rational judgement.

Architecture Prize in Beijing, the Chinese

labour, and a sense of collective and shared

Intellectual and commercial speculation

Laureate Wang Shu confessed that he had

identity, passed on to coming generations.

replaces emotive sincerity, and genuine

begun his career with works in the then fash-

Visiting Wang Shu’s buildings made me

experiential quality is unnoticeably replaced

ionable Postmodern and Deconstructionist

recall Louis Kahn’s powerful Parliament

idioms, but he had eventually realized that

Buildings in Dacca, which project an author-

his country was losing its connection with its

itative condensation of traditions, ageless

est and excitement, whereas any reference

own traditions and cultural identities. After

and contemporary, geometric and mystical,

to the traditions of the artform in question,

this realization he has devotedly endeavored

European and Oriental. Kahn’s architecture

not to speak of intentionally attempting to

to tie his architecture to the long and deep

in Bangladesh succeeds in giving a proud

strengthen the continuum of that tradition,

cultural traditions of his country. 2 This was

and optimistic cultural identity for a new

are seen as reactionary and as source of

an unexpectedly outspoken message in the

Islamic state with ancient traditions, but

boredom. Already in the 1980s, Germano

presence of the highest Chinese officials. I

extreme poverty today. These examples show

Celant, one of the Postmodern critics of the

believe that it was Wang Shu’s passionate

that a respectful attitude to traditions does

time, used such notions as “contemporary-

message that has recently made the Chinese

not imply regressive traditionalism, but its

ism”, “hyper-contemporary”, “terror of the

President Xi Jinping to express strong views

acknowledgement as a source of meaning,

contemporary”, and “the vertigo of nowness”

against “imported” architecture and his

inspiration, and emotional rooting.

and referred to “a pathological and conform-

support of Chinese traditions.

In his recent work Wang Shu has, indeed,

by quantitative assessment.

Today newness is expected to evoke inter-

ist anxiety […] that turns the present into

THE ECSTASY OF NEWNESS

succeeded to create buildings, such as the

an absolute frame of reference, an undisputable truth” 3. When thinking of the scene

Xiangshan Campus and the Historical Muse-

The loss of the sense of historicity and evolu-

of art and architecture during the two first

um at Ningbo, which deliberately reconnect

tionary identity is clearly becoming a major

decades of the third millennium, we can

with the invisible undercurrents of timeless

concern in numerous countries developing

speak of “a vertigo of newness”. New artistic

Chinese imagery and traditions. These build-

at the accelerated rate of today’s aggressive

projects keep emerging like an “unending

ings do not echo any distinct formal attri-

investment strategies, expedient methods

rainfall of images”, to use an expression of

butes of the country’s rich architectural past,

of construction, and universal architectural

Italo Calvino in his visionary Six Memos for

but they evoke atmospheres and moods that

fashions. But, is newness a relevant aspira-

the Next Millennium. 4

make one feel a depth of time and a ground-

tion and criteria for quality in art and archi-

ed-ness in time and history. This sense of

tecture? Is a future without its constitutive

newness has already turned into a distinct

rootedness does not lie on any formal lan-

past even conceivable?

repetitiousness and monotony; unexpectedly

guage or allusion, but the architectural logic

Our ultra-materialistic and hedonistic

The constant and obsessive search for

the quest for uniqueness seems to result in

itself, its cultural deep structure, as it were.

consumer culture seems to be losing its

sameness, repetition and boredom. Newness

This architecture also projects comforting

capacity to identify the essences of life

is usually a formal surface quality without

and enriching experiences of participation

and experience, and to be deeply affected

a deeper mental echo that could energize

in a meaningful historical continuum. The

by them. Quality, nuance and expressive

the work and its repeated encounter. The

architect’s repeated use of re-cycled materi-

subtlety are replaced by such quantifiable

als, such as old bricks and roof tiles, speaks

properties as large scale, shock value, and strangeness. The uncritical interest in super-

2

A memorized reference to Wang Shu’s speech at the

3

ficial uniqueness and newness is bound to

Pritzker Architectue Prize Ceremony in the Great

shift the artistic encounter from a genuine

Hall of the People in Beijing on 25 May 2012

and autonomous experience of the work into

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 30

G. Celant, Unexpressionism – Art Beyond the Contemporary. Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 1988, pp. 5, 6 and 10.

4

I. Calvino, Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Vintage Books, New York, 1988, p. 57.

Norwegian philosopher Lars Fr. H. Svendsen

in architecture. 6 What contemporariness is

world and multiple interpretations, provide

points out this paradoxical phenomenon in

there in the Pharaonic, Roman and Mughal

a ground of identification for others. Just

his book The Philosophy of Boredom: “In this

architecture of Kahn, or the Aztek, Mayan

think of the assuring sense of the real evoked

objective something new is always sought

and Chinese layers of Utzon’s architecture?

by the anonymous vernacular building tradi-

to avoid boredom with the old. But as new is

Newness is usually related with extreme

tions around the world.

sought only because of its newness, every-

individuality and self-expression, but self-ex-

thing turns identical, because it lacks all

pression is another questionable objective in

objective of art: “Modernity, which began

other properties but newness”. 5As a con-

art. Indeed, since the emergence of the mod-

in the true sense with the Renaissance,

sequence, boredom with the old becomes

ern era, art and architecture have increas-

determined the tragedy of art. The artist

replaced by boredom with the new.

ingly been seen as areas of self-expression.

emerged as an individual and the traditional

Yet, Balthus (Count Balthasar Klossowski

way of painting disappeared. From then on

ed with radicality – the new is expected to

de Rola), one of the finest figurative paint-

the artist sought to express his inner world,

surpass previous ideas in quality and effect

ers of the late twentieth century, expresses

which is a limited universe: He tried to place

and to throw prevailing conventions from

a converse view: “If a work only expresses

his personality in power and used paintings

the throne. But is there really any identifi-

the person who created it, it wasn’t worth

as a means of self-expression”. 9 Again, the

able progress in art and architecture, or are

doing […] Expressing the world, understand-

painter’s concern clearly applies to architec-

we only witnessing changing approaches to

ing it, that is what seems interesting to me”.

ture, although architects rarely write about

fundamental existential motives? What is the

7

quality that makes us experience a 25,000

ment: “Great painting has to have universal

year old cave painting with the same affect

meaning. This is really no longer so today

and impact as any work of our own day?

and this is why I want to give painting back

Hasn’t art always been engaged in expressing

its lost universality and anonymity, because

the human existential condition? Shouldn’t

the more anonymous painting is, the more

In his Harvard lectures of 1939, published

art and architecture be oriented towards the

real it is”. 8 Echoing the painter’s view, I dare

as The Poetics of Music, Igor Stravinsky, the

timeless questions of existence rather than

to say that we also need to give architecture

arch-modernist and arch-radical of music,

the appeal of the momentary and fashion-

back its lost universality and anonymity,

presents an unexpectedly forceful criti-

able? Shouldn’t architecture seek the deep

because the less subjective architecture is,

cism of artistic radicalism and the rejection

and permanent essences of human existence

the more real it is, and the more it has the

of tradition: “The ones who try to avoid

instead of obsessively trying to generate

capacity to support our individual identities.

subordination, support unanimously the

a passing experience of newness? I do not

Conversely, the more subjective a work is,

opposite (counter-traditional) view. They

believe that any profound artist is directly

the more it focuses on the subjectivity of the

reject constraint and they nourish a hope

interested in newness, or self-expression, for

author, whereas works that are open to the

– always doomed to failure – of finding the

Artistic newness is generally associat-

Later, the painter re-formulated his argu-

that matter, as art is too seriously engaged in deep existential issues to be concerned with such passing aspirations. “No real writer ever

the mental dimensions in their work.

TRADITION AND RADICALITY

secret of strength in freedom. They do not 6

Borges On Writing, N. T. di Giovanni, D. Halpern, F. MacShane, editors, The Ecco Press, Hopewell, New

tried to be contemporary”, Jorge Luis Borges asserts bluntly, and the same surely applies

Balthus also scorns self-expression as an

Jersey, 1994, p. 53 7

find anything but the arbitrariness of freaks and disorder, they lose all control, they go astray[…]” 10 In the composer’s view the rejec-

C. Roy, Balthus, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, New York, Toronto, 1996, p. 18. (Trans. Juhani

5

L. Fr. H. Svendsen, Ikävystymisen filosofia [The phi-

8

Pallasmaa)

9

Balthus, in Balthus in His Own Words: A Conversa-

10 I. Stravinsky, Musiikin poetiikka [The poetics of

Balthus, ibid..

losophy of boredom], Kustannusosakeyhtiö Tammi,

tion with Cristina Carrillo de Albornoz, Assouline,

music],. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava, Helsinki, 1968,

Helsinki, 2005, p. 75

New York, 2001, p. 6

p. 75. (Trans. Juhani Pallasmaa)

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 31

Parliament in Dhaka, designed by Louis I. Kahn, 1962–1974

to re-present and experientially actualise and energize this very encounter. To be more precise: artistic works do not symbolize another reality; they are another reality. Great works of architecture and art re-structure, sensitize, and mythicize the experiences of our encounters with the world. As Maurice Merleau-Ponty significantly points out: “We come to see not the work of art, but the world according to the work” 12 He also suggests that Paul Cézanne’s paintings make us feel PHOTO BY N. SULTAN, S. AOPU / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC BY-SA 3.0

how the world touches us. A fresh and sensitized articulation of the fundamental artistic issues gives the work its emotive power and life force. Constantin Brancusi formulates the artistic aim simply but forcefully: “The work must give immediately, at once, the shock of life, the sensation of breathing.”

13

This master sculptor’s requirement also

applies to architecture; an architecture that does not evoke sensations of life, remains a mere formalist exercise. When art is seen in its existential dimension, uniqueness as a formal quality loses its value.

Another modernist arch-radical, Ezra Pound, the Imagist poet, also confesses his

tion of tradition even eliminates the commu-

that the premier in Paris in 1913 turned into

respect for tradition as he points out the

nicative ground of art: “The requirement for

a violent cultural street riot, gives an added

importance of the ontological origin of each

individuality and intellectual anarchy […]

perspective to the composer’s view of the

artform: “…[M]usic begins to atrophy when it

constructs its own language, its vocabulary

dialectics of tradition and artistic radicalism.

departs too far from dance […], poetry begins

and artistic means. The use of proven means

I wish to reiterate that newness and

to atrophy when it gets too far from music

and established forms is generally forbid-

uniqueness alone are hardly relevant aspi-

[…]” 14 Similarly, in my view, architecture

den and thus the artist ends up talking in

rations for art. Meaningful artistic works

turns into mere formalist visual aesthetics

a language with which his audience has no

are embodied existential expressions that

when it departs from its originary motives

contact. His art becomes unique, indeed, in

articulate experiences and emotions of our

the sense that its world is totally closed and it

shared human condition and destiny. Works

does not contain any possibility for commu-

of art from poetry to music, and painting to

nication.” The fact that Stravinsky’s The Rite

architecture, are metaphoric representations

of Spring was considered so radical at its time

of the human existential encounter with the

11

world, and their quality arises from the ex11 Stravinsky, ibid., p. 72. (Trans. Juhani Pallasmaa)

istential content of the work, i.e. its capacity

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 32

12 As quoted in I. McGillchrist, The Master and His Emissary, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2010, p. 409.

13 As quoted in E. Shanes, Brancusi, Abbeville Press, New York, 1989, p. 67.

14 E. Pound, ABC of Reading, New Directions, New York, 1987, p. 14.

of domesticating space and time for human

continuity. Instead of being mere occasional

another form of colonialization? In this case,

occupation through distinct primal encoun-

background aspects, all these dimensions,

colonialization of identity and mind.

ters, such as the four elements, gravity,

and surely dozens of other features, are con-

materiality, verticality and horizontality, and

stituents of our personalities. Identity is not

the metaphoric representation of the act of

a given fact or a closed entity. It is a process

construction itself; the process of building is

and an exchange; as I settle in a place, the

a kind of a dance, the ballet of construction

place settles in me. Recent neurological stud-

Let me be clear, I do not support nostalgic

work. Architecture withers into a meaning-

ies even show that our physical surround-

traditionalism or conservatism, I merely

less formal game when it loses its echo in the

ings alter our brains. 16Spaces and places are

wish to argue that the continuum of culture

timeless myths and traditions of building.

not mere stages for our lives, as space and

is an essential – although mostly uncon-

Instead of portraying newness, true archi-

mind are “chiasmatically” intertwined, to use

scious - ingredient of our lives as well as of

tecture makes us aware of the entire history

a notion of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. As this

our individual creative work. Creative work

of building and it re-structures our reading

philosopher argues: “The world is wholly

is always collaboration: it is collaboration

of the continuum of time. The perspective

inside, and I am wholly outside myself.” Or,

with countless other thinkers, architects

that is disregarded today is the fact that

as Ludwig Wittgenstein concludes: “I am my

and artists, but it is collaboration also in the

architecture structures our understanding

world.”

sense of humbly and proudly acknowledging

of the past just as much as it suggests images

17

18

The significance I am giving to tradition,

ARCHITECTURE AND IDENTITY AS EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES

one’s role in the continuum of culture and

of future. Every masterpiece re-illuminates

not only as a general sense of cultural his-

tradition. Every innovation in thought – both

the history of the artform and makes us look

tory, but also as the need of understanding

in sciences and the arts – is bound to arise

at earlier works in a new light. “When one

the specificity and locality of culture, raises

from this ground and be projected back into

writes verse, one’s most immediate audience

critical concerns of today’s careless practice

this most honourable context. Anyone work-

is not one’s own contemporaries, let alone

of designing in alien cultures for commercial

ing in the mental sphere, who believes that

posterity, but one’s predecessors”,Joseph

interests. As anthropologists, such as the

he/she has arrived at his/her achievement

Brodsky, the poet, asserts. 15

American Edward T. Hall, have convincingly

alone is simply blindly self-centered and

shown, the codes of culture are so deeply in-

hopelessly naïve.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

grained in the human unconscious and pre-

Architectural and artistic works arise in

reflective behaviour, that essences of culture

the continuum of culture, and they seek their

Cultural identity, a sense of rootedness and

take a life time to learn. Do we really have

role and position in this continuum. Jean

belonging is an irreplaceable ground of our

the right to execute our designs in cultures

Genet, the writer, expresses touchingly this

very humanity. Our identities are not only in

that are very different from our own, merely

idea of presenting the work to the tradition:

dialogue with our physical and architectural

for our own economic interests? Isn’t this yet

“In its desire to require real significance, each work of art must descend the steps of

settings, as we grow to become members of

millennia with patience and extreme cau-

countless contexts and geographic, cultural, social, linguistic, as well as aesthetic identities. Our identities are not attached to isolated things, but the continuum of culture and life; our true identities are not momentary attractions, as they have their historicity and

16 F. Gage, “Neuroscience and Architecture”, as quoted in M. Farling, “From Intuition to Evidence” in S. Robinson and J.Pallasmaa, eds. Mind in Architecture:

tion, and meet, if possible, the immemorial night of the dead, so that the dead recognize

Neuroscience, Embodiment and the Future of Design,

themselves in the work”. 19When a work of

MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2015

apparently extraordinary uniqueness is not

17 M. Merleau-Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge and Keagan Paul, London, 1962, p. 407.

accepted in this ever expanding gallery of

18 L. Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus eli 15 J. Brodsky, “Letter to Horace”, On Grief and Reason, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York, 1997, p. 439.

Loogis-filosofinen tutkielma, Werner Söderström, Porvoo and Helsinki, 1972, p. 68

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 33

19 J. Genet, L’Atelier d’Alberto Giacometti, Marc Barbezat, Cárbelét, 1963. (Trans. Juhani Pallasmaa)

artistic tradition, it will be quickly forgotten

mental dimension. It is this historical sense

to the dead poets and artists. You cannot val-

as a mere momentary curiosity. Our time

that ties the artist and the architect to the

ue him alone; you must set him, for contrast

is usually building such curiosities. On the

continuum of culture and provides the back-

and comparison, among the dead. 21

other hand, regardless of its initial novelty

bone of his/her language and its comprehen-

and shock effect, even the most original and

sibility. The fundamental issues of identity

that creative work is always bound to be

revolutionary work that succeeds to touch

in terms of the questions “who are we” and

a collaboration, a collective effort of the

essential existential qualities, ends up rein-

“what is our relationship to the world” are

artist with his/her contemporaries as well

forcing the continuum of artistic tradition

constitutive. This historical sense also brings

as predecessors. The views of the artistic

and becomes part of it,. This is the basic par-

about collective cultural meanings as well as

thinkers, whom I am quoting in this lecture,

adox of artistic creation: the most radical of

a societal purposefulness. It is this historical

also de-mystify the myth of the solitary

works end up clarifying and strengthening

sense that gives profound works their com-

and isolated genius. Great works of art and

tradition. The Catalan philosopher Eugenio

bined humility, patience, and calm authority,

architecture cannot arise from cultural

d’Ors gives a memorable formulation to this

whereas works that desperately aspire for

ignorance; they emerge in the midst of the

paradox: “Everything that remains outside

novelty and uniqueness will always appear

evolving story of the history of the artform.

of tradition, is plagiarism.” 20 The philoso-

arrogant, strained, and impatient.

The masterpieces emerge equipped with an

pher’s cryptic sentence implies that works of

Although T.S. Eliot’s essay has been often

art that are not supported and continuously

referred to, I dare to quote its most essential

re-vitalized by the blood circulation of tradi-

message, which is more pertinent today in

tion are doomed to remain mere plagiariza-

the age of globalization than ever before:

tions in the realm of arrogant and preten-

The poet’s arguments make it clear

unexplainable capacity for eternal dialogue and comparison.

TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Tradition is a matter of much wider sig-

tious newness. These works do not possess

nificance. It cannot be inherited, and if you

I want to repeat that I do not wish to praise

an artistic life force, and they are doomed to

want it you must obtain it by great labour.

tradition because of a nostalgia for the past.

become mere curiosities of the past.

It involves, in the first place, the historical

Neither am I speaking about traditionalism

sense […] and the historical sense involves

as an alternative to individual invention, but

fence of tradition is surely T.S. Eliot’s essay

a perception, not only of the pastness of

about an embodiment of the essence of tradi-

“Tradition and Individual Talent” (1919), writ-

the past, but of its presence; the historical

tion and identity, as necessary preconditions

ten nearly hundred years ago, but its wisdom

sense compels a man to write [and to design]

for meaningful creativity. I speak about the

has been sadly forgotten. The poet states that

not merely with his own generation in his

value of tradition because of its fundamental

tradition is not a static “thing” to be inherit-

bones, but with a feeling that the whole of the

significance for the course of culture and

ed, preserved or possessed, as true tradition

literature [architecture] [… ] has a simultane-

human identity, as well as for the arts, or any

has to be re-invented and re-created by each

ous existence and composes a simultaneous

other creative endeavor. Tradition maintains

new generation. Instead of valueing mere fac-

order. This historical sense, which is a sense

and safeguards the collective and accumulat-

tual history, the poet argues for the signifi-

of the timeless as well as of the temporal and

ed existential wisdom of successive genera-

cance of “a historical sense”, an internalised

of the timeless and the temporal together, is

tions. It also gives a reliable direction to the

what makes a writer [an architect] traditional

new and maintains the comprehensibility

The most eloquent and convincing de-

and it is at the same time what makes a writ-

and meaning of the new. We can appreciate

Poetics of Music (Poétique musicale, 1962), however,

er [an architect] most acutely conscious of his

the genuinely new of our own time because

without any reference to the source, Eugenio d’Ors.

place in time, of his own contemporaneity.

20 Stravinsky includes this sentence in his book The

Curiously Luis Buñuel, the arch-radical of cinema, also refers to the same thought in his autobiography

No poet, no artist of any art, has his com-

My Last Sigh (Mon dernier soupir, 1982), however

plete meaning alone. His significance, his ap-

correctly crediting the Catalan philosopher.

preciation is the appreciation of his relation

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 34

21 T.S. Eliot, “Tradition and Individual Talent”, Selected Essays, new edition, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1964.

of Dante, Michelangelo,and Shakespeare. At

is already a serious obstacle for education

the same time, the masterworks of our time

in the creative fields today. It is difficult,

give new meanings to the masterpieces of

indeed, or often totally impossible, to teach

the past.

architecture, when there is too little inherited tradition of knowledge in relation

cannot be invented as they are unconscious

to which new knowledge could be under-

and pre-reflective existential re-encounters

stood. The fragmentation of knowledge

of primal human experiences, emotions and

into isolated facts and bits of information,

myths. As Alvaro Siza, the Portuguese mas-

due to the dominance of new digital search

ter architect, has argued, “Architects don’t

media, reinforces the lack of an integrating

invent anything, they transform reality.”

background of culture, and gives rise to a

22

In the case of Siza himself, this attitude of

rapid fragmentation of world view. A wide

humility has produced more lasting qualities

knowledge of classical literature and arts has

in architecture than the self-assurance of his

been a crucial ingredient of an understand-

celebrated colleagues, who have deliberately

ing of culture as a background and context

adopted the role of radical formal innova-

for novel thought and artistic creativity.

tors. The continuum of tradition provides

How do you teach architecture and art when

the ground from which all human meaning

the mentioning of almost any historically

arises. Architectural meaning is always

important name or phenomenon is met with

contextual, relational, and temporal. Great

an ignorant stare? Our personal identities

works achieve their density and depth from

are not objects, they are not things; our iden-

the echo of the past, whereas the voice of

tities are processes that build upon the core

the products of superficial novelty remain

of an inherited cultural tradition. A coherent

feeble, incomprehensible and meaningless.

sense of self can only arise from the context

PHOTO BY E. STEICHEN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PUBLIC DOMAIN

It is evident, that artistic meanings

of culture and its historicity.

THE GROUND OF CULTURE

In today’s publicized and applauded

the ecstasy of wealth seems to blind societies,

avant-garde architecture, formal uniqueness

make them undervalue or neglect their own

Tradition is mostly a non-conscious system

is sought ad absurdum at the cost of func-

histories, traditions and identities. In the case

that organizes and maintains a sense of

tional, structural and technical logic, as well

of newly wealthy contemporary societies, it is

historicity, context, coherence, hierarchy

as of human perceptual and sensory real-

as if, at the moment of sudden wealth, we would

and meaning in the constant forward flow of

ities. Architectural entities are conceived

become ashamed of our past, regardless of its

culture. A coherence of tradition is created

as a-historical, detached and disembodied

human integrity and quality of its settings. It is

by the firm foundation of culture, not by any

objects, detached from their context, societal

as if we would suddenly want to forget who we

singular and isolated characteristics or ideas.

motivation, and dialogue with the past.

are and from where we have come.

The quick collapse of this collective

It is likely that societies and nations do not

What is at stake in the loss of the lived sense

possess a capacity to learn; only individuals do.

of tradition, is our very identity and sense of

It is sad to observe that city after city, country

historicity. We are fundamentally historical

after country, seem to go through the same

beings, both biologically and culturally. It is

fundamental mistakes that others, slightly

totally reasonable to think that we are all mil-

Collected Essays on Architecture and Design, Phaidon

ahead in cultural and economic development,

lions of years old; our bodies remember our

Press, London, 2002, p. 18.

have already committed earlier. Particularly

evolutionary past by means of the biological

mental foundation during the past decades

22 As quoted in K. Frampton, “Introduction”, in Kenneth Frampton, Labour, Work and Architecture:

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 35

Constantin Brâncuşi’s studio in Paris, 1920

relics in our bodies, such as the tailbone from

enter into a dialogue with existent conditions;

This experience of flattened reality makes us

our arboreal life, the plica semilunaris, the

Buildings mediate deep narratives of culture,

outsiders in our own domicile; in the middle

point where our horizontally moving eyelid

place and time, and architecture is in essence

of abundance we have become consumers

was attached next to our eye, from our Sauri-

always an epic art form. The content and

of our own lives and mentally homeless. We

an life, and the remains of gills in our lungs

meaning of art – even of the most condensed

have even become alienated from ourselves.

from our primordial fish life.

poem, minimal painting, or simplest house – is

Yet, as Aldo van Eyck, the Dutch modernist

epic in the sense of being a manifestation of

architect, insisted: “Architecture should

human existence in the world.

facilitate Man’s homecoming.” 25

In his book on slowness, Milan Kundera argues that forgetting is in direct relation with speed, whereas remembering calls for slow-

The fascination with newness is char-

Great works possess a timeless freshness

ness. The obsessively accelerated change of

acteristic to modernism at large, but this

and they present their embodied enigma al-

fashion and life style makes an accumulation

obsession has never been as unquestioned as

ways anew as if we were looking at the work

of tradition and memory mentally difficult.

in our age of mass consumption and surreal

for the first time: the greater the work is the

As Paul Virilio, the architect-philosopher has

materialism. Designed aging of products, as

stronger is its resistance to time. As Paul

suggested, the main product of contemporary

well as the adoration of novelty, are deliberate

Valéry suggests: “An artist is worth a thou-

societies is speed. Indeed, two of the disturb-

psychological mechanisms at the service of

sand centuries”. 26Newness has a mediating

ing characteristics of the Post-modern era,

ever accelerated consumption. Architecture

role in revealing the existential dimension

according to philosophers like David Harvey

has also turned into a consumer product.

through fresh and unexpected metaphors.

and Fredrik Jameson, are depthlessness and

However, these characteristics are also ingre-

Only in the sense of the perpetually re-

the lack of an overall view of things.

dients of today’s collective mental pathology.

charged and re-energized image, timeless

Also architecture is increasingly promoting

newness is a quality in artistic and architec-

distinct life styles, images and personality

tural works. This is where also anonymity

types instead of strengthening the individu-

turns into a specific value. Such works

al’s sense of the real and of him/herself.

constitute the realm of tradition and they are

23

24

THE TASK OF ARCHITECTURE The primary task of architecture continues to be to defend and strengthen the wholeness

The task of architecture is not to create

reinforced by the authority and aura of this

and dignity of human life, and to provide us

dream worlds, but to reinforce essential cau-

continuum. I personally like to repeatedly

with an existential foothold in the world. The

salities, processes of rooting, and the sense

revisit certain masterworks of painting and

first responsibility of the architect is always

of the real. The fascination with novelty is

architecture, and re-read my favourite books

for the inherited landscape or urban setting; a

deeply connected with the self-destructive

to find myself equally fascinated and moved

profound building enhances its wider context

ideology of consumption and perpetual

each time. I have had the fortune of visiting

and gives it new meanings and aesthetic qual-

growth. Instead of contributing to mean-

the legendary Villa Mairea by Alvar Aalto

ities. Responsible architecture improves the

ingful and coordinated landscapes and

in Noormarkku, Finland (1937-39), numerous

landscape of its location and gives its lesser ar-

cityscapes, the structures of today’s busi-

times during half a century, but at each new

chitectural neighbours new qualities instead

nesses (and almost everything is considered

visit this architectural miracle welcomes me

of degrading them. Profound buildings are

business in the world of fluid capital) turn

with the same freshness and a stimulating

not self-centered monologues, as they always

into self-centered and self-indulgent commer-

sense of expectation and wonder. This is the

cial advertisements. Whereas responsible 23 M. Kundera, Slowness, Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., New York, 1996.

24 See, D, Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, Blackwell, Cambridge, 1990, and F. Jameson, Post-

buildings are deeply rooted in the historicity of their place and they contribute to a sense of time and cultural continuum, today’s

modernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism,

monuments of selfishness and obsessive

Duke University Press, Durham, 1991.

novelty flatten the sense of history and time.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 36

25 Aldo van Eyck, H. Hertzberger, A.van Roijen-Wortmann, F. Strauven, editors. Stichtung Wonen, Amsterdam, 1982, p. 65.

26 P. Valéry, Dialogues, Pantheon Books, New York, 1956, p. XIII.

Villa Mairea in Noormarkk, designed by Alvar Aalto, 1938–1939

power of a true artistic tradition that halts time and re-introduces the already known with a seductive new freshness and intimacy. This is also the kind of architecture that empowers us and strengthens our sense of being, identity and dignity.

In our age... there is coming into existence a new kind of provincialism, not of space, but of time; one for which history is merely the chronicle of human devices which served their turn and have been scrapped, one for which the world is the property solely of the living, a property in which the dead hold no shares. 27

This article is an edited version of Juhani Pallasma’s speech at The Bengal Institute in Dhaka in November 2016. We would like to thank the Author for his permission to publish.

27 T. S. Eliot, “What is a Classic”, Selected Essays, new edition, Harcourt, Brace & World, New York, 1964.

PHOTO BY D. JANSSEN / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CCA-SA 3.0 UNPORTEDN

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 37

Constructions of Fascism Towards the end of the nineteenth century

The gradual introduction of reinforced con-

In other words, although mixed construction

the development of reinforced concrete

crete into masonry construction is the reason

did not “determine” the formalist and artistic

helped to replace the tectonics of masonry

why it influenced architectural experimen-

kind of architecture gradually emerging in the

with the tectonics of the frame.

tation which, at the time, focused first on

chiefly neo-idealist atmosphere of those years,

Italy was no exception, on the contrary this

overcoming historicism and then on devel-

it certainly did “support” it.

new technique spread very rapidly all over the

oping a modern style with its own indepen-

country. With a difference, however: instead of

dent characteristics. Since the “concrete and

that developed in the 1910s and 20s, from the

simply replacing masonry, reinforced concrete

masonry system” – executed entirely on site

floral style of Giuseppe Sommaruga or Ernes-

It became the hard core of the many styles

was gradually introduced into the construc-

using artisanal techniques – chiefly involves

to Basile, to the modernist, twentieth-century

tion and used together with masonry creating

masonry, it did not immediately trigger

style of Giovanni Muzio or Enrico Del Debbio,

a sort of “mixed construction”. This was due to

a rejection of the historicist style based on ar-

bringing them all back to one single eclectic

the continuity that characterised modernisa-

chitectural order and therefore etymologically

modernism which was to become the typical

tion in Italy in general and the construction in-

linked to masonry constructions (a rejection

trait of Italian architecture.

dustry in particular given that most worksites

which instead was commonplace in European

were small and artisanal: reinforced concrete

modernisms in the early part of the century).

tecture turned from Eclectic to Modern lan-

– made on site – could be inserted without

However using a frame contaminated the ar-

guage, the reinforced concrete structure was

causing too much havoc. This also explains the

chitrave and vault system and marked the be-

mostly “hidden”. The renewal of architectural

rather unusual fact that the advent of rein-

ginning of the end of the traditional system of

language is only indirectly influenced by

forced concrete coincided with the sudden and

moulding masonry walls; to a certain extent, it

the new structure and the modern language

almost total disappearance of steel frames.

also allowed it to be figuratively manipulated.

maintained a masonry nature.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 38

In the interwar years, when Italian archi-

PHOTO BY MAXXI ARCHITETTURA, ROMA

TULLIA IORI SERGIO PORETTI

Academy of Physical

In parallel, the figurative strategies used to

the nineteenth century, and in the early

So it’s not surprising that very sophisticated

hide the structure, gave rise to a modernist

twentieth century they focused collectively

structures were hidden inside architectures

structural detail of

trend where the structure became the key

on increasing knowledge and understanding

still influenced by eclectic styles. For exam-

the ceiling, designed

feature of the representation. A repertoire of

of the behaviour of large reinforced concrete

ple the roof of the Banchini Theatre in Prato

Visionary structures, rarely built, enriched

structures. Given the difficulty of applying

(1921) and the internal structure of the Cinema

the debate on the relationship between archi-

the classical elastic theory due to the anisotro-

Augusteo in Naples (1926) studied by Nervi

tecture and engineering.

py of the material and the problems caused by

as a young engineer (and more in general the

the different nature of its components (first

large structures for the roofs and galleries

structural visions, the works by Pier Luigi

and foremost cracking of the cement in the

of cinema halls built during that period). An-

Nervi were outstanding, but fully permeated

tension zone), studies immediately began on

other example is the roof of the gymnasium

by the same Italian spirit.

its plastic behaviour, while research focused

of the Academy of Physical Education by Del

on the phenomena of ultimate strength and

Debbio. The design Aristide Giannelli invent-

examination on the effects of the states of

ed for the roof was a series of eight Vierend-

coaction. From the very start research moved

eel beams joined together by an edge beam to

Despite this traditional style, the works

in two directions: on the one hand supported

create a plate that was so rigid it could simply

built during this period masked both a reg-

by contributions by Gustavo Colonnetti, and

rest on slender columns; this made it possible

ular framework and courageous structural

on the other by Arturo Danusso; although

to create large openings in the walls, yet em-

solutions.

their paths diverged their work led slowly but

phasised by a completely independent system

surely to the construction of Italy’s superb

of white Carrara marble pieces of architraves,

post-war works.

frames and tympana. The structure remained

In this panorama of hidden structures and

HIDDEN STRUCTURES

Moreover, all branches of Italian engineering had developed enormously during

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 39

Education in Rome,

by Enrico Del Debbio, 1928–1929

PHOTO BY MAXXI ARCHITETTURA, ROMA

Academy of Physical Education in Rome

well hidden by a “fake” ceiling with a criss-

hand, although the construction policy of the

frame, especially the chance to create big

under construction,

cross pattern.

Fascist regime supported the hegemony of re-

overhangs did not lead to the “disintegration

inforced concrete (and subsequent exclusion

of the masonry envelope” (and as a result to

20s, “hidden structures” were the result of the

of steel frame constructions), it also reiterated

a novel concept of form and space) which char-

fact that architects and engineers worked sep-

the need to maintain the artisanal nature

acterised European rationalism and American

arately; the architect was responsible for the

of the worksite with low mechanisation and

organic architecture, albeit very differently;

formal design which still depended complete-

a large unskilled workforce; on the other, it

instead, in Italy, the frame led to extremely

ly on masonry, while the engineer was called

was the modern architects themselves who

limited and indirect examples of modernity,

(often by the construction company) after the

insisted that continuity with the past be the

part of an architectural configuration which

design had been formalised and asked to solve

distinctive trait of Italian modernism.

overall maintained its masonry nature.

designed by Enrico Del Debbio, 1928–1929

In the eclectic modernisms of the 1910s and

structural problems.

The figurative nature of architecture was

In the Post Office in Bologna Square in

another element to add. The disputes between

Rome by Mario Ridolfi (and Giannelli), for

played a very different role in modernist

traditionalists and modernists remained with-

example, the overall image is defined by the

experiments. In fact, reinforced concrete

in the boundaries of neo-idealism; it was the

external concave/convex wall around the

structures were considered one of the tools

younger architects who were more forceful

building.

that could be used to overcome historicism in

in reiterating the fact that architecture was

The bold structure of the mid part is not

an attempt to achieve a truly modern archi-

an art and in refusing to “downgrade” it to

directly visible. The eight frames in the public

tecture. This was the key topic of the Gruppo

a social science – which instead happened in

hall span almost 10 m, and they continue over

7 (a group of Italian architects, formed in

the modern movement.

the postmen’s hall with 10 metre long cantile-

In the first half of the thirties structure

1926 by Giuseppe Terragni, Giuseppe Pagano

This complex web of innovative goals

ver beams, tapered at the intrados based on

and others). During the first exhibition by

and the desire to maintain masonry and the

the MIAR (Italian Movement for Rational

figurative nature of architecture was behind

Architecture), to symbolise modernity, the

the most important experiments undertaken

columns along the rear façade are not aligned

manifesto used a concrete pillar with a visible

in the public works entrusted to young archi-

to the ground floor columns.

reinforcement.

tects between 1931 and 1935.

At the same time, however, continui-

It was the designers themselves who

a parabolic curve.

In addition, on the two upper floors, the

The architectural repercussions of such a sophisticated structural solution can be

ty with traditional construction had to be

explored complex and novel static solutions.

found only in some “minor” traits: the contin-

maintained. For several reasons: on the one

However, the structural potential of the elastic

uous sloping ribbon window in the postmen’s

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 40

hall; lighting from above on the back of the public hall; the curtain wall in the centre of the rear façade.

Another no less important example in Rome is the House of Arms by Luigi Moretti; from outside the building the fencing completely covered with Carrara marble slabs. A massive wall is above the horizontal windows. The interior, which is meant to look like a cave dug out of the block, is lighted from above. This enhances the continuity between

PHOTO BY S. PORETTI

hall looks like a compact, masonry block

Post Office in Bologna Square, Rome, designed by Mario Ridolfi, 1932–1935

the walls and the ceiling. In actual fact, the abstract forms hide an extremely bold rein-

thin marble cladding. Instead in monumen-

a scenographic-style monumentalism which

forced concrete structure, dimensioned by

tal works when the Fascist regime required

became decidedly structural in the drawings

Giorgio Baroni. It’s made up of two huge stag-

a more explicit rhetoric of autarky - for exam-

by Antonio Sant’Elia or by Virgilio Marchi and

gered cantilevers with completely separate

ple the Expo 42 district in Rome (call E42) –

in the more verisimilar but no less fantastic

foundations: a very sophisticated solution that

then the anti-autarky structure in reinforced

structures imagined by Ottorino Aloisio for

Moretti had to justify as necessary because

concrete was paradoxically used as the hidden

the Fascist spa or the University of Sport.

a sewer passed right through the centre of the

scaffolding of a stage set intended to make the

building.

masonry construction look more grandiose

sentation, a modern reinforced concrete

and highlight the link with Rome.

structure can prefigure a technological

Post Office in

One example is the grand loggia in the

future and yet, at the same time, conjure up

Bologna Square in

Civiltà Italiana Palace: its vaulted system,

a timeless atmosphere of archaic classicism.

League of Nations imposed heavy sanctions:

made with travertine blocks, is authentic and

To understand just how much this charac-

no state was allowed to sell strategic materi-

the arches are not fake. But the loggia looks

teristic fascinated young architects, just

als to Italy, particularly metals. The fascist

like a colossal masonry structure thanks to

regime profited to promote autarky, that is

a hidden reinforced concrete frame: in fact,

an economic self-sufficiency. The building

the frame not only supports the big floors (10

strategy included in autarky was to increase

m span), but also invisibly divides the vaulted

continuity with tradition and forbid the use

system into horizontal sections, supporting it,

of reinforced concrete, accused of not being

floor by floor.

During the autarky period the role of structure in architecture changed yet again.

In 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia and the

From the point of view of pure repre-

“Italian” enough. However this diktat was often ignored. Masonry in architecture was

VISIONARY STRUCTURES

forced to become more emphatic.

The same figurative traits behind the strategies used to hide the structure, in contrast gave

eclectic historicism in urban centres) this

rise to a modernist trend which we could call

meant a return to a more traditionalist ver-

“visionary”, where the structure became the

sion of mixed construction - relatively modest

key feature of the representation. This recalls

spans, more solids than voids, and absence of

the age-old penchant of Italian architecture for

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 41

DRAWING BY R. VITTORINI

In the Littorio style of that period (a twentieth-century variation of the ubiquitous

Rome – axonometric projection, designed

by Mario Ridolfi, 1932–1935

However, the importance of the relationship between art and science was present not only as a key feature in drawings by architects, but also in much more elaborate design experiments. By trying to satisfy the regime’s request for a grandiose style, these design experiments significantly enriched the reperSOURCE: AUTHORS’ ARCHIVES

toire of visionary modernism.

Casa delle Armi in

This was the case of the great “hanging wall”, submitted in 1934 by the group from Como (headed by Terragni and Luigi Vietti) for the first degree competition for the Palazzo del Littorio in Roma.

Rivalry with the Basilica of Massenzio, a prerequisite of the tender, was entrusted

Rome, designed

leaf through Adalberto Libera’s drawings of

The “tensile structure” designed by the futur-

to a huge concave wall of porphyry, 80 meter

by Luigi Moretti,

structural figures: the reinforced concrete

ist engineer Guido Fiorini was part of this sce-

long and 25 meter high; rather than resting

1933–1935

Pantheon, the FIL Isolators Pavilion, tha

nario; Fiorini was famous chiefly for having

on the ground, the wall ‘hung’ from the ends

Scac Pavilion (built for the Milan Fair) and

caught the imagination of Le Corbusier. In 1928

of two trusses. The wall, cut in the middle to

the perspective for the competition for the

the ideation of the “radiator skyscraper” (later,

accommodate the platform from where Mus-

new Auditorium in Rome, with its close-knit

part of the Plan of Algiers), with its floors

solini was to speak, was equipped with bun-

network of tapered frames as a backdrop for

stayed by cables to a compressed central nucle-

dles of tie-rods (in very pure iron) fanning

the huge statue.

us was behind the many “architectural visions”

out from the two points of suspension along

initially displayed at the second “Movement

the tension isostatic lines; porphyry blocks,

the repertoire of contemporary architects;

for Rational Architecture” (MIAR) Exhibition

arranged along the compression isostatic

they reveal the duality between the figura-

in 1931 and later published in “Casabella” and

lines of, created upside-down arches. The

tive traits of Italian modernism (reflecting

“Quadrante”.

solution combined the intrinsic monumental

These drawings were quite common in

its enduring position among the arts, together with painting and sculpture) and the designers’ feelings about scientific dimension of construction, enhanced by the echo of experiments in the field of engineering.

There was no end to the debate on the relationship between art and science (which idearchitecture and engineering); structural visions were a genuine part of that debate, representing the coexistence of form and technique, yet fully respecting the hierarchical order by which the latter is subservient to the former.

SOURCE: AUTHORS’ ARCHIVES

alistically sublimes the relationship between

Casa delle Armi in Rome – axonometric

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 42

projection, designed by Luigi Moretti, 1933–1935

Pallazzo Della Civiltá Italiana in Rome – axonometric projection, designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Lapadula, Mario Romano, 1937–1943

panoramic railway, belvedere, restaurant

A lot of beautiful arch bridges and industrial

and dance hall – the structure had to be made

building, in which structure and architecture

entirely of steel.

overlapped. Then, out of the choir, the architectural works by Pier Luigi Nervi.

DRAWING BT D. FLOCCIA

On the contrary, the second proposal sub-

Nervi’s ingenious intuition of the static

mitted in 1938 by Libera (and the engineer Di Berardino) was autarchic: it included a small-

behaviour of structural forms would emerge

er arch, 200 meter span, to be built in con-

clearly with the design of the Berta Stadium, in

crete without steel. Unfortunately, the tests

Florence, which would soon be recognized as

carried out by Danusso and Nervi (the latter

a masterpiece of the new Italian architecture.

arranged for a 1:10 scale model to be made to

Its exposed structures - out of the blue

study the construction systems and ultimate-

-were actually due to a very practical reason:

ly deposited a patent for a special type of scaf-

the client had run out of money for finishing,

folding) proved it was necessary to introduce

originally expected.

The 22 meter cantilever roof (shaped

a lightweight steel reinforcement. tensile structure.

The duality between art and science is

nature led to another decisive proposal: an

helicoidal staircases (the criss-cross design

aluminium arch, proposed by Covre, 330

of the beams solved a complex torsional

immediately visible in the representation

meter span. the autarchic purity of this last

of the façade. The chance to “see” how the

version was thwarted in the final drawings.

internal tension developed was provided

In fact, according to new tests led by

by a modern research tool, photoelasticity,

Giannelli, the rhomboidal section in Avional

which just one year earlier had been tested in

alloy had to be made more rigid using inner

the Experimental Laboratory of Models and

steel frames; the latter were so close-knit

Construction by Danusso. The design of the

and robust they turned the arch into an

façade was generated by the scientific study,

aluminium-clad steel structure. Despite the

and only by chance did the isostatic lines

fact Mussolini liked this solution – which

– which increased in number towards the

was still an option on April 1940, when he

platform – accentuated the dramatic effect of

inspected a model in the garden of the School

the monumental backdrop.

of Engineering in San Pietro in Vincoli – it

However, the most spectacular image of

was abandoned along with the construction

visionary modernism is undoubtedly the

of the E42. The Arch of the Empire passed

monumental arch which was to be built for

into history as proof of the collective and

the E42. In this complicated issue, the prob-

contagious character of visionary modern-

lem of the relationship between architecture

ism in the late thirties.

and engineering was reformulated as part of the broader issue of autarchy.

matching the bending moment diagram), the

However, this dilution of its autarchic

THE ROLE OF PIER LUIGI NERVI

The first proposal submitted in 1937 by a team of engineers, headed by Gino Covre

In the Interwar years, while bold hidden

was rejected due to the anti-autarchic char-

structures were built and more bold vision-

acter of their proposal. In fact, to build the

ary structures were visualized, the relevant

spectacular, 600 meter span arch – with its

works built by the engineers were very few.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 43

ŹRÓDŁO: ARCHIVIO GIOVANNI GUERRINI, ROMA

value of the large blocks, with the futuristic

Palazzo Della Civiltá Italiana in Rome – a view of the construction site, designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Lapadula, Mario Romano, 1937–1943

At this point, he designed a series of futur-

in Orbetello, two in Orvieto and two in Torre

istic-inspired items, real “Visionary Struc-

del Lago). Both series featured arches crossing

tures”, neither of which was to be accom-

one another, but while, in the first hangars,

plished: the Floating Hotel, based on an inge-

they were cast on site, with the help of a huge

nious method to reduce the intensity of wave

costly timber formwork, in the second they

action and achieve stabilization; the Flag

were prefabricated in little parts on the

Monument, a slender tower, 250 meter high,

ground, then assembled into place on a light

which was stabilized by suspending a heavy

metallic tubular scaffolding, thereby restor-

pendulum on its top; the Revolving House,

ing the monolithic conformation and structur-

tracking the sun’s position; the Water and

al continuity of the whole.

Light Palace among the visionary proposals

This is the real start of the “Nervi Sys-

put forward for the construction of the E42

tem”, a completely new way of designing and

District.

constructing reinforced concrete structures:

SOURCE: AUTHORS’ ARCHIVES

called this patented solution, combined with

a close on the outbreak of war, which concludes

Ferroconcrete, a new material invented in

his first life (Nervi had other two lives: the sec-

1943, a more autarchic combination of steel

ond dedicate to the ferroconcrete and the third

and concrete, producing very stiff and highly

as a “star architect” all over the world).

elastic slabs, easy to shape into almost any

While the debate over autarchy was

form and exceptionally economical. After the

raging, Nervi went back to explore the un-

Second World War, the Nervi System allowed

known potentialities of reinforced concrete

the masterpieces of Nervi’s maturity.

by designing some airplane hangars for the Italian Air Force (the first were built in Orvieto in 1936).

The structure consisted of two series of arches that were rotated with respect to

for the Palazzo

problem) and the Futuristic Maratona Tower

the imposts of the vault and intersected one

del Littorio in

were regarded as original examples of mod-

another. That design solution allowed him to

Rome, designed by

ern architecture.

fully exploit the potentialities of reinforced

Giuseppe Terragni and team, 1934

On leading Italian and international journals, the stadium was judged (by Sigfried

concrete, and above all its monolithic nature.

He overcame the inherent difficulties

Giedion, for example) as a sign of “Italian

related to complex mathematical calculations,

revival” on the way to modernism.

needed for this statically indeterminate

In the wake of success, Nervi found

structures, carrying out accurate tests on

himself involved in the debate over moder-

celluloid scale model. This was an absolutely

nity and innovation, that was raging in Italy

new approach in Italy. It was the first Italian

under autarky. He joined in by writing arti-

3D scale elastic model. The trials were car-

cles (dealing not only with structural design

ried out in the Danusso’s laboratory.

issues) on magazines like “Quadrante” and “Casabella”.

A second series of six airplane hangars was built in 1939–1942 (two hangars located

SOURCE: ARCHIVIO CENTRALE DELLO STATO, ROMA

Competition project

One of the visions for the monumental Arch of the

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 44

Empire in the E42 district of Rome – design for the concrete structure, Adalbert Libera, 1938

PHOTO BY MAXXI ARCHITETTURA, ROMA

Structural Prefabrication, as Nervi himself

Nervi’s participation as a prominent figure in the architectural debate was brought to

CONCLUSION

led -to the connection between the large-scale

rightful place in twentieth-century European

works designed by engineers and the archi-

Architecture.

tectures of the fifties and sixties, which now

ly, under the fascist regime leading to the ca-

appear to be one of the mainstays of the unique

The article is the result of the Authors’ research

tastrophe. But, unpredictably, the autarchic pe-

Italian Style.

into the history of Italian modernism, published

war.

In today’s less ideological historicisation

in the following books: S. Poretti: Italian Modern-

based mostly on works, a historicisation in

ism: Architecture and Construction in the Twenti-

The continuity between the autarchic

which many different “material histories” of

eth Century, Rome: Gangemi, 2013 and T. Iori, Pier

experimentation and the techniques used in

modern architecture are becoming increas-

Luigi Nervi, Milano: Motta Architettura, 2009.

reconstruction, until the years of economic

ingly important, it is very possible that Italian

miracle, is crystal clear and this continuity

interwar architecture will be assigned its

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 45

Florence – a view of the structure of stands and

The Interwar period was a bad time for Ita-

riod paved the way for a new birth, after the

Berta Stadium in

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

stairways, designed

by Pier Luigi Nervi, 1930–1932.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 46

JURKO PROCHAŚKO

ILLUSTRATIONS: DOMINIKA WILCZYŃSKA

What does and does not make a region I

generating and maintaining such an improbable

similarly changeable contents and meanings. All

multitude of so improbably subtle connotations?

this may perhaps explain why it is that by using

The concept of the “region” glitters with a multi-

Why do they partly remain so obscure that they

this concept we try to capture and express some

tude of shades and nuances of meanings, reflec-

have to parasitize on other concepts? Is not the

extremely important, but – probably hardly ex-

tions and imaginings, and transformations of the

plurality, the polyvalence of this hidden seman-

pressible, sometimes almost hopelessly difficult

sense, it projects the richness and multiplicity of

tics, the energy and the driving force behind this

to express – messages and meanings, which are

meanings, often double, multiple, ambiguous. It

incredible dynamism? Is it not the case that the

almost impossible to articulate, and which of-

is saturated with longings, desires, fears, visions,

multiplicity and dynamics are not simply dialec-

ten remain inaccessible to our conscious mind;

utopias, and mythologies.

tical, but they are contradictory, all the way to

and nevertheless, we continue to make new at-

mutual exclusion, and therefore ambivalent?

tempts still to identify them anyway. And since

A few questions arise from the above. How did this happen? What exactly lies behind this

The “region” belongs to these – not all that

it often does not work too well, we navigate the

supposedly clever concept, and what truth does

numerous – concepts that over the last few years

ship of that word around the inexplicable, driv-

it betray about us and our present? Why the re-

and decades have conveyed ever more new

en by a force akin to a nagging pressure, to com-

gion? Why exactly does this very concept have

shades of meaning. Indeed: they continue, they

pulsive repetition, relentlessly, in the fierce, des-

the right potential and valence to become a re-

do not cease, showing an astonishing amount

perate hope that we will be able to bring that in-

pository of meanings with so much importance

of enthusiasm, productivity, flexibility, vari-

accessible treasure of meaning to the surface

to our contemporaneity? Why is it suitable for

ability, and ability to adapt – as it seems – to the

– this treasure that is so precious to us, although

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 47

we do not fully know, really, what it is that we

definition, clarity, comprehensibility, invariabil-

substrate, or even the remnants of the substrate,

care about so deeply. As a consequence, the con-

ity, credibility, defense, outlines, contours and

which had not been dissolved and decomposed,

cept of the region evolves into categories that can

boundaries, profile and relief, local patriotism,

and constantly questioned, constantly reiterating

well be described as “suggestive” without any ex-

constancy and the immutability of childhood,

that everything is imagined, that everything is

aggeration. And suggestive categories, after all,

the ability to preserve a child’s perception of the

– merely a construct. Longing for imponderabil-

serve to help us understand ourselves and each

world without falling into infantilism, refrain-

ity, for a “pre-condition” – this is one of the most

other – and to communicate – at the level of ba-

ing from acting, cognitive integrity and spiritu-

decisive driving forces behind the enviable dy-

sic intuitions contained therein. In other words:

al clarity, identity with one’s self, but also: project

namics of the region. And also a static, essential,

it seems that eventually, in a certain manner, we

and projection, and finally, mythology, cosmogo-

substantial version of identity that counterbal-

are adopting ideas carried by the concept of the

ny and utopia.

ances the dynamic, process-oriented, construc-

region, even if we cannot fully formulate them as

Thus, two contradictory and (as we might have

tive version.

they should be formulated. Otherwise the term

expected) essentially opposite groups can be high-

would have fallen out of circulation as unwieldy

lighted here, but following from the very essence

also condition the emergence and continuation

and unnecessary, and it would never have en-

of ambivalence is the requirement to reconcile the

of regional species, regional types and region-

joyed such a – literally – dazzling career.

various categories of experience: to simplify, one

al ways of life. There is even such a term as “re-

adheres to constancy, continuity, invariability;

gional endemic species”, that is, those adapted to

today present analogous inexhaustibility, in-

and the other, to possibility and variability. One

the living conditions in the given region – here

clude for example such terms as: “Europe”,

serves the static, the other, the dynamic.

they will grow and thrive, elsewhere, they may

Similar suggestive packages, concepts which

“myth”, “globalization” or “digitalization”. What do they have in common?

As it seems, both the suggestiveness and the

Regional products, regional vegetables, re-

Regional climatic conditions, regional winds

even perish.

This bears a striking resemblance to our fan-

gional cuisine, regional restaurants, regional recipes: these collocations, especially important in

tasies and myths related to wine and wine re-

productivity of these concepts fly on two wings,

recent years, seem to express a variety of needs:

gions: only here the wine has its unique terroir,

equipped with two engines: the first is the im-

longing for truthfulness, incorruptibility, au-

barely a few kilometres away the same variety

portance, combined with the quality of being

thenticity, for non-polluted identity, for the lack

tastes completely different. There are the paths di-

hard to grasp and difficult to talk about; while

of contamination altogether, for freedom from

viding the fields, there are limits and borders –

the other, a fundamental mechanism of their dy-

uncontrolled influences of business – whether in

they are given and indisputable.

namics, is their dialectical ambiguity, so full of

terms of globalization or climate, ideological or

contradictions that there are serious reasons to

conceptual (postmodernism, deconstruction, po-

the other side, behind the clear line of the border,

consider it ambivalent.

litical correctness, globalization). The region is an

to be immediately different, and distinctly so: the

imagined, uncontaminated landscape.

dialect, the taste of the dishes, the ceramics, the

Perhaps it might be possible to understand a little better the nature of suggestive forms and

Regional festivals, regional crafts, region-

Sometimes we wish so much for all things on

shape of the hat, the landscape, perhaps even the

ambivalent formulas that sometimes resemble

al architecture, ceramics, materials, stone, clay,

variety of cherries and of potatoes. Not to men-

spells, if we look at them as substitutes. What

regional customs, traditions, costumes, proces-

tion the wine and the cheese. In this region ev-

does the concept of the region change, and what

sions, language, dialects – all speak volumes

erything works this way, and in the neighbour-

does it contain within it? The answer is that it

about the identity complex. The region in the

ing one – quite differently.

contains not only that which it actually contains

present sense is also a territory of identity that

and can contain, but also that which is hidden be-

is free from contradiction: it must be here some-

hind it, which disguises itself as it, which stealth-

where, says the longing, where else should we

ily uses its name, which takes its form by mimic-

look for it, if not in the region, while elsewhere

This flexible dialectic does not mean that the un-

ry. So: authenticity and truthfulness, an alterna-

it has been overstretched, discredited, or de-

derstanding of the notion of a region is completely

tive to …, an alternative as such, identity, Heimat,

constructed. Somewhere there must be some

arbitrary, boundlessly flexible, malleable or even

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 48

II

devoid of principles. No, despite all the semantic

the European Union, and its utopia), and the no-

movement and the party of the Northern League,

flair, it has its limitations too. Not everything can

tion of globalization.

Bavaria) – the trick being to use the region as an

be called a region, and that which can be called

Aspects of the concept of identity, the preser-

a region, is not always one. It would be very im-

vation of diversity, above all the diversity of cus-

ty and commitment under the rhetorical mask of

portant to show what these limitations are.

toms and “culture”, began to appear in the defini-

“European patriotism”.

Being a region is not so easy. Not every spe-

tion of the region under the influence of global-

excuse to wriggle out of national social solidari-

Haider’s Austrian Carinthia reveals yet an-

cific territory can be a region. To be a region, you

ization, and of Europe, as well as the result of yet

other aspect of “regionalism”: a radical, anti-lib-

have to earn it, to deserve it. How is this earned?

another, third factor, in which the two preced-

eral, pre-modern opposition to the official polit-

ing ones seem to have merged into one: the cate-

ical liberalism of the nationwide system, the ex-

ing that we refer to herein, was almost complete-

gory of Europe experienced as a cause and man-

clusion of itself from that system (also, the value

ly emptied, evaporated, of the original semantic

ifestation of such globalization, which blurs the

system), by using the mechanism of the region.

content – coming from the verb regere, meaning

age-old differences. It was about feeling threat-

‘to govern’, ‘to manage’, ‘to cultivate’, ‘to direct’.

ened and desiring to preserve identity, and be-

become a great way to express being in favour

The region is a concept which, in the mean-

It seems that for most, regionalism has then

It seems that only recently, in the late twen-

cause in the accepted rhetoric at the time, identi-

of Europe, the European project and Europe-

tieth century, the term “region” was simply con-

ty was also recognized as the principal source of

an patriotism, to cut off dangerous nationalism,

strued as a certain defined administrative territo-

potentially unpleasant extremism, nationalism

but without sacrificing the warmth and security

ry, smaller than the whole country. The division,

or broadly understood selfishness, the way to-

which the Heimat provides.

especially the official, top-down division into con-

wards defending identity began to subtly deviate

veniently separated, appropriately named admin-

towards the affirmation of the regions. A mim-

tute for political and cultural isolationism, se-

istrative districts, has in itself a large charge of

icry of concepts and parasitism has occurred –

cessionism, exclusivism, for the sense of supe-

arbitrariness. So how did it happen that this free-

that which we usually call “a change of meaning”

riority, and the need to separate oneself from

dom, this coming-from-above destiny, gave way

and “connotation”.

the more common, indeed, from theprovin-

to such connotations as “ancient quality”, eterni-

It was then that the concept of the region be-

Sometimes regionalism acted as a substi-

cial megalomania; as the expression and the ex-

ty and immutability, appropriate for the earlier

gan to serve and replace many important experi-

pressee of the sense of being the chosen one,

concepts: of the province, or the German Heimat?

ences. In Germany, for example, it could be a dig-

the elect; of the myth of exclusivity (as in Gali-

It seems that the term “region”, thus understood,

nified substitute for the discredited and danger-

cia). Or for the desire for national emancipation,

has followed the dynamics of the term “province”,

ous Heimat, as well as a substitute for a disgraced

masked by regionalism (as in Catalonia, or the

which originally also meant a unit of state or im-

and compromised sense of patriotism.

Basque Country).

In many other parts – and regions – of Eu-

Something similar happened also on the

the oldest provinces, the fluidity and variabili-

rope, this concept also seemed a credible alter-

plane of ecology, in the paradigm of “climat-

ty of their borders – but also the changes in the

native to the compromised and discredited na-

ic hazards”: the region has come to be the place

meanings of the very concept – can be seen clear-

tionalism: regionalism can be said to provide the

where we are able to believe that the impact of

ly in the example of Śląsk (Silesia).

opportunity to experience such important emo-

climate change might be minimized, where we

perial administration. The arbitrariness of even

tions as belonging, identity, patriotism, without

might bar ourselves from pollution and toxici-

plicity of the aforementioned signs and connota-

the danger of falling into atavistic or even racist,

ty, but also where we might actively contribute to

tions has arisen, and in the 1990s it has become

and at least chauvinistic nationalism.

saving the environment without getting involved

But then something changed. A new multi-

For many European regions, however, re-

in megalomaniacal utopias – but simply by re-

the 21st century. The fact that the new semantisa-

gionalism has become a form and figure of re-

ducing emissions thanks to limiting the trans-

tion is closely related to the two new notions, pre-

sentment, an attempt to distinguish and sepa-

portation (of food), thanks to using alternative

viously unknown, cannot be overlooked, name-

rate oneself from the poorer parts of a single na-

energy sources at a local level, and to a more in-

ly: the notion of Europe (both the realized idea of

tion state (as in Catalonia, Flanders, Padania, the

formed control over the changes that occur.

a daily reality that continues to develop now in

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 49

New vocabulary and regional nomenclature

And in this sense, the Carpathians constitute

important, for which and by the force of which

have also become the advent of this era. They ap-

a Euroregion, but they do not constitute the Eu-

the region actually exists, namely the criteria of

peared in two forms: in the official nomencla-

rope of the regions – or plainly, they constitute

being determinate, distinctive, authentic, unique,

ture of “Euroregions” and – however paradox-

its total opposite. At most, the Carpathians might

and identified.

ically this might sound – in the bottom-up-elit-

be, and indeed they are, a coherent region from

ist, intellectual formula of the “Europe of the

the point of view of the representatives of six

landers, the Wallachians, the Carpathian

regions.” Contrary to the fact that the two ex-

occupational categories: geologists, geographers,

Rusyns, the Boykos, the inhabitants of Verkho-

pressions sound similar, and it may seem a sim-

climatologists and meteorologists, politicians,

vyna fulfill the conditions of authenticity and

ple case of changing the word order, we would be

particularly the so-called Euro-politicians and

legend – and to them, this seems to suffice. Geo-

hard pressed to find another equally vivid exam-

– perhaps – also for musicologists who use the

graphical and landscape subsystems of the Car-

ple of such dissimilar, even antagonistic messag-

category of Carpathian melos.

pathian Mountains: Beskidy, Bieszczady, Gorga-

The Hutsuls, the Lemkos, the Górale high-

However, for ethnologists, and still more so

ny, Chornohora, the Tatras – are each so distinct

concepts. They are related, but only by the time

for ethnographers; for linguists, and even more

in their own right that they are more inclined to

of their birth, followed by the growing gap of

so for dialectologists; for scholars who study tra-

distinguish themselves than unite within a cate-

conflicting visions, rather than any similarities.

ditions, crafts, migrations; for wanderers, and

gory that would go beyond the boundary of the

It is precisely in this pair that the dialectic of the

even more so for people who live in different

neutral (at least for now) Carpathians. The pe-

binary opposition is revealed, which the notion

parts – and in different regions – of the Carpath-

culiarity, uniqueness, originality, mythology of

of the “region” is capable of, and which it beyond

ians, the latter are just too big and too diverse to

each one of these would have been sufficient –

doubt contains (at this time I will not mention the

be included in one region, considered in the vari-

and indeed is sufficient – for a whole, separate

notion of “Europe”).

ous aspects presented in this essay.

“region.” Within the Ukrainian part of the Car-

es, as carried by these two apparently kindred

The Europe of the regions is not as simple an

Furthermore, the inhabitants of the Carpath-

pathians, we distinguish regions smaller and

affair as it might seem at first glance. After all,

ians do not want to emancipate themselves alto-

more discrete than the Carpathians as a whole,

on the surface of this notion there is a very no-

gether; nobody had imposed upon them – like

including: Pricarpathia, Subcarpathia, Pokut-

ble aspiration to emancipate oneself from atavis-

for example the Balkans were imposed upon –

tya, Hutsulshchina, Boikivshchina, Verkhovy-

tic nationalism, and having done that, to declare

any bad connotations; moreover, they themselves

na-Bukovina, Carpathian Ruthenia …

our support for Europe as a modern suprana-

have not self-imposed their own – either good or

tional creation, while at the same time, to pre-

bad – connotations, they did not develop any com-

serve within this great Europe the possibility of

mon mythology or identity; actually, they are rich

finding a form and a place for quiet seclusion,

enough in numerous separate “identities” and

The region must produce a sense of structure. In

for refuge, for the intimacy of a small homeland,

thus do not feel the need to define one common

principle, this is one of its main determinants.

a private motherland, what the German language

identity. In this sense the Carpathians – probably

calls Heimat which – as it seems – has no coun-

fortunately so – never became like the Balkans.

terparts in other languages.

The euroregion is a wholly different thing:

If we follow the logic of identity, we will find

III

The region is a space where I can determine the passage and meaning of time. This space, therefore – with all the significance of the spe-

an overload of identities in the Carpathians; iden-

cific physical space, and the cultural construct

these centralized structures, brought to life

tities too diverse and above all too original and

behind it – is rather imaginary in character, it

in connection to the quest for greater Europe-

“authentic” to require, firstly, any kind of gen-

is the project and the projection of my internal

an consolidation and cohesion, to the stronger

eralization; secondly, being squeezed into the

mental space.

co-operation of its members, have nothing to do

box of any broader concepts; and thirdly, avoid-

with the real experience of identity, with volun-

ing the conclusion that even considered separate-

gion according to my needs, for my own use and

tary self-determination, or with traditional, even

ly they are sufficiently numerous to meet the ba-

following my imagination, my own. Not only do

if imaginary borders.

sic criteria for the region to be interesting and

I receive therefrom the fundamental values ​​for

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 50

In my imagination, I create and shape my re-

myself – I can also insert the values thereto, and

alleged national-global opposition (let the nation-

The region is one of the last refuges of the illu-

make them reality. This is my place of adding.

al become globalized if it really cannot be helped;

sionary utopia – exiled from everywhere else, to-

In the region I can set up a brewery, restore

but let the region – my region – remain an excep-

day utopias are best preserved and constructed

an old, now forgotten beer recipe, or come up

tion); while the dialectic of exclusivity and isola-

precisely in the region. This is why the region is

with a completely new one, I can set up a region-

tion is also important: the region allows for the

not only a place of refuge, but also a spatium ope-

al restaurant with regional dishes, I can start to

fantasy of “portioning”, of globalization in just the

randi, a way of scale regulation and control.

grow old, forgotten varieties of fruit – or I can

right measure that I wish and that I can bear. The

It is a projection of the utopia of the world

create a start-up, high tech company, open a mu-

region is a complex and powerful machine, a vehi-

which I need and which the community that I call

seum, realize art projects, collect old dresses or

cle, a modern-day modus operandi of my dreams

my own needs.

design my own – either, or, or one and the other;

and desires, my fears, fantasies, visions and uto-

I can collect songs or write my own, I can bury

pias, designed and located outside but ruled, man-

the region, referring to the words: “to govern”,

myself deep in the wilderness and write a nov-

aged and directed by myself from within.

“to manage”, “to direct”, evaporated a long time

el, or blend into the crowd in a traditional church

However, this individual dimension of fanta-

The original semantics behind the concept of

ago. However, it is in that sense – and only in that

procession. These are the territories best main-

sy must be balanced again and harmonized with

sense – that it retained the original significance

tained by the desire for feasibility, Machbarkeit.

the dimension of collective imagination. For “I”

of the verb regere. Sometimes circles come full in

and “me” alone will not create a region, there

the most paradoxical ways.

Now the region is a rather intimate, private territory, where I can (still) feel at home and or-

must be an imaginary community of “we”, of “us”.

ganize the world according to my tastes and my own imagination. I can drive its acceleration and deceleration myself, the way I like it.

The constitutive feature of the territory is the dialectic between invariability, the defense against the changes that are happening too fast, and the plane of the most daring projects. The underlying theme of such a dialectic is the ardent desire to reconcile the contradictions, but the contradictions are so complex and important that they cannot be called anything less than ambivalent: so that the region can simultaneously be a reserve of the immaculate, the permanent, the constant – and an environment of the unlikely modernity, but in a very specific sense: my own modernity, one that is pleasant for me, coveted and dreamt of rather than uninvited and destructive.

Similarly so, with the region’s relation to globalization: apart from the fairly obvious illusion that the region may perhaps become the last refuge from unrestrained openness, where everything remains like it used to be during our childhood, at least two other issues are relevant: the region makes it possible to suppress and level the

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 51

Bliss Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak talks to Roman Rutkowski, architect and critic of architecture, as well as lecturer at the Architecture Department of the Wrocław University of Technology.

Dorota Leśniak-Rychlak: In this issue of

live in times when free-standing buildings are

in which many things are relative or even false,

Autoportret we want to tackle the subject of

worshipped and oversized common space is

starting with materials that pretend to be some

regionalism in architecture, without evoking

venerated, which is very easy to observe, if we

other materials, to the media environment of

nostalgia and the rhetoric of “returning to the

analyse for instance the winners of architec-

the architectural profession that all too often

source”. But before we venture to propose any-

tural prizes. Secondly, our times are on the one

distorts reality, and ending with ideas that are

thing, I would like to ask you for a diagnosis of

hand marked by globalization, and on the other

either silly or remain only fragments of a larger

the present situation in modern architecture.

hand, by individualisation – although the con-

whole, one that we have long forgotten.

temporary world gives architects a lot of opporRoman Rutkowski: There is no easy answer

tunities, and admires them for their originality,

DLR: How does architecture relate to local,

to that, also in the context of what you have sig-

it also, paradoxically, leads to the unification of

regional topics?

nalled. Of course, it would need to be nuanced,

creative attitudes in one single current, from

viewed from various perspectives, from the

which only the most famous architects are able

RR: I simply like modern architecture less and

perspective of Poland, of eastern and western

to break away. Thirdly, contemporary archi-

less these days. And most probably it is not just

Europe, of the world, etc. To generalize, out of

tects design cold and schematic buildings, which

me. I have a simple test: my friends’ Facebook

necessity, with each passing year this diagno-

offer their users next to nothing at close contact

photos. Many of my friends are architects, many

sis is increasingly negative. There is a lot to

– who knows why, we are scared of details and

are architecture students, but a large group of

blame contemporary architecture for. First of

ornament, for instance, although their imple-

people are not involved in the architectural field.

all, with very few exceptions, urban planning

mentation, thanks to the universal digitization

What do they share on their accounts? In addi-

as the construction of cohesive, compact and

of construction techniques, has now been made

tion to the famous, modern buildings, heavily

intimate space is practically non-existent – we

easier than ever. Fourthly, our times are an era

promoted by the architectural media and viewed

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 52

PHOTO BY R. RUTKOWSKI

Half-timbered house in Kiel

by the first two groups, all three generally show

and the convoluted analyses of simple problems,

it used, how many typologies, proportions,

either beautiful landscapes or obvious tourist

while we are constructing an unpleasant mess.

details, ornaments, colour combinations. How

attractions, or charming, old urban structures.

I know we were meant to avoid nostalgia

powerfully it was able to convey in which pre-

Importantly, these are structures made up of

in the context of regional architecture, but

cise part of the world it was located. Contem-

mostly anonymously designed and constructed

I think we cannot escape it altogether. If we

porary architecture, not only that promoted

buildings, which however speak with a unique,

have already arrived at nostalgia, it could be

by thematic journals, by both paper and online

coherent, natural and soft language. These

reduced to the question of pleasure, methinks:

media, in its materiality is less and less often

qualities of uniqueness, coherence, naturalness

we could boil it down to the question whether

suggestive of its location. In the past, buildings

and softness are key here, together making up

the space created by architecture gives us

from different locations were not difficult to

something we might call a very human, even

a specific sense of bliss. In my opinion, modern

tell apart. For example, an Asian house was

humanistic architecture, and certainly regional

architecture very rarely generates such bliss.

evidently different from a European house,

in its expression. It is a paradox of our time that

Quite contrary to the architecture which is at

within Europe it was very easy to distinguish

in the past, no one ever theorized the process of

least a century old, and by definition, regional.

between Portuguese, Bavarian, Norwegian, Italian or English houses, while even among

constructing architecture, or made any recommendations for a good way of building, and yet it

DLR: What kind of language did regional

these, there were many local variations and

used to be more people-friendly than the present

architecture use?

architectural phenomena characteristic of particular, small localities. Today, when

one (though obviously for many of its users life back then was definitely much harder than it is

RR: It is astounding in how many different

entering any website dealing with contempo-

today). Now we are dealing with a completely op-

ways architecture used to speak to us once,

rary architecture, we can do an experiment on

posite relationship: we have the media, the critics

in various places. How many urban rhythms

how far we are able to place the given building

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 53

as in the sense of architectural nuances. And, unfortunately, it is not offering anything of value in return.

DLR: It seems to me that your architectural designs have evolved over the years – here I have to resort to a generalization – from somewhat avant-garde ones towards more traditional ones. Your way of speaking about architecture is also evolving. Where did this change come from?

PHOTO BY R. RUTKOWSKI

RR: I graduated twenty years ago, having com-

Granary in Sistranda, Norway

pleted architecture as a course of study, while as a field of human activity I have been analysing it for twenty-five years. This is a fascinating and dynamic process in which new threads appear every now and then. What is more, sometimes these new threads deny the old. Once upon

in a particular region of the world without

means a constant and invigorating exchange

a time, I found this state of constant transfor-

having to read the captions under the pictures.

of ideas, multi-faceted and multidirectional

mation, not to say, shakiness, to be a cause for

I am sure that in many cases we will not be able

interaction of everyone and everything. It

concern. I did not like the fact that – simultane-

to do so. This failure to recognize will affect

is also said that this is not the first phase of

ously – I was in agreement with opinions that

both large public buildings, where we shall

cultures influencing one another, that in the

were mutually incompatible. As if I did not quite

find, literally, all formal languages, as well as

past there were also other such phases, related

believe in what I was doing, or lacked consisten-

single family houses, predominantly featuring

to wars, political transformations, to coloni-

cy in my work. This transformation took place

roofs, white walls and large glazed surfaces.

zation, to outstanding creators emigrating to

over many years. It was certainly influenced by

other countries, and so forth. However, we

my ongoing contact with several art historians,

DLR: We see a critical image of modern ar-

could venture a proposition that while in the

and also by the way I spend my holidays; the

chitecture emerging. Is that crisis only spe-

past, these influences were, in fact, exceptions;

general process of maturation and the apprecia-

cific to architecture? It is basically a question

now we are dealing with a general tendency,

tion of values ​​other than those held previously,

about the condition of architecture versus

naturally linked to the instantaneous flow of

as well as a myriad of minor incidents such as

the condition of the world – the mechanisms

information, with a reality which is extremely

my accidental purchase of the book Architecture

of globalization and fluid modernity, as well

fluid and indefinable. It may not concern all

without Architects by Bernard Rudofsky. In the

as the changes related to the medium of the

urban-architectural structures currently be-

past, especially during my university studies

internet.

ing built, but in comparison with the past, even

and just after graduation, I was able to arrange

that before the international style of modern-

the entire holiday itinerary according to the

RR: I do not feel capable enough to answer

ism, this is a very clear tendency, perceptible

works of Le Corbusier or Jean Nouvel. At some

the question, thus stated, without a degree

in every part of the world, destroying all local

point, roughly a decade ago, older architecture

of ambiguity. Of course, it is widely believed

traditions in an increasingly ruthless man-

began to dominate my holiday plans. Nowadays,

that we live in a time of globalization, which

ner – in the scale of urban planning, as well

I rarely visit modern buildings, and it often

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 54

happens that I travel without visiting even one.

there are single cities in Poland – like Zamość –

socio-cultural structure. As it seems to me, it

The places I most enjoy visiting these days are

or villages – like Lanckorona – which speak to

was an image of that structure, mirroring it,

historical urban structures, open-air museums,

us with a specific and very beautiful architec-

and strengthening it at the same time. Along

various local architectural phenomena – spatial

tural language, but these are more points than

with regional architecture, there were other

objects and urban layouts, where I perceive

areas. As it is well known, Lower Silesia was

kinds of regionalisms in the structure, such

much more frankness, unpretentiousness,

shaped primarily by the Germans, and to be

as social hierarchies, rituals, clothing, food.

authenticity and beauty than in most contempo-

sure, it speaks to us in many ways, to name but

The structure was certainly on the one hand

rary works.

a few: the language of beautiful 19 -century

building a common, local system of values,

tenement houses, German early modernism,

and on the other hand, it was also limiting

DLR: How did this change materialize in your

the amazing spa architecture, the rural Upper

the individuality of its inhabitants. It was the

projects? And what is regional architecture

Lusatian houses, with a mind-boggling number

backbone, it provided support, but often it

in Poland? – I’m asking in the context of the

of palaces and chateaux.

offered no chance to change for the better –

th

traditions of construction as they relate to Po-

Some time ago I realized that I most liked

land’s history. Where do you see that regional

the creativity of the architects who related their

question about the scale, however, is a very

architecture, when you operate in the urban

buildings to the character and nature of the

good one. We want to escape from nostalgia,

fabric of Wrocław or the region of Lower Sile-

place where they were born, which they ‘soaked

but this cannot quite be done in the case of

sia – when you enter with your designs into

up’ and where they lived, like Eduardo Souto de

regionalism. However, in my opinion, what

another, different architectural tradition?

Moura and Álvaro Siza in Portugal, like Valerio

we can do, is attempt to analyze and under-

which must have been a grim realisation. The

Olgiati in Swiss Grisons, like Aldo Rossi in Italy,

stand that nostalgia, to break it down and

RR: This is a difficult issue. In order for modern

and in his own way, like Oswald Mathias Ungers

even – which in a sense would be dangerous

architectural creativity to relate well to local

in Germany. Their buildings “sit” well, they are

– to artificially generate it. Here the problem

architecture, this local architecture simply

right there, they are at home. Rossi in Modena

of scale comes in. I think that, like any other

must exist, we need to have it, and it must be

or Milan is perfect, Rossi in Maastricht or Fuku-

buildings, the regional buildings of the past

decisive for the architectural expression of

oka – not necessarily so. But the advantage of

can be seen in three independent senses:

the place. In Poland, which has been plagued

the architects I just mentioned is that they have

relating to urbanism, architecture and detail.

by wars, partitions and various influences,

something to refer or relate to, while Polish ar-

And although – obviously – these buildings in

this prerequisite rarely occurs. Of course,

chitects, in my opinion, do not have that luxury.

different locations differ from each other in

regional architecture did not necessarily occur

In my own projects, do I somehow manage to

each of these three senses, even their superfi-

on a national scale (because that was rather

relate to the architectural character of Poland

cial understanding provides an opportunity to

reserved for small states, with a geopolitical

or Lower Silesia? I do not know, maybe some-

draw general conclusions about regionalism of

situation that was stable over centuries, such as

times. First of all, we do not implement as many

architecture. Regional architecture has always

Portugal or Switzerland), but above all in terms

projects as well-known architectural offices

moved from the general to the detailed.

of geographic areas. And not just on a rural

do, and secondly, our context is often horribly

It is necessary to start with urbanism,

scale – although this is what we tend to associate

messy, sloppy and ugly, as a result of too many

which used to represent a certain social struc-

the word ‘regionalism’ with, probably due to

bad processes.

ture and which used to be a team game played in accordance with a small and uncomplicated

the fact that in general, smaller buildings were being built in the past than today – but also on

DLR: How does regional architecture mani-

set of rules. According to these rules, the

an urban scale. I consider myself lucky to live in

fest itself, depending on the scale?

most important buildings, seats of authority, were simply the largest in each of the three

Lower Silesia, which I believe is the only large area in Poland that possesses something special

RR: Regional architecture in the past has

dimensions; while the remaining build-

or typical in the architectural sense. Of course,

always been part of a much larger political and

ings, most often residential and industrial

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 55

(production-related), were the background

beautiful that is possible. In regional architec-

implemented in the architectural practice of

for the first. The same was true of common

ture everything was in its place, like a straight

recent decades?

spaces: the most important ones were also the

answer: a house was a house, a chimney was

largest, clearly contrasted in relation to the

a chimney, a roof was a roof, a wall was a wall,

RR: While urbanism was a three-dimensional

built environment. It can be said that archi-

a window was a window - and each made from

record of the social structure, and architecture

tectural objects not only met the basic needs

specific material used for its intended purpose.

followed this record, it was only the details

of the people, but also – or perhaps, above

You could even say – using today’s vocabulary –

which complemented the architecture that

all – they constructed urban places. What is

that everything was developing in a sustainable

were able to represent the individuality of the

important in the old regional structures is that

way. It is different in our times: as a result of the

building. The detail was always a testament to

in most cases, the predictability generated by

globalization fever and the instantaneous flow

the skill, the craftsmanship, of the builder. The

the rules (repeatability of the urban systems,

of information, we have a lot of ideas for what

handmade execution of that detail, combined

dimensions of the buildings, the materials

a building should be, and what it should be like,

with the natural quality of the materials used,

and colours used) was well-balanced with

often weird ideas; for their construction, we use

gave architecture its human dimension … The

a certain amount of unpredictability (geomet-

a much wider array of materials that are some-

paradox of our time is that before, the execution

ric irregularities) and exceptional elements

times applied, in some way, against their nature.

of the detail was time and work consuming, and

(important buildings and public spaces). This

In regional architecture, it was the craftsman-

therefore expensive, but now – with the use of

created liveable places, appropriately sus-

ship and the cultural tradition that were the

computers, software and specialized machines,

pended between order and chaos, far from the

sources of knowledge about building construc-

the details and ornaments can be made quickly,

unbearable orthogonal rigour and the excess

tion. Regional architecture had no architects

precisely and inexpensively. However, we do not

of common space in modernist design, as well

then, it had craftsmen. There were no media,

do this, as if we were afraid of being accused of

as from today’s annoying messiness.

no publications, no potential fame, so there

a lack of rationality in design. In contrast, we un-

was also no striving to be original, to cross

derstand something of the naturalness of materi-

DLR: Regional architecture, in addition to ar-

imaginary barriers, to force innovation at all

als, but instead of using the originals, we replace

tistic values – because we are also speaking

costs. Only exceptional buildings – in the sense

them with their ersatz, unpleasant to the touch,

about beauty and harmony – often resulted

of their function, and therefore also their size

such as ceramic tiles and laminates pretending to

from a real need, it was extremely pragmat-

and location within the urban structure – were

be wood, stucco instead of real stone, roofing tar

ic. Is the question about contemporary archi-

raised to the rank of structures that were more

cut to measure instead of ceramic tiles, etc.

tecture that is embedded in a place not in fact

than utilitarian. To this day, this is reflected in

the question about a real need? Would it not

the history of architecture that we study – we

DLR: To what extent can regionalism be mod-

be liberating in the present situation to pose

learn about temples, castles and palaces, rather

ern, or to what extent should it be? Is the gap,

a question about the real needs, in each case

than houses. Having said that, also in historical

the opposition necessary: between “modern”

of a new architectural investment project?

housing, the combination of needs, possibilities,

and “regional”, is it inevitable? And if it can

and traditions has produced very interesting

be avoided, then how should that modernity

architectural phenomena over the centuries.

be manifested?

with budgetary and technological possibilities

DLR: As early as the 1980s, Kenneth Framp-

RR: Regionalism has always been modern! But

resulting from the availability of materials and

ton postulated an architectural resistance

the question is a good one; I have been thinking

theclimatic conditions. It was never the result

movement, a kind of rearguard that would

about this myself for a long time now. Because

of overly intellectualized, overthought archi-

build relationships with the place and the

it is so that at some point, rational solutions,

tectural ideas. This combination has always

material, and that would support man.

which are regional in their nature, and

been simple and natural and therefore the most

To what extent are these postulates being

resulting from the needs and the possibilities,

RR: Regional architecture always was a combination of clearly defined, real human needs

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 56

PHOTO BY R. RUTKOWSKI

House roofs in Lanckorona town square

can so deeply penetrate the visual sphere of

represent the times in which it is created – and

RR: Absolutely so! For a long time now I be-

culture, that they begin to live a life of their

here I would add, just as regional architecture

lieve that, whereas until the mid-twentieth

own. We identify with these solutionsso much

had done for centuries. According to Eisen-

century, new ideas were roughly conceived

that although we do not need them anymore,

man, it can do more: modern architecture can

more or less simultaneously in art and archi-

we continue to apply them, in a sense. Why

go even further. It seems to me that these two

tecture, then later, after modernism, it was

do alpine homes in the 21st century have

issues – the need, which becomes culture, and

only after a certain time that transformations

gabled, symmetrical, slightly inclined roofs?

the rational transgressing of certain phenom-

in architecture mirrored the transformations

Are not the Germans or the Swiss capable of

ena – have something in common. But I do not

in the artistic world. But it was also around

making a flat roof using the latest roofing

know how to verbalize that something just yet.

that time when the myth was created – and

techniques? Or a better example: triglyphs on

For if we assume that architecture is to express

how modernist it is! – that all that is new is bet-

the stone tympanum of ancient Greek temples,

the present reality, and that reality is fluid,

ter than what is old. To put it more accurately

derived directly from the earlier construction

difficult to grasp, chaotic, and globalized, then

– every new artwork must contain something

techniques of wooden structures in similar

does it also follow that our cities should look

that nobody else had invented before. More

buildings, were copied in the Roman Empire,

this way?

generally speaking – that every innovation improves our life. Now I know, I believe, that

then in the Renaissance, then in the Baroque and Neoclassical periods. Do we need them?

DLR: What is the role of understanding tra-

this is not true. That searching for novelty,

No. Do we like them? Yes. And we feel that they

dition in architecture? Is it not that, after the

purely for the sake of novelty, is a false path by

are, despite being quite useless after all, simply

discrediting of modernism, we go on living

its very nature – even though it can certainly

part of our culture. Once, Peter Eisenman, an

and creating within some of its paradigm?

be invigorating intellectually.

architect in a certain, distant sense, related to

Are we not still obsessed with innovation

the tropes of regionalism, said in an interview

and originality – although in fundamental

that modern architecture need not necessarily

terms, nothing in our needs has changed?

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 57

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 58

TEXT AND PHOTO: DAMAS GRUSKA

The Curse of Tradition When we were travelling in Romania many years

two would last. When we were returning via Hun-

experience that has largely shaped their cultur-

ago, I noticed a peculiar phenomenon which caught

gary, none of the drivers gave warnings about traf-

al identities. However, there are differences in the

and held my attention during the stressful driv-

fic patrols, and all the villages we passed seemed

creation of the (micro) regional identities, and also

ing on narrow roads – there was always a truck

alike. And not just because they were all located

in ways of dealing with those.

behind us when we passed through villages. The

on the plain. Then why? The first explanation that

truck driver was quite unbothered by speed lim-

came to mind involved the kind of combination of

many cultures, nationalities and religions, which

its, unless the vehicles moving in the opposite di-

television and money that can be a death sentence

created a multicoloured collage of material and

rection were flashing their headlights, which signi-

to local peculiarities. The first element creates as-

non-material regional cultures. Migrations, both

fied a warning that there was a police patrol near-

pirations, the latter creates the possibility of fulfill-

voluntary and forced ones, also contributed to this

by. There was another phenomenon that I first saw

ing those aspirations. It is enough for one of the two

diversity. The last large-scale resettlement took

in the lowland part of the country. Each of the vil-

to be absent, and the character of the landscape will

place after World War II. A further displacement of

lages we passed somehow emphasized their distinc-

be preserved. Then again, things are more com-

the population was caused by urbanization, which

tiveness – with a decoration or another reference

plex, of course.

involved a migration wave mainly from the east of

to local customs. I was thus confronted with two

I wonder what impressions – even if similar-

Also typical of Slovakia is the contact between

the country, and the migration of Romani people.

Modernization and urbanization always have

different social phenomena – on the one hand, with

ly superficial – would be experienced by some-

the collective solidarity of drivers, which assumed

one travelling through Slovakia – a country more

an impact on the cultural heritage of the regions. In

a systematic, “outmoded” – well, even dangerous

akin to Romania in terms of its geographical diver-

Slovakia, these two processes were, however, par-

form, and on the other hand, with the “archaic”

sity, and more like modern Hungary in terms of

ticularly destructive, because they also involved

community spirit of the inhabitants, reflected in lo-

the unity of architecture. All three countries share

other factors. In 1918, the country became part of

cal customs or symbols. I wondered how long the

a common slice of historical, political and economic

Czechoslovakia. As the more rural, traditional,

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 59

conservative and less industrialized part of the lat-

the allocation of abandoned dwellings to new ten-

villages, often in the large panel technology, the

ter, it underwent a great transformation. A large

ants, often from the lowest social strata. Cities have

blueprint model of social realist housing.

part of the Hungarian-speaking elites left, and

also suffered from the absurd construction stan-

were replaced by the “Czech” elites. They played

dards for electrical, fire and transport installations

out reference to local cultural patterns. The whole

a significant part in the country’s modernization

that have virtually prevented the construction of

area of ​​Czechoslovakia was flooded with variants

process in all areas, including urban planning and

streets on a human scale – they were replaced with

and versions of the Šumperák type single family

architecture. The buildings completed during that

absurdly wide arteries. Housing problems were re-

house. Šumperák is a two-storey flat-roofed build-

period bear comparison with the best examples of

solved by building blocks of flats – initially made of

ing whose shape was emphasized by a characteris-

European architecture. At the same time, however,

brick, and then with the technology of large-scale

tic balcony running across the entire width of the

they did not refer to regional traditions, while ur-

prefabricated slabs. The flat in this type of housing

façade. The model project was created at the end

ban designs often interfered in the historical con-

unit was presented as the only hygienic alternative,

of the 1960s at the request of the then director of

text with sheer brutality. In cities, conducting this

offering central heating and hot water, which also

the hospital in Šumperk. It was designed by Josef

kind of spatial policy made it easier for the Czecho-

prompted the former residents of historic build-

Vaněk (1932-1999) as a typical house in the so-called

slovak administration to weaken the urban, mainly

ings to move to high-rise apartments.

Brussels style – that name was used to denote the

The new built environment was created with-

The historic legacy began to fade, and with it, so

modernist trend in architecture and design, popu-

es be more resistant to such far-reaching architec-

did the characteristic regional elements. And when

lar after the great success of Czechoslovakia at the

tural interventions.

they are physically no longer there, it becomes very

Expo in Brussels in 1958.

Hungarian elites, who would in other circumstanc-

In his memoirs, Russian writer Ilja Erenburg

difficult to relate to them or to draw from them.

Many public buildings were also construct-

confesses that Slovakia astounds him. There are no

“Regional memory” also began to disappear in the

ed in villages, among which cultural centres were

cities. Here and there, some square is to be found,

countryside, but here the causes were different. In

the most important. Several thousand of thee were

with houses around, but just a few feet away chick-

rural areas, the predominant construction materi-

built, and only rarelyand very superficially did

ens are scratching and pigs digging. He is on to

als – particularly if improperly preserved – were

they refer to local architectural traditions. On the

something, even if the image he paints is an exag-

such as were prone to easy decay: unburnt brick,

contrary, in principle they intended to oppose such

gerated one. Even this previously existing, weak

straw thatch, shingles. Relatively densely built vil-

traditions, aiming instead at being a symbol of

urban structure disappeared irrevocably in the

lages were often destroyed by fires. In the post-war

a new, better life. The only signs testifying to the in-

era of the “building of socialism”: some of the his-

period, mass urbanization and collectivization of

trinsic need for ornamentation, typical of regional

toric squares were demolished to make way for

agricultural production changed not only the way

culture, were the adornments on the metal fences,

the obligatory store, or, possibly, a cultural centre.

of life, but also the face of the village. Tradition-

or the mosaics made from fragments of mirror sur-

The cities were soon to become overwhelmed by

al rural elites (teachers, parish priests, notaries)

rounding the window frames.

the influx of the rural population, and they were

were replaced by those who espoused new, cultur-

changed too.

ally different ways of thinking. The use of modern

When travelling through the Slovakian country-

The “illumination” and “ventilation” of cities

So what really remained of regional traditions?

materials in buildings that were lavish in terms of

side, we see merely traces of the old local culture

that are considered breeding grounds of sin (as op-

cubic capacity was often informed by a complex of

of construction (specific spatial arrangements, lo-

posed to “morally clean” villages) constituted one

poverty. Paradoxically, in such homes often only

cal materials, characteristic structural elements or

of the aspirations of the architects of our brave

a few rooms were actually used, while the remain-

decorations) or their disastrous transformations

new world. This tendency was not specifically Slo-

ing space served as a “holiday room”, which was

(outbuildings, gable roofs replaced by additional

vak, but it was here, in a fragile framework of poor-

opened only on special occasions. The disappear-

storeys with flat roofs, PCV windows, and so forth).

ly educated urban structures, that it caused great

ance of private construction and commercial busi-

harm. The degradation of historic buildings – pre-

nesses – formerly, the guardians of local hand-

enough to be blessed with an enlightened own-

viously occupied by German, Hungarian, Jewish or

craft traditions – completed the process of destruc-

er have often fallen victim to the overly orthodox

“bourgeois” residents – was further accelerated by

tion. Finally, prefabricated structures entered the

approach of monument conservation authorities,

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 60

On the other hand, buildings that were lucky

who are not always willing to accept solutions that

persist, despite very little support from state insti-

but time will tell which of these will be able to pres-

would be feasible to apply in a changing world and

tutions. It is unthinkable for the Prime Minister to

ent a strong enough proposition. For now, the moun-

that would meet the needs of the users. It is no won-

give a formal speech in the language of the region

tain landscape is being spoiled by various atrocities

der then that traditional buildings are used main-

where he was born, or for the use of local dialect

financed with the aid of European funds. For some

ly for recreational purposes, and not for those for

to be allowed in official contacts in the east of the

time, the peak harvest period for the Tatras was the

which they were created. All these elements – be-

country, or for at least some of the school lessons to

Orthodox Easter, and the influx of tourists from the

ginning with the deliberate and purposeful detach-

be conducted in a local dialect.

East. This aspect of the region’s functioning is cur-

ment from tradition, to the introduction of new ma-

The once ubiquitous folk kitsch used to be a pe-

rently in crisis due to the political situation, but it

terials and technologies, to unsuccessful – because

culiar manifestation of the return to architectur-

can still be revived. Paradoxically, global warming

discontinued – examples of developing regional

al traditions – all these wooden collages set in an

can contribute to the popularity of Slovakia – if the

traditions in architecture, such as the designs by

absolutely alien environment and context. Univer-

mountains remain the only place in this part of Eu-

Dušan Jurkovič – have led, over many decades, to

sal, abstract “folk style” either pushed out or dis-

rope where you can ski on real snow in winter.

the extinction of regional traditions.

torted authentic regional traditions. A relation-

These phenomena obviously did not concern

Whereas today we are witnessing numerous

ship with the mountains is an integral part of tradi-

attempts to return to authentic traditions in archi-

architecture alone. The food industry, based on

tional Slovak culture, unlike the more urban Czech

tecture and construction – by relying on old ma-

the centrally controlled mass production and set

Republic, where all attention is directed towards

terials, ways of building, ornamentation – most of

norms, virtually eliminated regional specialties.

Prague. Although Slovakia is called “the country

the built environment follows a different trend. Al-

Passing for traditional Slovak food are the “ha-

under the Tatra Mountains”, the latter do not cur-

though we are actually seeing a comeback of timber

lušky”, a dish once known only in a small area of ​​

rently play any important role in the consciousness

as a building material – after World War II it was

the country. The number of not even regional, but

of collective identity. The “mythical peaks” are scat-

often poorly maintained, and the wooden architec-

also generally Slovakian products available on the

tered all over the country, from Babia Góra to Sit-

ture was degraded to the status of a shed on allot-

store shelves is decreasing from year to year. Time

no. The Tatras were discovered for tourism by the

ments – sadly, instead of traditional log houses, we

will tell whether current efforts to return to local

Czechs, and in the 19th century it was the Hungar-

see the proliferation of “sandwich” ones. Built here

products, supported by an interest in organic food

ians who were building luxury hotels there (in an

and there, imported framed log houses of timber

production, shall succeed. So far, only winemakers

architectural style which can hardly be called re-

prefab elements are kitschy and detached from their

have been successful.

gional). In turn, Tatra villages received a modern-

context. A thatched roof can sometimes be found

ist appearance due to the buildings constructed on

in the south of the country, but – with a few excep-

lies in the domain of folklore ensembles and folk

the occasion of the World Championship in clas-

tions – there is no continuation of tradition here,

music festivals. They have a function similar to that

sic skiing in 1970. Today’s reception of this event is

only a superficial quotation thereof, in order to pro-

of rural open-air museums. Folk costumes some-

rather negative. The championship was associat-

vide some roadside restaurant with a certificate of

times become the inspiration for fashion, but the

ed with the flooding of the region with kitsch sou-

“folkishness”.

situation in Slovakia is far from that found in some

venirs, including folding highlander huts import-

parts of German-speaking countries, where folk

ed from Poland, and with a drastic increase in pric-

al cultural traditions after so many decades of de-

costumes are an element of everyday clothing. Na-

es. (For the inhabitants of Bratislava, the Austrian

stroying these traditions is not an easy task. Per-

tionality complexes, striving to obliterate cultural

Alps are more attractive than their native Tatras,

haps a real change could be brought about by

heritage and erase if from memory, are manifested

as a result of a better quality of services and price

architecture built with respect for the natural en-

in the rapid abandonment of the mother tongue by

accessibility.) As if that was not enough, the Tatras

vironment. And that, in the context of the construc-

Slovak emigrants – in this particular competition,

are now plundered by the financial pressure of Slo-

tion industry, one of the biggest perpetrators of pol-

we are reportedly breaking all records. It seems

vak investors. In resistance against their actions,

lution, would not be a small thing.

that the only thing that resists obliteration of re-

some local cultural traditions are beginning to re-

gional specificity is the dialects. They stubbornly

vive (including those German, Jewish, and Czech),

The only surviving, living regional tradition

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 61

Finding a living and working source of region-

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

MARTIN VARGA DANIELA MAJZLANOVÁ

Snapshots of Slovak regionalism Through a subjective choice of ground-

a framework for a certain cultural strate-

life and all that is specific to the inhabitants

breaking architectural realizations – from

gy. Pietro Belluschi sees the importance of

of the region. “The regionalism behind which

the beginning of the last century to the

regionalism along similar lines:

I stand can be defined simply as a self-aware

present day – we wish to outline the trans-

Regionalism at its best can not be meas-

local life. Its purpose would be to replace the

formations of Slovak regionalism. Some

ured or imposed in any way, it is not a school

myths and stereotypes about a particular

architects programmatically use this notion

of thought, but simply an act of discernment

region with the knowledge of the life of the

in their practice, but we will also refer to

of what architecture is for a human being in

place where the individual resides and in

the accomplishments of designers who seem

a given sphere, a profound insight into their

which he intends to continue living” 2 – wrote

to have touched on the question of region-

emotional needs that can not be lost, not

Wendell Berry. “The trick is not simply to re-

alism in passing; placing their works in

even in the most practical requirements of

peat the past, but to root oneself in it, so that

this context is merely the result of our own

the design. 1

one can continually reinvent oneself.” 3

interpretation.

The term “regionalism” as Kenneth

Regionalism makes it possible to differentiate, and it emphasizes qualities of local 2

Frampton sees it is not necessarily related to vernacular architecture. Frampton discusses the category of “critical regionalism,” which does not refer to style; instead, it serves as

W. Berry, “The Regional Motive”, [in:] Architectural Regionalism: Collected Writings on Place, Identity,

1

Modernity, and Tradition, ed. V.B. Canizaro, New

P. Belluschi, The Meaning of Regionalism in

York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006, p. 39.

Architecture, “Architectural Recordˮ 1955, vol. 118, no. 6, p. 138.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 62

3

Ibid., p. 51.

Zelená žaba thermal spa in Trenčianske Teplice, designed by Bohuslav Fuchs, 1937

THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERNITY – NATIONAL STYLE

actions” 4 – declared the project’s initiators.

At the threshold of the twentieth century,

tecture and traditional ornaments, and it was

modern national styles emerged in Europe.

developed based on the “folk construction of

They were supposed to provide architectural

Moravian Wallachia and Hungarian Slova-

support for the processes of creating new

kia.” 5 Jurkovič’s architecture, which evokes

states and setting borders between socie-

clear aesthetic and structural rules, has been

ties. Examples of such practices include the

accepted by both rural and urban residents.

Radhošť mountain, where the first Czech

The architect is still seen as the father of

tourist organization Podhorská Jednota

Slovak built culture, even though he was

Radhošť (PJR) built a lookout tower designed

active in the territories of both present-day

by Dušan Jurkovič, which was supposed to

Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Construction of the tower was preceded by a

respond to the expansion of German sports tourism in the Czech mountains. “We cannot allow a German occupation of the area

FUNCTIONALISM AND NATURE

around Radhošt’ – that is the meaning of our

SOURCE: ARCHÍV MESTA TRENČIANSKE TEPLICE

thorough analysis of local vernacular archi-

architecture and nature. 6 The layout of the Taking into account the intricate relation-

building guides the visitors through terrac-

ships between topography, climate, light, and

es and galleries, allowing them to relax in

culture of a given region in desig is not an

the restaurant and enjoy the view from the

easy task. The thermal spa of Zelená žaba in

rooftop terrace.

Trenčianske Teplice, built according to the design of architect Bohuslav Fuchs in 1937, is an example of functional architecture, whose

SOCIALIST CONTENT, NATIONAL FORM

PHOTO BY POLIMEREK / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 3.0

organic quality and originality derive from the unique natural values ​​of the Slovak spa

After World War II, regionalism in Slovakia

resort. The modern health resort building,

– rather like everywhere else in the Eastern

one of the principal achievements of Slovak

Bloc – became a political tool for the creation

modernism, was built during the prosperity

of national identity, which was expressed in

and optimism of the 1930s. Fuchs’s building

the famous saying: “socialist in content, na-

is not inferior in quality to Frank Lloyd

tional in form.” 7 The ideas of functionalism

Wright’s Fallingwater house in Pennsylva-

that were supposed to unify the communist

nia. Thermal waters are pumped into the

states by means of uniform architectural

pool, and the building’s silhouette at the edge

expression were combined with the theme

of the forest forms a harmonious fusion of

of national identity by means of introducing ornaments inspired by folk culture and

4

5

M. Dulla, H. Moravčíková, Architektúra Slovenska

6

M. Dulla, H. Moravčíková, op. cit., p. 136.

v 20. Storočí, Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovart,

7

C. Popescu, “Teasing identity: Narratives of the

2002, p. 40.

Communist bloc”, Journal of Architectural and

Ibid.

Town-Planning Theory 2014, vol. 48, no. 1–2, p. 76.

Observation tower, Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, designed

by Dušan Jurkovič, 1896, constructed in: 2010–2011

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 63

most distinctive feature of the compound is

countryside; he invited sculptor Vladimír

the student dormitory building, equipped

Kompánek to work with him on the project.

with a tower, pseudo-Renaissance attic, and

Together they visited the Slovak province

figurative low reliefs.

and analysed the poetics of traditional

PHOTO BY MIDNIGHT RUNNER/ WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 4.0

wooden villages. 9 The approach to the crema-

THE SPIRITUALITY OF MODERNISM

torium on the outskirts of the town is via a narrow, deliberately inconvenient path that overlooks a hill covered with oaks and pines.

Ferdinand Milučky, one of the most promi-

Spatial divisions of the building distinguish

nent Slovak modernists, is the author of the

the central, partly glazed part, in which

crematorium building in Bratislava, which

funeral services take place.

was created in 1969. The form of the crema-

LOCAL MATERIALITY

torium – intended to symbolize the ideals of an atheist society – stands out against the background of other achievements of

The 1970s saw a greater momentum and

twentieth-century Slovak architecture. The

creative freedom than before; as evidenced

architect has managed to create a modernist

for example by a complex in Bratislava

building with a heavy emotional and sym-

consisting of the Prior department store

bolic load, yet harmoniously integrated into

and Kyjev hotel, designed by Ivan Matušík

the natural environment. It was architect

in 1969. The project was selected in a com-

Renaissance art into the architecture. In its

Vladimír Fašanga who found the location

petition and its completion was a necessary

Mladá garda in

superficiality, t he formal interpretation of

for the construction of the crematorium – a

consequence of the standardization pro-

Bratislava, designed

regional differences, traditions and orna-

piece of land behind an old quarry on the

cess taking place in Czechoslovakia at the

by Emil Belluš, 1954

ments served to convey a shallow political

western slope of the Little Carpathians near

time. “Banks were symbols of the capitalist

content. A representative project of the

8

the village of Lamač. When setting the solid

economy, and department stores became

period is the Mladá garda student residence

of the building on top of the hill, Milučký

something of a spatial poster for a raised

complex in Bratislava, designed in 1954 by

was inspired by the landscape of the Slovak

standard of living in socialist countries. We

Student Dormitory

are learning a difficult skill of meeting di-

Emil Belluš, one of the most important Slovak architects of the twentieth century. The

8

verse social needs and growing expectations

Ibid., p. 190.

PHOTO BY TATOS69/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY-SA 4.0

The Crematorium in Bratislava, designed

by Ferdinand Milučky, 1969

for quality and beauty. These buildings have become the architectural ornaments of our cities.” 10 Matušik managed to create a unique building complex, which put Bratislava on the architectural map of Europe. The value of this work is expressed primarily in the details and material used. Its characteristic feature is the travertine cladding, covering

9

Ibid.

10 J. Veber, Soudobá architekura ČSSR, Praha: Nakladatelství Panorama, 1980, p. 75.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 64

Fragment of the façade of Prior department store and Kyjev hotel complex in Bratislava, designed by Ivan Matušík, 1969

right answers to the new social aspirations.

of the Jews to this day. One of the brightest

In residential architecture this has led to the

pages in the history of the Jewish presence

massive construction of detached hous-

in the city is the life and work of the famous

es – mostly low quality catalogue homes,

scholar Chatam Sofer (1762-1839), who was

devoid of any deeper reflection upon their

buried in Bratislava. The Jewish cemetery on

surroundings. The achievement of political

the banks of the Danube was truncated due

independence by Slovakia has also contribut-

to the regulation of the river embankment

ed to the destabilization of the architectural

and the construction of a tramline. Ultimate-

sector. There was a tendency among Slovak

ly, only twenty-three tombs survived under-

architects to imitate foreign patterns, while

ground, and thet were covered with concrete

regionalism was pushed somewhere to the

slabs before 1999. It was there in that spot,

edge of their concerns – even though some

in 2002, that Chatam Sofer’s monument was

interesting examples from that period would

completed, designed by Martin Kvasnica.

still qualify.

The main element of the monument is a ramp

PHOTO BY M. VARGA

With the newly acquired identity and

leading to a black, roof-less rectangle, built

independence, questions have emerged

from reinforced concrete. In the under-

about the legitimacy of regionalism in the

ground part of the monument, there is an

globalized world and its relation to cultural,

exhibition space incorporating the remains

social, technical, economic and environmen-

of the original cemetery.

tal spheres. Nurturing cultural heritage in

was excavated in Dreveník in Spiss, and is

those already developed. 11 Today’s Slovak

considered to be a typical local material. The

culture, understood as a set of values, is no

quarry from which it was acquired is closed

longer attributed to a particular geograph-

today – an urban legend claims that the

ical territory; instead, it is part of a global

rocks, which used to comprise it, were moved

network for the exchange of information and

to the centre of Bratislava.

experience.

THE CRISIS OF REGIONALISM

HISTORY OF THE PLACE

The political breakthrough of 1989 opened

The Chatam Sofer Memorial in Bratislava,

the borders and brought new architectural

which commemorates the history of Jewish

patterns. The architects’ milieu did not stand

culture within the confines of today’s Slova-

a chance against the dynamics of these pro-

kia, is an example of a project realized in a

cesses. Society, discouraged against the col-

unique historical context. The history of the

lective model of living, suddenly gained the

Slovak capital is intertwined with the history

possibility of realizing their long-standing dreams of an individual home. Architects, thus far accustomed to working on largescale projects, have had trouble finding the

11

P. Ricoeur, “Universal Civilization and National Cultures”, [in:] Architectural Regionalism, op. cit., p. 43.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 65

PHOTO BY JOZEF KOTULIČ / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY 3.0

both independent developing countries and

tam Sofer Memorial in Bratislava, designed by Martin Kvasnica, 2002

a globalized world is a problem that affects the facades. The stone used to make them

A view of the Cha-

LOCAL VALUES, ANEW

Villa G. in Bratislava, designed by Kusý-Paňák, 2012

If we wish to create a living culture, we have to reinvent our creative practice. Truly creative culture is only able to survive when it collides with other civilizations.

“The human truth lies in the process of civilizations meeting one another, between all those elements that are most vivid and PHOTO BY KUSÝ-PAŇÁK

creative within them.” 12 Key manifestations of culture are spontaneous in character; they take tradition into account; they influence the change of social attitudes both towards one’s fellow citizens and towards newcomers.

And yet: is today’s culture coherent? There production of architecture should result in

by columns, and its facade, which in folk con-

a better quality of construction. However,

struction is called gánok. However, to create

as Henrieta Moravčíková noted, “all these

their entrance, somewhere between a clas-

facts only serve to demonstrate that there is

sical colonnade and a folk porch, architects

no direct connection between the number of

used modern means of expression.” 14 Similar

buildings erected, the production, and the ar-

inspirations were behind other structures de-

chitecture. It is not the economic indicators

signed by the same studio: the Slovak embassy

but a general cultural atmosphere that is the

building in Berlin (2010) or the architect Pavol

condition for creating quality architecture.” 13

Paňak’s office in Čachtice (2010). 15

PHOTO BY KUSÝ-PAŇÁK

What is the condition of contemporary Slo-

tecture is evident therein, and it can play an important role in developing a version of reexample of such a creative approach can be

that reflect the mental state of the country

found in the works by the Kusý-Paňák studio,

and the quality of architecture. Over the last

such as Villa G. The project is about creating

decade, Slovakia has caught up with the resr

new spatial, material and functional solutions

of Europe both at the economic level and in

based on the most valuable elements that can

terms of the local designers getting involved

be found in folk architecture. “The name of

in the international architectural discourse.

the villa refers to the built-up space supported

Improved economic indicators and increased 13 H. Moravčíková, Nová Slovenská architektúra, 12 B. Wendell, op. cit., p. 52.

Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovart, 2009, p. 8.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 66

PHOTO BY KUSÝ-PAŇÁK

are many processes and social phenomena

Paňák, 2010

15 Ibid.

values. The influence of vernacular archi-

Paňák in Čachtice, designed by Kusý-

14 Ibid., p. 28.

Efforts are being made to re-invent local

architect Pavol

Paňák architect’s studio in Čachtice,

vak architecture today?

gionalism, liberated from sentimentality. An

The studio of the

Interior of the Pavol

designed by Proký Kůlý Paňák, 2010

Chapel of the Resurrection (Kaplnka vzkriesenia) in Poprad-Kvetnica, designed by Samuel Netočny, 2015

NEW WAVE The evaluation of Slovakia’s built culture depends on whether we only take into account the best designs in modern Slovak architecture, or we also include the production of the average Slovak citizen-investor-builder. It is the latter that represents the majority of the new built environment in Slovakia, and that is probably the most reliable indicator of the level of cultural development of the state.

Why does a young architect create a work that is so far removed from the commercial realm, a work that has the ambition to tell the story of the Calvary? Why does he decide to bring all of his creative energy back to Poprad – the energy he had accumulated, while travelling and studying all over the world? Designed in 2015 by the young architect Samuel Netočny, the chapel of the Resurrection (Kaplnka vzkriesenia) in Poprad-Kvetnica brings the promise of a better future. The architect gained much experience, studying contextual architecture in Austria, which inspired him to develop local traditions without, however, his design method “locatism”. There is hope in it for the development of Slovak architecture, for it to become one of the important voices within European architecture. Perhaps it is a step towards re-inventing regionalism in the purest form, a new wave of Slovak architec-

SOURCE: AUTHORS’ ARCHIVES

literally repeating historical forms. He called

ture; a continuation of the search for local values, ​​initiated by Jurkovič.

come from the bottom-up, from the aware

a timeless architecture integrated into the

and educated middle class. We need to start

environment, regardless of the currently

munism, we are still waiting for any kind of

again, learning from small-scale projects,

prevailing fashions or styles. The more

support for architecture and construction

reconstructions and competition designs.

persistent we are in our quest to rediscover

on the part of Slovak state authorities, while

The buildings we briefly discussed in this

cultural values, the more unique the overall

the public exerts no pressure in demanding

outline show that a sensitive approach to

picture of Slovak architecture will be.

improved quality of the buildings being con-

the environment, topography, local crafts-

structed. It makes us think that change must

manship and regional specificity can create

Twenty-eight years after the fall of com-

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 67

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

TEXT AND PHOTOS: KAMILA TWARDOWSKA

The Form of the Face of the Earth The church at Olcza in Zakopane versus the Cracovian school of regionalism Each whole makes a form and every form is

Olcza is a district of Zakopane, situated away

priests of the Missionary Order, designed be-

a whole.

from the touristy centre of that highland town.

tween 1977-1981 by a married couple of Crakov-

Form is not a sum of its parts, it is more

It does not stand out as anything special amidst

ian architects, Tadeusz Gawłowski and Maria

than that.

the typical built environment found in the

Teresa Lisowska-Gawłowska, is a unique build-

Form depends on the relationships between

Podhale region. Homes and hotels with high,

ing, one of the most interesting, noteworthy,

the parts and the whole.

multicoloured roofs and architectural details

and consistent examples of regionalism in Pol-

Form is a unity of many variables.

that often look like a mockery of Witkiewicz’s

ish architecture, created as a result of not one,

The form, once it becomes a part of a larg-

Zakopane Style, are chaotically scattered all

but several interwoven traditions.

er whole, loses its individuality in favour of

over the hills, as if they have spilled out of a big

the whole.

sack. It is also typical that the church occupies

The form depends on the whole in which it is

an important place within the space of Olcza.

to appear.

It is not only an important place for the local

The form, when changing, will change the

community, but also an attraction on the map

The relationship between Kraków’s architec-

whole of which it is part, and it will change

of religious tourism, the latter being quite pop-

tural milieu and the Podhale region is one

all the other parts which make up that whole.

ular in the Podhale region. Unfortunately, in

that has made a strong impression on both

the cacophony of the surrounding space, the

of their cultural identities. It has been cul-

following fact gets overlooked: namely, that the

tivated since the middle of the 19th century,

church at Olcza, or the Marian shrine of the

when Tytus Chałubiński began popularizing

Juliusz Żórawski O budowie formy architektonicznej, 1962

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 69

Olcza seen from the north

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN KRAKÓW AND ZAKOPANE

The church seen from the side of the

highland tourism and the health-enhancing

geographically based: for the inhabitants of

socialist realism in 1949. Regionalism, which

parish buildings at

qualities of the Zakopane climate. The way

Kraków, the Tatra Mountains provide a natu-

allowed for a free dialogue with tradition and

Piszczory street

of thinking about the Podhale region, typi-

ral escape from city life, while Kraków is the

which situated itself on the margins of major

cal for the Młoda Polska movement, and root-

nearest large urban and academic centre ac-

political tensions, became one of the two pop-

ed in the romantic tradition of thinking about

cessible to the dwellers of Podhale. Therefore

ular ways of escaping the doctrine. The other

Podhale and its inhabitants, mythologizing

it is not surprising that the design of region-

was industrial architecture – pragmatic, in its

(and in many instances, also orientalizing) the

al architecture, generally understood in this

very nature devoid of decoration, and able to

wild nature of the Tatra mountains and the

case as highland architecture, played an im-

draw the most from the achievements of pre-

strength of the highlander’s (góral) character,

portant role in the teaching programs and

war functionalism. Both of these paths inter-

has survived – albeit gradually diluted – un-

curricula of the Kraków Polytechnic, estab-

twined, creating a theoretical and formal ba-

til the present day. The relationship between

lished in 1945. Interest in regionalism was

sis for the creation of the Gawłowskis’ church

Kraków and Podhale is undoubtedly mostly

further enhanced by the proclamation of

in Zakopane.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 70

THE KRAKÓW POLYTECHNIC In 1945, Adolf Szyszko-Bohusz, the founding

project in Zakopane, it was not the greatest in-

did, though – always trying to present his wife’s

fluence on the shaping of Tadeusz and Teresa

contribution to the design process fairly – he

Gawłowskis’ creative attitude.

published self-commentaries on their joint work.

Associated with the Academy of Fine Arts in

One should assume, however, that they both put

(initially operating in affiliation with the the

Kraków, Teresa Lisowska-Gawłowska, an archi-

themselves in the same place on the map of var-

Mining Academy), invited to join him in set-

tect by education, remained at her husband’s side

ious traditions of architectural thinking. Tade-

ting it up, among others, two Kraków-born

in a manner typical of her time – as an invisible

usz Gawłowski was a student, a collaborator, but

graduates of the Warsaw Polytechnic: his for-

assistant – and she often dealt with interior de-

also an “heir” of Juliusz Żórawski, both at the in-

mer pupil from the time when he taught ar-

sign, perceived back then (and sometimes even

tellectual and design, and institutional level. Af-

chitecture at the Kraków Academy of Fine

today) as a “feminine domain”. This was also the

ter the death of Bohdan Lisowski, who had been

Arts, Włodzimierz Gruszczyński and Ju-

case with the church at Olcza. She hardly ever

Żórawski’s successor as the head of the Indus-

Surfaces of

liusz Żórawski, an eminent modernist, who in

wrote about architecture. Tadeusz Gawłowski

trial Design Department, (he was also Teresa’s

roof-walls

father of Kraków’s Faculty of Architecture

the same year completed his doctorate, written under the supervision of Władysław Tatarkiewicz, titled O budowie formy architektonicznej [On the construction of the architectural form] 1 . The latter dissertation, published almost two decades later, today enjoys the status of a canonical work in the theory of architecture of the twentieth century, introducing an in-depth, multithreaded psychological perspective into the design field.

Although Szyszko-Bohusz never counted himself among the aficionados of the Zakopane Style, his pietistic attitude towards the architectural context (let us remember that the Faculty of Architecture was originally located on the Wawel Castle hill) was a lesson for Gruszczyński; a lesson that made a mark that remained apparent throughout his further professional life. Gruszczyński learned contextualism, based on an impression of space, over the next few decades – from 1956 he was the head of the Department of Designing in Landscape, later renamed the Department of Regional Architecture Design. Although Gruszczyński’s activity was one of the important sources of inspiration for the church

1

J. Żórawski, O budowie formy architektonicznej, Warszawa: Arkady, 1962.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 71

Olcza hills the observer is looking from. Seeing

in the future. “Architecture” – Żórawski wrote –

the building from the west, with the Tatra Moun-

“works only by adding or subtracting parts from

tains behind us, and some distant, scattered

previously given wholes” 2 . This “previously giv-

buildings in front of us, our attention is drawn

en whole”, consisting of elements belonging both

to the fact that the work of the Gawłowskis, de-

to the world of nature and culture, is a landscape,

spite its bulk and cubic capacity incomparable

which he called the mother-form. The architect

with any other structure in the vicinity, and de-

should listen to what the mother has to say to him,

spite its prominent location on the slope, does

and respond to her with the form of his architec-

not overwhelm the neighbourhood. It is an ad-

tural design. Clearly, the Gawłowskis listened to

ditional yet a matching element, reminiscent of

the “mother-Olcza” carefully and attentively.

a single stone lying among gravel. The incorporation of the temple into the countryside’s built

2

J.T. Gawłowski, W stronę piękna architektury –

environment was one of the important assump-

dążenia, drogi, etapy, [in:] Sztuka piękna – architek-

tions of the design, and this effect was achieved

tura. Sesja Naukowa z okazji Jubileuszu Profesora J.

through the fragmentation of the solid into smaller segments, corresponding to the scale of

Tadeusza Gawłowskiego, Kraków: PK and PAN, 1997, p. 10.

the surrounding houses, and through the preservation of the traditional angle of sloping “roofwalls”. When we find ourselves in the north, we see that the dynamic and “chopped up” silhouette Situational plan of

of the church, in whose lines the ridges deviate

the church, after:

brother, and therefore Tadeusz Gawłowski’s

from the straight horizon, renders the direction-

J. T. Gawłowski,

brother-in-law), Gawłowski himself took over the

al tensions of the Tatras. It looks like yet another

O twórczym

unit in 1992. He repeatedly stated that his goal as

mountain, another element of the landscape.

poszukiwaniu współczesnej

an educator – in addition to adhering to the Vit-

Thus built, the architectural form, fragment-

koncepcji architektury

ruvian triad – was to teach design in harmony

ed, and organic, constitutes a complete realiza-

sakralnej w Polsce (na

with his master’s concepts. He also professed and

tion of the “unconstrained form” advocated by

przykładzie kościoła

followed the same credo as a designer. Hence, the

Żórawski for the environment of highly valu-

church in Zakopane can be considered the mate-

able natural qualities, which allows for the fea-

i Budownictwo” 1991,

rialization of Żórawski’s theory – especially his

tures ​​of nature to be emphasized and extracted,

Issue 4–5, p. 13.

concept of “virtuous continuation” and the shap-

always presenting free, unconstrained forms.

ing of “cohesive” or “unconstrained” forms de-

The aim of the “unconstrained form”, unlike the

pending on contextual conditions – in the ar-

“cohesive form” (compact, strong, unambiguous,

chitectural practice grounded in empirical

monumental, towering over the environment),

experience.

is – to use the language of painting – to remain

w Zakopanem-Olczy), “Inżynieria

as a figure merged into the background, or – in

UNCONSTRAINED FORM

the language of music – to be one of the humble choristers instead of a soloist. What is more, the

Looking at the church from a distance, you can

breaking up and vagueness of the form not only

see the different ways in which it was embedded

allowed it to be adapted to the surrounding con-

into the landscape, depending on which of the

ditions, but also meant a willingness to change

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 72

Plan of the church’s ground floor, after: J. T. Gawłowski, O twórczym poszukiwaniu współczesnej koncepcji architektury sakralnej w Polsce (na przykładzie kościoła w Zakopanem-Olczy), “Inżynieria i Budownictwo” 1991, Issue 4–5, p. 134.

VIRTUOUS CONTINUATION

Longitudinal section

applied terminology) of Żórawski’s thought. It

Le Corbusier, saying that “architectural activi-

is this “virtuous continuation”, based on find-

ty consists in adding parts to an already exist-

J. T. Gawłowski,

In addition to the aspect of formal inclusion in

ing the basic general guideline of an architec-

ing whole.” He maintained that the use of Le

O twórczym poszuki-

the character of the environment, it is equally

tural prototype, that was to equip the form

Corbusier’s Modulor as the basic metric sys-

important that the temple is placed within the

with the content, and build its symbolic lay-

tem in the design was appropriate for the Zako-

local architectural tradition, so markedly char-

er – necessary in the case of a church because

pane context, because a similar system, based

(na przykładzie ko-

acteristic in the case of Podhale. The body of

of the psychological and emotional needs of

on the dimensions of the human body: feet and

ścioła w Zakopanem-

the church in Zakopane is a development of the

its users. Losing this guiding principle, aban-

elbows, is typical for traditional folk struc-

idea realized by the Gawłowskis earlier on in

doning a certain basic, original local quality in

tures therein. He combined the principles of

the design for a much smaller parish church in

a derivative form, is the cardinal error of an

proportions promoted by the aforementioned

the village of Rudy-Rysie, designed in 1965 and

architect who wishes to be faithful to the prin-

Włodzimierz Gruszczyński with the “silver

erected in 1966-1976. The echoes of the solu-

ciple of “virtuous continuity”.

division” found in the traditional, single-tow-

3

tions developed by Tadeusz Gawłowski in the

From a distance, the church designed by

ered timber churches of the Podhale region.

designs for thermal power plants in southern

the Gawłowskis manifests its “Zakopane quali-

The layout of the temple at Olcza, on the oth-

Poland are also resonant. In spite of this, the

ties” in the proportions of the body and the an-

er hand, departs from the long-standing local

“Zakopane character” of the church at Olcza re-

gles of the roof, taken from the traditional ar-

tradition. We are dealing with a single-space,

mains clear, even though it is based on impres-

chitecture of the Podhale area, and up close,

focusing interior, without any side aisles or

sions and perceptions rather than anything

with the details and materials used. Dialogue

chapels, but with shallow annexes, creating

else. The architect maintained that the creative

with the locality has been carried out here on

space for individual prayer. It is the most pop-

continuation of cultural traditions was the best

several levels, starting with the interweaving

ular pattern in Polish religious architecture

way of nurturing the quality of contemporary

of the “old” folk tradition with the “new tradi-

sacred architecture, which of course also con-

tion” – of modernism, ending with postmodern

stituted a continuation (including at the level of

quotations. The architect repeatedly quoted

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 73

3

J. Żórawski, O budowie formy architektonicznej..., p. 122.

of the church, after:

waniu współczesnej koncepcji architektury sakralnej w Polsce

-Olczy), “Inżynieria i Budownictwo” 1991, Issue 4–5, p. 1345

Main aisle of the church. Western side with the main entrance and pipe organ

of the 1970s and ‘80s. The architects entrusted the casting of the concrete skeleton of the church (allowing for so much span in the interior space) and the execution of the timber structure to local carpenters from the village of Piekielnik, pre-adapting the project to their limited technological possibilities and to the manner of erecting churches, typical of the 1980s – that is, using the “household” method. The church was equipped with gravitational ventilation, operating on a similar principle as the cooling towers previously designed by Gawłowski for a power plant, accelerating the exchange of air. Highly refined church acoustics also required thoughtful and clever solutions, taking into account the omni-directional propagation of sound: from the altar in the chancel, from the choir and the pipe organ, and from the congregation gathered within the space of the main aisle.

Against the background of these solutions, which creatively transformed the architectural tradition of the region, and at the level of artistic expression that operated in simple modernist forms, there is another, very distinctive and very literal “Zakopane-esque” citation, namely the so-called “dźwierza”: the decorative, ornamental doorway, with metal rivets and forged door handles. They lead into the temple and enclose the altar wall, building the narrative symbolic system of the church as an intermediate place between the temporal and the eternal; at the same time, the architects are thereby paying tribute to the traditional regional craftsmanship and introducing a kind of link to the past. Located in the vestibule of the church, the original, historic door from the Olcza area acts as a “witness of history” and constitutes the architectural form (as developed by the Gawłowskis) as an extension of tradition.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 74 Main aisle of the church.

View of the north wall with the “Hosanna”

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 75

Main aisle of the church. The altar wall with gates, carved stations of the cross, and original furniture

THE FREEDOM OF FORMING (SIC!) The Gawłowskis were designing in an intelligent way, consciously and with premeditation, as well as – very importantly – with exceptional artistic sensitivity. Work on each of their projects was preceded by the so-called “abstracts” – miniature abstract sculpture or graphic forms, which Teresa Gawłowska introduced to her teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. The idea of form-shaping, contained in these abstracts, provided a formal guideline for the whole further design process, being another instance of “virtuous continuation” – not of the architectural tradition or the urban context, but of the first thought and gesture of the designer. Initiated at the “abstraction stage”, the process of integrating the various arts was to culminate in the creation of a building in which the architecture, sculptural in its form, as well as the wall paintings, stained glass windows, architectural details and fittings would be merged together, coherent and unbroken – as in the Gesamtkunstwerk idea. The project assumed that the “roof-walls” of the main aisle would not be covered in plaster, and the pattern of imprinted formwork boards would remain on their concrete surface – as a tactile testament to the architecture originating from nature. Rather than the white paint that we see today, they were to be covered with paintings executed directly on raw concrete, composed between the horizontal divisions of the planes (which Teresa Gawłowska used to call “the Hosanna”) and designed by her. They were never realized, and neither were the stained glass windows designed by the architect. Also never completed were the door frameworks intended to constitute a free-standing arcade in front of the main entrance to the church.

During the implementation, some other changes were also introduced to the project – inter alia, to the form of the confessionals, benches for the

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 76

Main entrance to the church and a view of the Tatra mountains

congregation, the mensa, the tabernacle, the pul-

originally designed – as in Rudy-Rysie – in the

and information boards, while its interior is being

pit, the pipe organ, the railings, and the colour of

pattern of a honeycomb, constituting a “neutral

overcrowded – despite visible efforts to preserve

wood cladding – compared to those originally de-

raster” rather than a “pseudocomposition”.

some semblance of stylistic coherence – with fur-

The Missionary Church in Zakopane has been

ther furnishings and decorations. The fact that the

ki wrote, without trying to hide his regret, the

repeatedly transformed and repaired over a pe-

church architecture passes the test of time regard-

most painful departure from the original project

riod of almost forty years, and each such repair

less is the best testimony to the power of its form.

in the case of the church at Olcza was the change

project has robbed it of some aspect of its original

in the divisions of the windows, which were

shape. Today it is surrounded by a car park, statues

signed by the architects. However, as Gawłows-

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 78

Embassy of the People’s Republic of Poland in New Delhi under construction, designed by Witold Cęckiewicz, Stanisław Deńko, 1975–1978

The Embassy

SOURCE: STANISŁAW DEŃKO’S ARCHIVE

Marta Karpińska and Michał Wiśniewski talk to Stanisław Deńko – architect, lecturer, winner of the honorary award of the SARP Polish Architects’ Association.

Marta Karpińska: The Embassy in New Delhi, ​​

in another architectural competition, for a com-

greatly influenced by Le Corbusier’s architec-

which you co-authored with Professor Witold

plex of government buildings in Dar es Salaam,

ture in Chandigarh, as a symbol of thought that

Cęckiewicz, is one of the most interesting exam-

the capital of Tanzania. Among the jury of that

revolutionized modernism. Although Le Corbus-

ples of Polish architecture of the 20th century.

competition was Yoshinobu Ashihara, Japanese

ier’s design was compromised by a faulty execu-

We would like to talk about this project in the

author of the book Exterior Design in Architec-

tion,it was still a very valuable source of inspira-

context of the regionalism issue – we are inter-

ture, first published in English in 1970. We man-

tion. On our first trip to India we visited the com-

ested in the realization of a modernist design,

aged to get hold of that book, and in fact we con-

plex of government buildings, back then already

as created by a team of Polish architects and en-

tinue to use it even today. Ashihara’s book is an

abandoned by its users. I did not know much

gineers in collaboration with Indian designers

analysis of space that is very helpful in the de-

about Chandigarh until twenty years after we de-

and contractors; we are curious to know how

sign process – in my opinion, the reading of it en-

signed the embassy in New Delhi – it turned out

local conditions influenced the final outcome.

abled us to obtain an honourable mention in that

that the entire city was flourishing, except for the

Let us start from the beginning – from your

first competition. And it was not an easy feat –

government buildings, because the ultimate plan

preparations to enter the competition.

as far as I can remember our project was one of

to move the government headquarters to the Pun-

the top fifteen, whittled down from a hundred

jab, to a unit designed by Le Corbusier, had failed.

SD: At that time Google search did not exist, and

and thirty submissions. Ashihara emphasized

During my stay there, these buildings were oc-

so our main source of information was the liter-

the aspects that needed to be considered – the cli-

cupied by the army – I remember a funny scene

ature available in the People’s Republic of Poland

mate, the local context, the cultural conditions.

in front of the house of the would-be parliament:

(PRL). By a lucky coincidence, before the compe-

This knowledge was very useful to us, and it was

a soldier, half-stripped, sitting in a chair in front

tition for the design of the embassy in New Delhi,

precisely those factors specific to the place that

of the building in scorching heat, having his hair

I took part, together with Krzysztof Lenartowicz,

we took into account in our work. We were also

cut by a barber.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 79

SOURCE: STANISŁAW DEŃKO’S ARCHIVE

Elevation of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Poland in New Delhi – exhibit presented in the architectural competition, designed by Witold Cęckiewicz, Stanisław Deńko, 1975

MK: So at the stage of the competition design,

SD: No. The competition guidelines only con-

elements that should be present in such a build-

you only knew of Chandigarh from published

cerned a functional program, which, incidental-

ing. It was difficult to apply our native architec-

materials?

ly, was very extensive: we had to incorporate the

ture in this geographical context, in fact, it would

commercial attache’s office, a hotel, a residential

be completely unreasonable to try. We were

SD: Yes, the knowledge of this architecture –

area, a school together with a multipurpose con-

more inclined to show that we were catching up

of the kind of modernism which takes into ac-

ference room, and the ambassador’s residence. It

with the civilized world in terms of using the lat-

count climate-related issues – was only avail-

can be said that the embassy building was more

est technologies available in the 1970s. We want-

able to us, at that time, by way of publications.

of an urban complex than a single building.

ed the architecture – the slim columns support-

And when it comes to designing for hot climates,

ing the raised structure – to represent the high

there are two factors to consider: first, the tem-

MK: And did you manage to get hold of any lit-

level of our technological advancement. The con-

perature and the sunlight exposure, and sec-

erature on New Delhi?

crete used to build the embassy was really well cast – at that time, we would not have been able

ondly, the ventilation, ways of ventilating the interior. It was precisely these factors that led to

SD: Only papers devoted to the accomplishments

to have done it so well within Poland, but there in

our decision to raise the main part of the embas-

of Edward Lutyens, author of the New Delhi ur-

India, we could, and we did. The very fact of using

sy building above the ground level – thus creat-

ban planning concept, implemented as of the be-

the raw, “exposed” concrete was a great accom-

ing a shaded zone, while also facilitating the ven-

ginning of 1912. Nevertheless, we were looking

plishment, inspired by what Le Corbusier did in

tilation of the area. The plot was very tight, and

at it through the prism of a critical evaluation of

Chandigarh. All those modern elements that we

freeing up the space of the ground floor, we were

English imperial architecture. We thought that

used – the large-area glazing, the double roof –

also able to use it for representative purposes,

the embassy should aim not so much at showing

were intended to testify to our awareness of mo-

and we managed to fit in parking spaces, locat-

the strength of our country, but instead, it should

dernity, technological possibilities, and local fac-

ed in shaded areas. This particular design deci-

strive to represent Polish culture.

tors. The specific features of the culture of our own country, on the other hand, could be present-

sion was very important, and its correctness was evident only on site, during our first visit to New

Michał Wiśniewski: And how did the inves-

ed in the interiors, through the design of their dé-

Delhi, when we also had a chance to visit such

tor – that is, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of

cor, of such equipment and furnishings as the cof-

historical architectural sites as the 16th-century

the People’s Republic of Poland – define the re-

fered ceiling in the residence of the ambassador,

Fatehpur Sikri. The characteristic feature of this

quirements in regard to the form of the build-

inspired by the Wawel (royal castle in Krakow)

architecture was the open ground floor area, the

ing? Was there an emphasis on conveying spe-

chambers , or furniture design.

arcades, the interweaving of spaces.

cific ideological content?

MK: Was the information on the climate

SD: We had complete freedom in developing the

design for the embassy in the archives of the

in New Delhi a part of the terms of the

building’s architecture. However, the question re-

Cracow University of Technology – and we

competition?

mained of how to show our indigenous cultural

were surprised by the number and variety

MW: We have seen drawings of the furniture

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 80

of the proposed solutions: from wicker fur-

drawing on it would be entered through a series

niture, to elements of the Zakopane Style, to

of exposures. I decided that we would make the

leather armchairs and rattan furniture – all of

background in a shade of gray, and that the shad-

Polish design in a nutshell. Were the interior

ows would be black. We made the negative by

furniture designs ever implemented?

cutting the form with a razor blade and a knife, then we superimposed this negative on the photographic paper in the darkroom with a red light,

still in situ today. It is a whole range of furnish-

and we developed it using different exposure

ings, a collection. Now that the embassy is to be

times. In this way we achieved the effect that to-

modernized, we are very worried that the interi-

day is rendered by computer visualization. This

ors we designed might be destroyed, for instance

manner of presentation contributed to our suc-

because in the meantime, the fire regulations

cess in the competition. We also had fantastic col-

have changed. Unfortunately, I have no photos of

laborators on our team – Andrzej Lorek and An-

the embassy interior, ​​and we were not invited to

drzej Gonciarz – who were very supportive in

the opening ceremony.

presenting all the technical details of the project.

MW: What was the embassy competition like?

MK: You won the competition. How was the

developed our design for the competition a little

cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Af-

bit intuitively, we did not know the local building

of Poland in New

fairs, how was your first trip to India?

regulations. The first thing Kothari & Associates

Delhi, designed by

SD: There were eight design teams, including

SOURCE: STANISŁAW DEŃKO’S ARCHIVE

SD: Yes, they were executed, and the results are

did for us was to check that our project complied

three strong teams from Warsaw – the competition was fierce. What was important for the eval-

SD: In terms of functionality, the Ministry found

with the local regulations – and can you imagine

uation of our work was the model that we de-

our project to their liking. We had a positive

we did not have to make any changes! It was tru-

veloped to the scale of 1: 500 – in fact, this kind

trade balance with India at that time, and thus we

ly incredible, because in India, the limits to the

of mock-up was required from all participants.

were able to carry out such an ambitious archi-

building’s height are determined by norms of an-

When Professor Cęckiewicz invited me to work

tectural venture. Ministerial officials practical-

gular value. The angle from the boundary of the

on the embassy project, ​​I thought I would just

ly did not interfere in the project, they only ad-

plot determines the possibility of building high-

be helping with the technical aspects (draw-

vised us on the procedures of the institution’s

er up, depending on the distance to the adjacent

ing, working on the mock-up), not the conceptu-

functioning: such as security measures, or pro-

buildings. It is a simple and fair solution. In Po-

al ones. Meanwhile, the professor allowed me

tection of state secrets. We enjoyed very comfort-

land, it is problematic that according to regula-

complete freedom of expression, including in the

able working conditions, and we were allowed to

tions, we are able to build high structures mere-

drawing process – and so we started to work to-

apply all the technologies that we had proposed

ly 4 metres from the border of the plot. Our New

gether, in partnership. Towards the end of our

in the project concept. This was also greatly facil-

Delhi design also passed muster in other aspects

work for the competition, the professor told me

itated by the architectural firm Kothari & Asso-

– the building’s location and layout within the

that I was officially a co-author of this project –

ciates from New Delhi, who really proved them-

plot, the situation of stairwells, etc.

I did not expect this, it was a great honour and

selves to be excellent partners. It was a large, ver-

joy for me. The graphic design was also import-

satile company, experienced in running large

MK: If I understand it correctly, there were

ant in the competition design – we wanted to

projects from scratch, from the concept stage all

no changes to the dimensions of the building’s

present our concept in an attractive and effective

the way through to the implementation. Our In-

body, to the structure itself. But did the con-

way. At that time, I was very much into photogra-

dian partners knew a lot of different construc-

frontation with the local conditions on site not

phy, and I had an idea that we should use photo-

tion companies, they had the knowledge of the

require any adjustments or improvements to

graphic paper for our presentations, while the

market, which was enormously helpful. We had

particular, detailed design solutions?

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 81

Embassy of the People’s Republic

Witold Cęckiewicz, Stanisław Deńko, 1975–1978

SD: The only new solution that we introduced

of the ceiling. Because of the elevation, the rais-

came up to us and said, “Gentlemen, I will help

was the finish of openwork sun visors protecting

ing of the embassy building, it was important not

you, I know the ambassador in India, we will set-

the glazed hallways against overheating. During

to lay the ducts with the installations from be-

tle it, I’ll pay.” And that was that. And when we

our second or third visit to the site, we tried to

low, in order to hide them. That is why we came

speak of our encounter with India itself, it was

design elements of these covers – I thought of

up with the H-shaped columns that incorporat-

fantastic, we experienced a different culture,

a detail that could resemble a plane propeller.

ed enough space for the wires, the drains from

a different lifestyle. I will never forget it. People

I imagined such elements in rotation – I thought

the roof, and so on. These columns were meeting

were smiling, they were poor but very friendly,

that this could be something interesting. We

with the joists that bore the load of the ceilings.

open. The India of today has changed a little bit.

started talking about it and it took us to a turn of

The joists also had to be double, in order to incor-

a screw, thus creating the idea of ​​a detail, form-

porate the installations. Kothari decided, at the

MK: Professor Cęckiewicz also emphasized the

ing openwork breakers of light. The only prob-

stage of technical construction design, to send

role of water in the building tradition. The de-

lem was to position their curvature in a manner

these structural elements to the engineers at PEC

sign of the embassy referred to that, by the in-

that would follow the “scale of the sun,” on the

University of Technology in Chandigarh for cal-

troduction of a decorative body of water, sever-

one hand providing the shade, but on the other

culations. And thus the most complicated calcula-

al dozen metres long.

hand, without blocking the view to the outside.

tions and conversions of nodes and contractions

MK: We also know of this idea from the ac-

were conducted in India, based on the initial

SD: Unfortunately, due to the cost of maintain-

project concept by engineer Flaga and ourselves.

ing this decorative water feature, this part of the

count by Professor Cęckiewicz who – when

project was later removed. The pool was levelled

visiting New Delhi – tried to defend some de-

MW: And what were the biggest difficulties at

and a tennis court was built in its place. For me,

sign solution against budget cuts by the Min-

the design and implementation stage?

this is totally wrong – instead of the sound of wa-

istry of Foreign Affairs. He said to himself,

ter, you can hear the “bounce, bounce, bounce” of

“They are starting to tighten the screw.” And

SD: During the implementation of the embassy

a tennis ball hitting the concrete. How could they

the word “screw” turned into the idea for the

project, I visited New Delhi thirteen times. We

destroy this interior like that? Especially since

detail.

usually spent two or three weeks there on each

water, historically, played an important role in

occasion. At the initial design stage, before ob-

Indian buildings, and not only for decoration – in

SD: Yes. From the propeller we went on to the

taining the construction permit, we were relying

dry seasons, it provided coolness and the much

screw. And it was in a shed on site that we started

on our own calculations. We had to bring to In-

needed humidity. The fact that the pool has dis-

testing the model of this element.

dia a 1:200 scale model, that was a requirement.

appeared from our project is very sad.

The model was 200 × 70cm – we had to carry it as MK: You said that the embassy was to be syn-

cabin luggage. During each flight to India we had

MK: The most famous examples of modern-

onymous with the modernity of the Polish

one adventure or another; such were the times;

ism in this part of the world include Le Corbus-

state. How did this correspond to the reality at

but our first journey I remember with particu-

ier’s Chandigarh and Louis Kahn’s projects: the

the construction site in New Delhi? What did

lar clarity: we had a stopover in Beirut, where

Institute of Public Administration in Ahmed-

the cooperation with the contractors look like?

we forgot to switch our watches to the local time,

abad and the parliament building in Dhaka.

SD: This modernity was largely an artificial con-

and we missed the plane to Delhi. The trouble

How were modernist ideas received and adopt-

struct. We collaborated with a wonderful en-

was, we did not have any local currency, only 20

ed in India? Did you have an opportunity to see

gineer, Kazimierz Flaga, who was a consult-

US dollars that we had smuggled out; to change

modernist designs by local architects?

ant on the project from as early as the competi-

our flight booking would have cost five times

tion stage. We were aware that one of the most

that amount. We were rescued by the Polish con-

SD: In New Delhi we were primarily looking

difficult problems of the design would be the

sul from Ankara, who accidentally overheard

at the architecture of the embassy district –

nodes at the junction of the support and the slab

that our plane had departed an hour before. He

there were some very interesting solutions. The

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 82

Embassy of the People's Republic of Poland in New Delhi – view of the now non-existent swimming pool, designed by Witold Cęckiewicz, Stanisław Deńko, 1975–1978

American Embassy designed by Edward Durell

modern geodetic devices, such as theodolites, so

Stone in the early 1950s was excellent. We were

they could check everything – thus, technically,

impressed by the Embassy of Czechoslovakia –

there was no problem here. Most of the work was

an energy-saving building, hidden underground,

done by hand though: women transported con-

a kind of landscape architecture. I also remember

crete on their heads in special troughs, men built

the Canadian embassy designed by CP Kukreja

scaffolding from bamboo that looked like it was

Architects – an architectural studio based in New

about to collapse, but instead it developed into

Delhi. Other than that, most of the contemporary

a perfect structure. Local construction methods

urban architecture in India was uninteresting –

proved to be reliable – in the role of a carpenter’s

these were ordinary, plaster-covered houses, of-

level, there was a water hose. We were amazed

ten built using DIY methods.

and impressed with the meticulousness of buildand engineers of Kotarhi controlled the con-

Polish and Indian constructors on the embas-

struction process, on the other hand – Mr. Ku-

sy project. And yet the building itself was also

bicki did, also with a team of local engineers and

erected largely by simple craftsmanship – Pro-

surveyors.

fessor Cęckiewicz’s account shows that local

SOURCE: STANISŁAW DEŃKO’S ARCHIVE

ing supervision: on the one hand, the architects MK: You spoke about the cooperation between

workers, who used the simplest tools, played an

MW: How did the solutions you proposed pass

important role.

the test of the Indian climate?

SD: One can make the most of the tools available.

SD: The whole building was designed in such

A good result can be achieved not only by apply-

a way that air conditioning would not be neces-

ing the latest technologies, but also by the work

sary. That was the idea, to protect ourselves from

SD: Regional form is not a constant, permanent

of hands and knowledge. A great influence on the

the inconveniences of the climate – and to that

element. New solutions are developing over

building was the engineer Antoni Kubicki, who

idea we subordinated various elements of the

time, often inspired by users. Something like

was the inspector responsible for investment su-

project, including a large number of pergolas,

a native tradition is formed. People identify

pervision. He was a man of great charisma who

the introduction of shaded atriums, etc. Raising

with these solutions, and by the means there-

communicated well with both the project team

the building above the ground ensured the flow

of, they identify with the place. My project is

and the simple Hindu workmen. A fantastic char-

of air from the bottom and the removal of the

basically the result of observing the tradition-

acter that cemented all relationships. When we

ventilated air through the shaft upwards. Both

al form, of which I speak. It is, in a sense, a syn-

first visited the embassy construction site, we saw

the embassy building and the rest of the prem-

thesis of such factors as scale or proportions,

people with pick axes, splitting the rock, no me-

ises, such as the residential quarters, were nat-

and these form the geometry of the whole body

chanical diggers – frankly, we were quite bewil-

urally ventilated, which made the use of air con-

of the structure. This pure geometry was de-

dered. We have pictures of kids at the construc-

ditioning unnecessary for long periods of time.

fined by the edges of the planes of the walls

tion site – because there were mothers working

We have been told by the users that our solutions

and the roof. The use of wood, to the maxi-

there, who brought their children to work with

have workedwell.

mum, as the finishing material of these surfaces also results from the continuation of the tra-

them. But when they showed us the first foundations – very precisely cast – we relaxed. Further-

MK: Finally, I would like to ask you a question

dition, in which the matter and the form are its

more, Mr. Kubicki told us that one column was de-

about your attitude towards critical regional-

reflections.

molished because it was inclined by 1 cm at the

ism. Can the house you designed in Burów be

height of 11 metres. Of course, the Hindus had

treated as a kind of declaration on the subject?

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 83

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

MACIEJ MIŁOBĘDZKI

Landscapists of Warsaw, geometricians of Kraków For us architects beginning our profession-

been the subject of polemics, which usually ap-

From the perspective of today, it seems, howev-

al careers at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, the

plied an unwritten set of beliefs held by the pro-

er, that the relationship between these texts and

well-established distinctness and separateness of

fessional milieu – concepts and perceptions un-

the practice of architectural design was marked

the architectural circles of Warsaw and Kraków,

grounded in any theoretical reflection, even

by a great deal of schematism. Postmodernism,

which for generations had differed markedly in

though many of the architects in both centres,

which in Poland was discovered with a delay (es-

essential methodological and ideological issues,

around that time, revealed themselves to be tal-

pecially as regards its theoretical and philosoph-

was something absolutely self-evident. The var-

ented publicists. Their essays, often referencing

ical foundations), met with a similar attitude. It

ious shades of reaction to the barbarism of the

books imported from abroad – books which were

seems that more essential and emotional were

uninterestingly expiring state-run construc-

hard to find back then – had an educational val-

the debates taking place on the occasion of vari-

tion machine highlighted these “regional” differ-

ue, and were indicative of the erudition of their

ous competitions, and critical texts that began to

ences. Two faces of a traditionalist retreat from

authors, as well as more or less camouflaged

emerge on the fringe of the circle of professional-

a technocratic, extremely nihilistic reality have

attitudes that challenged the political reality.

ly active architects.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 84

SOURCE: CITY OR CIRCLE ?, ARCHITECTURE 1984, ISSUE 4, P. 57

Jerzy Szczepanik

The presence of this “inter-district” differentia-

Niemojewski – the creator of the concept of the

Perhaps it would not be worthwhile to return to

Dzikowski and

tion seems marginal in today’s emerging studies

Warsaw School and the Kraków School – while

these differences if it were not for the fact that

Romuald Loegler

of the era, among which we should note two vol-

he applies this division primarily to the in-

many of them have been preserved, and they

umes devoted to postmodernism, edited by Lid-

ter-war period. I personally believe that a reflec-

continue, in various forms, to be present in con-

ia Klein, 1 as well as an effort to describe and or-

tion on the differences between the pre-war spe-

temporary Polish architecture, despite the un-

“Architecture”

ganize various tendencies in Polish architecture

cifics, as well as the regional divisions (albeit the

doubtedly unifying influence of the commercial

magazine, 1984

of the First and Second Republic of Poland, un-

latter are ineligible for the classification in terms

market.

dertaken by Krzysztof Ingarden. The latter uses

of “schools”), towards the end of the Second Re-

an earlier classification proposed by Lech

public, and their relationships with historical-

2

POLEMICS

ly-shaped attitudes, might become an interest1

ing field of inquiry for researchers, especially as

The difference between the Varsovian and

it relates to intertwining individual creative bi-

Cracovian manifestations of instrumental at-

ographies, to the not-quite-obvious or conscious

titudes towards tradition, as well as the de-

K. Ingarden, Nowa klasyfikacja polskiej architektury,

intergenerational influences, and to personal

gree of entanglement in the atmosphere of the

Architektura Murator, 2017, issue 3, p. 28–35.

messages.

times of transition, are well illustrated by the

Postmodernizm polski. Architektura i urbanistyka, ed. L. Klein, Warszawa: Stowarzyszenie 40000 malarzy, 2013.

2

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 85

during the discussion that was recorded in the

one that established not only the main axes and compositional directions, but also the definite, regular geometry of the city quarters, of the buildings’ heights, and even of their tectonics.

Szczepanik-Dzikowski argued that the cross of intersecting arteries, laid out in the land, like in the Roman city that Loegler referred to, had grown for centuries receiving the additions of creations unforeseen by and unpredictable for the city’s founders. Therefore, in his design,

SOURCE: CITY OR CIRCLE ?, ARCHITECTURE 1984, ISSUE 4, P. 52

he has tried to preserve the existing character-

SARP No 654 Competition for a Housing Estate in Lubostroń in Kraków, work No. 1, authors: Olgierd Jagiełło, Jerzy Szczepanik Dzikowski, Piotr Wicha, co-operation: Jolanta Durawa, Janusz Falkiewicz, Grażyna Ordynowska

istic features of the land cover: watercourses, country roads through the fields, and tree systems. Based on the arrangement of these elements, what was created, rather than a network structure that was intended to fill up with built elements over time, was a plan – drawn softly, in a landscape-like manner, its characteristic nodes emphasized by the romantic architecture, referencing small-town models. It did not resemble works by Cracovian architects, working with “hard” postmodern geometry, and formal order defined by the angular composition of corners and cornices, as well as rigorous

discussion published in 1984 in Architektura

communities – seen as the depositaries of tra-

composition of square-shaped quarters (Witold

magazine 3 on the occasion of the urban design

dition, free in their choices. The architect was

Obtułowicz), whose systems crossed at differ-

competition for a new district of Kraków, called

supposed to be primarily their servant, his role

ent angles or collided with large town squares,

Lubostroń. Jeremi Królikowski’s interlocutors

was to assist and serve. The purpose of plan-

for example reminiscent in the shape of a Ro-

were two competing architects: Jerzy Szczepan-

ning was to define a spatial strategy without

man circus (as in the works of Loegler).

ik-Dzikowski and Romuald Loegler, who repre-

defining detailed architectural guidelines for

sented fundamentally different views on plan-

built development. Urban tissue, like a biolog-

similar views on what the essence of the archi-

ning, on processes of city formation, on artis-

ical organism, was to evolve over time, it was

tecture of the city should be, we might expect

tic creation, and on the interpretation of past

subject to change and replacement, as well as

that at the next point in the discussion – one

traces. Szczepanik-Dzikowski emphasized,

to scale changes. His Cracovian adversary min-

that would concern the legacy of socialist real-

above all, the importance of social process-

imized the importance of urban communities,

ism – Loegler would be the apologist of the reg-

es governing the development of the city, the

bringing them down to the role of the client, re-

ular, axial, strictly determined assumptions

need to create a sense of responsibility for local

serving them, however, a right to criticize and

thereof. Conversely, he saw in this trend, above

evaluate. In this context, he quoted regulato-

all, the expression of totalitarian arbitrariness

ry plans of historic cities, which for centuries

comparable to the earlier, modernist arbitrari-

ki, Miasto czy osiedle?, Architektura, 1984, issue 4,

had set the rules for construction. The archi-

ness, in reaction to which it was born. His inter-

p. 57-59.

tect was seen as the creator of a certain order,

locutor, on the other hand, attributed socialist

3

R. Loegler, J. Szczepanik-Dzikowski, J. Królikows-

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 86

With clearly defined, and completely dis-

SOURCE: CITY OR CIRCLE ?, ARCHITECTURE 1984, ISSUE 4, P. 52

SARP No 654 Competition for a Housing Estate in Lubostroń in Kraków, work No. 7, authors: Romuald Loegler, Wojciech Dobrzański, Ewa Fritzke, Michał Szymanowski, Barbara Dziewońska, Anna Kasperkiewicz, Elżbieta Koterba

realism with the positive role of restoring the

the content of these spaces [...]. The architec-

the built environment as such. This was also re-

principles of shaping the historical city, the con-

ture of socialist realism emerged as a comeback

flected on the architectural scale, where usually

tinuity of its urban tissue.

against constructivism and functionalism, but

the order of the historical costume was followed

despite appearances, along with these, it consti-

by a complete lack of rigour in the layout of the

lyzed several years earlier, in one of the widely

tuted another part of the architecture of the po-

interiors. Such a methodological peculiarity, or

commented upon texts by Czesław Krassows-

lemic with “artisticity”, and thus was opposed to

perhaps defect, was consolidated in the decades

ki, who referred above all to nineteenth-centu-

the architecture of the nineteenth century. 4

to come, gaining the packaging of ever-new aes-

The specifics of socialist realism were ana-

ry narratives: Architectural theoreticians of the nine-

Similar contrasts also emerged in the quoted discussion, where the “artist’s” role fell to

thetic conventions.

The most ardent part of the dispute was

teenth century contemplated the shapes of the

Loegler, while the Varsovian “architectural en-

about the rules of the game, about the poli-

buildings, while theoreticians of the architec-

velope-ness”, although wary of the excessive

tics of plan-making – the “city games” – and in

ture of socialist realism postulated that the

rigour of socialist realist geometry, constituted

clear subtexts, about politics and economics in

buildings should be shaped as organic constitu-

a kind of picturesque stage set, a scenography

general. Here, the two debaters have apparent-

ent parts of squares, arteries, and cities. [... ] The

that was not deeply rooted in the structure of

ly broken away from the realities of the transition era of their time. Contrary to their claims,

task of moulding the “building envelope”, separating the interior spaces from the exterior space of squares and streets, was to aggregate

4

Cz. Krassowski, Architektura XIX wieku, Architek-

our cities neither realized the ideas of their

tura, 1978, issue 9–10, p. 70.

conscious visionaries (whom we did not have)

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 87

Illustrations to the article by Ewa P. Porębska Nowy tradycjonalizm warszawski, “Architektura” 1986, from the top: 1. The project of the religious instruction room and church in Pionki designed by Olgierd Jagiełło, Jerzy Szczepanik Dzikowski and Jacek Laskowski; 2. The belfry in Pionki, 1985, architects: Olgierd Jagiełło, Jerzy Szczepanik Dzikowski, Jolanta Durawa, Lesław jędruszczak, Maciej Miłobędzki; 3. An extension for the Rector’s Chapel of Our Lady of Jasna Góra in Warsaw, architects: Tomasz Turczynowicz, Anna Bielecka, Piotr Walkowiak

During the 2012 Municipal Planning and Design Congress 5 organized in Rzeszów, they returned to the issue of city formation processes. Szczepanik-Dzikowski, referring above all to the public space – that is the space which is indeterminate, and thus a no man’s land; to the situation where a mass man without qualities lost his personal, empowered participation in functioning within the city, warned against the improper formulation of finite urban prescriptions. Loegler, on the other hand, empha-

SOURCE: "ARCHITECTURE" 1983, ISSUE 1, P. 37.

sized the role of ideas as an important moment Drawings from the article Moduł przestrzenny? Estetyka? Architektura?

Twórczość Romualda Loeglera, Jacka Czekaja, Marka Piotrowskiego published in “Architektura” in 1983

in the creation of the city, as well as the importance of architectural detail in the formation of urban space.

VARSOVIAN ROMANTIC PRAGMATISM Loegler was the only architect, in the interviews conducted in 2013 by Lidia Klein1, who

nor did they become a playground of the em-

tionship with the aesthetics of postmodernism

powered local communities (which were slow

in the 1980s. It was funny that all the remain-

to emerge). Having said that, ideological dif-

ing interlocutors did notice the phenomenon,

ferences outlined in the discussion continue

but only in relation to others, rather then them-

to exist and are successfully reflected in cur-

selves. Warsaw architects at large during the

rent architectural practice, although the ex-

period of transition often flatly denied such as-

pressiveness of the positions indeed has been

sociations, claiming that they relied on local

steadily diminishing since the 1980s. The dis-

traditions without the mediation of the post-

putes between the architects now concern ev-

modern language of forms. This was, I think,

erything but creation. For example, no one to-

largely due to pragmatic realism. Attempts to

day publicly criticizes an extremely formalist

erect a simple wall or symmetrical roofs were

villa, cramming itself into a tiny parcel of land

generally unsuccessful, while a simple modern-

and consisting of bizarrely intersecting cubes

ist detail, even one modelled on the low-bud-

and a cylinder, as being off the mark, just as no

get buildings of the social projects from the in-

one accuses his adversary of ineffective and

ter-war period, was completely out of reach

unreflective use of a historical pattern. Which

in terms of implementation. It is this failure,

is a pity.

With time, the debaters have grown more certain in their views on a number of issues.

5

J. Szczepanik-Dzikowski, R. Loegler, speaking at the First Planning Congress, Rzeszów 2012.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 88

SOURCE: ARCHITECTURE ISSUE 4-5 (432-433) 1986, P. 102

did not wholly distance himself from his rela-

perhaps, that a decade later translated into

This was pointed out by Ewa P. Porębska in

The Warsaw circle of practising architects (Cze-

a neophyte neo-modernist enthusiasm, into

her well-known article on the New Warsaw

sław Bielecki, Jacek Zielonka, Konrad Chmielews-

a fascination with new technologies.

Traditionalism. The author lists the charac-

ki and others), rather than trying to theoretically

teristic features of the new trend: the pursuit

describe their own works and references to their

largely invented, while the simplified, trivial-

of cultural continuity (even where the latter

own desig practice, concentrated instead on ambi-

ized, even primitive way of applying it (for in-

had completely disappeared), the construction

tious essays polemicizing with the previous mod-

stance, columns made out of sewer pipes), was

of a shelter from the present, the development

ernist visions of history, contemporary architec-

somewhat modernizing and scenographic at the

of specific moods through symbolic referenc-

ture and urban planning. They were manifesting

same time. The echoes of a manor house style

es and the shaping of picturesque views, the

their knowledge of literature, sociology or philos-

combined with cottage mannerisms, character-

appeal to the impression of the ancient “feel”,

ophy combined with a kind of somewhat ostenta-

istic of Warsaw architecture at the beginning of

of the longevity of the building, of its growth

tious lack of interest in the sphere of international,

the 20th century, were obvious enough but they

over time. This attempt to describe the War-

professional architectural criticism (Budzyński). 8

lacked a deeper cultural reference and, like be-

saw architectural scene was very comprehen-

The SARP 9-organized reviews of Warsaw archi-

fore the war, they transmuted into a kind of

sive and, apart from the mainstream which

tecture were fairly pedestrian, delivered in a rath-

non-avant-garde, disciplined modernism (com-

presented various attempts at adapting Polish

er ungraceful, technical manner of presentation.

pletely different from the expressive, geomet-

romantic costumes (Marek Budzyński, Piotr

This was apparent in comparison with the visual

ric modernity of Kraków, and from its predeces-

Wicha, Jerzy Szczepanik-Dzikowski and Olgi-

materials of the Kraków biennale of architecture,

sors). The rural-small-town inter-war pattern

erd Jagiełło), it also described the artists fas-

or the Mogilany workshops, where – on the square

by itself could neither, incidentally, be consid-

cinated by various mannerisms, eclecticisms,

panels (of course) much more sophisticated visu-

ered an expression of the authentic continui-

or the architecture of the Far East (Konrad

als and thoughts were presented. The difference

ty of cultivating regional traditions, among oth-

Chmielewski, Czesław Bielecki and the DiM

was noted, and it provoked various reactions. Sła-

er things, linked to the long forgotten activity of

group, Tomasz Turczynowicz). Interestingly,

womir Parfianowicz, in Zeszyty Architektury Pol-

local builders’ workshops. Instead, it was rather

the issue of Architektura devoted to Warsaw’s

skiej, complained about the quality of architectural

a modern projection, a political-patriotic affir-

neo-vernacular architecture also includ-

criticism, the degradation of its language. Accord-

mation of a certain image of the local peculiar-

ed a text by Peter Cook devoted to the Archi-

ing to the author, one of the reasons for this was

ity, placing the creator in an external relation-

gram heritage. 7 The appearance of this arti-

“the emergence of cancerous substitute forms” or

ship to the subject of his inspiration, the proc-

cle stressed – unintentionally, but very con-

“deepening the criticism: posters and other graph-

lamation of the advent of the global imaginary

vincingly – our lagging behind compared to

ic representations.” 10 Regardless of whether these

museum. Examples of buildings rooted in au-

that part of the world, which was then torn be-

comments were correct or not, it is worth empha-

thentic cultural environments, developing and

tween postmodernist historicism and futuris-

sizing that the Cracovian milieu – much more

modifying their achievements in response to

tic high-tech. When visiting small Warsaw ar-

open to foreign intellectual and creative trends, es-

real contemporary challenges, are today (just as

chitectural offices, Cook unsuccessfully tried

pecially through the organization of the interna-

they were a century ago) few and far between.

to track down the clues of the progressive

tional biennale – brought Polish architects closer

The “architectural envelopes” of Warsaw’s

(pleading despairingly: “show me something

to the most up-to-date worldwide tendencies and

neo-vernacular style were usually applied to

of yours!”)

enabled Polish architecture to emerge abroad.

6

E. Przestaszewska-Porębska, Nowy tradycjona-

8

Postmodernizm polski, op. cit.

lizm warszawski, Architektura, 1986, issue 4–5,

9

The Association of Polish Architects

p. 99-102.

10 S. Parfianowicz, Architektura rodzima, swojska,

The tradition as referred to in the 1980s was

6

homes whose plans resembled more contemporary layouts of multi-family housing, and at any rate, diverged from the imagery suggested by the façade (the “mansion” in Podkowa Leśna by Marek Budzyński or our own [JEMS architectural office-designed] house in Wyszogród).

7

P. Cook, Dziedzictwo Archigramu, Architektura,

„miejscowa”, Zeszyty Architektury Polskiej, 1986,

1986, issue 4–5, p. 93–98.

issue 1, p. 14.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 89

process. “Eternal students just-about-to-gradu-

a reflection on what was timeless in architec-

ate” co-created the atmosphere of the new stu-

ture, to what was existential, atmospheric, real,

dios, still niche operations at the time.

and therefore local. From her master, Bohdan

SOURCE: ARCHITECTURE ISSUE 4-5 (432-433) 1986, P. 2

Among the student projects, typically de-

Instead of a Foreword – photo story by Zbigniew Dubiel for "Architektura" 1986 issue on architectural detail

MAŁGORZATA HANDZELEWICZWACŁAWEK’S CIRCLE

Pniewski, she inherited an extremely individu-

prived of significant distinguishing qualities,

alistic and independent approach to architectur-

more and more numerous proposals began to

al doctrines, within the range of whose influence

appear, in various ways referring to the conti-

she was operating. Among her pupils, a legend-

nuity of architectural traditions or to local char-

ary figure was Tomasz Turczynowicz, who co-

acteristics. Treated as a peculiarity, perhaps the

operated with the Wacławek team, among oth-

whim of the moment (and contested by some),

er projcects, on the church in Śródborów, one of

they may have seemed refreshing in the fair-

the few works of sacred architecture of that era

ly painlessly and indifferently departing era of

that could be classified as critical regionalism or

the “thick marker”, another variety of late mod-

a creative variant of vernacularism. Turczyno-

ernism, this time completely devoid of ideolo-

wicz, with his remarkable history of escaping

gy, which sometimes mechanically tried to adopt

from a state-run design office-moloch to the un-

regional forms in various projects of boathous-

known Himalayas, was a model for many of us.

es or residential buildings. “Bang! Bang! Bang!,

His distinctive drawing style, with the charac-

twice short, once long!” a student might hear

teristic shuffling, dashing line, appears in many

during his project review. These types of com-

of his later masterpieces (in which he also some-

ments were often the only reference to the idea,

times engaged as a draughtsman).

the composition of the architectural form, the

Projects contesting the departmental real-

overall structure of the design. The attention

ity were characterized by a specific, “scenic”

was instead directed to a functional scheme,

treatment of architecture as an integral part of

which, dressed in a modularly conceived ar-

the newly created landscape, a series of pictur-

rangement of axes, became the essence of the

esque views. Constructed out of seemingly ran-

project. Narratives about the ideological layer of

domly arranged solids, they sometimes made

design, or individual architectural reflections,

an impression of unfinished or repeatedly re-

were uttered by only a few exceptional teach-

built structures (such as the graduation proj-

ers. The students who had a chance to meet those

ects by Ida Kamoi-Król, Marek Olędzki, and mine

teachers during the course of their studies could

as well). Composite plans were a derivative of

count themselves lucky, blessed by fate.

a seemingly non-formal composition. The indi-

Gurus from the newly created small semi-pri-

vidual, constituent parts of the latter were in-

vate design practices, whose creative activities

trinsically ordered, and thoughtfully combined

permeated the university, gained prominence

with others, although the geometry of these sys-

Warsaw’s Faculty of Architecture focused and

among students of the “new wave”, but they were,

tems appealed rather to the existing or imagined

brought together many of the phenomena oc-

above all, influenced by the extraordinary per-

order of landscape than to the strictly architec-

curred in the professional practice of architects

sonality of Małgorzata Handzelewicz-Wacławek

tural one. The material for most of the projects

in the 1980s. New trends were represented here

and her circle of pupils, as well as masters and

were the patterns adapted from the roman-

by several of the teachers. They remained a mi-

collaborators. Her sometimes seemingly irrele-

tic trend in the native architecture, combined

nority, but the degree of their impact on stu-

vant comments, relating to literature or the po-

with the modernized detail of white walls, de-

dents was significant. There was also a feedback

etics of trivial life situations, opened us up to

void of decorations, equipped with free rhythms

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 90

Untitled, drawing by Jeremi T. Królikowski

of windows. Interestingly, the influence of postmodern architectural forms was limited, even though after the International Congress of Architects’ Union (UIA) held in Warsaw in 1981, or after the Kraków biennale they were well known – at least in their visual layer – while the writings presenting the achievements of Leon and Rob Krier, Michael Graves, or Aldo Rossi, imported from the West, were lying around most of the developed. Even if some elements of postmodern decorum, such as square windows, cross divisions on railings, or stirlingesque triangular “arches” and crownings were adopted, they were placed in the dominant context of another stage set, another order (or lack thereof). The fascination with diagonals, arches, intermingling forms of reductive classicisms, with the life in the setting imposed by the followers of descriptive ge-

SOURCE: "ARCHITECTURE" ISSUE 1, 1982, P. 75

desks on which graduation projects were being

ometry, was seriously dampened by the fascination with the inter-war works by Romuald Gutt

linked to the vernacular ideas of the 1980s, as

such as for instance Dorota and Mariusz Szlach-

…and by the realistic pragmatism, on which the

well as to American home catalogues. It would

cic. The Gdańsk postmodernist way of “recon-

students of the Kraków School relied on to a less-

be more difficult to find examples of a critical

structing” townhouses, initiated, among others,

er degree than those from Warsaw. Postmodern-

continuation of these ideas. It is true that the Za-

by Szczepan Baum, has permeated the guidelines

ist readings were eagerly replaced with texts by

kopane highland model can be found in stylized

of local monuments conservators and become

phenomenologists, which provided arguments

homes designed by architects such as Karpiel

a kind of official, unfortunately pervasive con-

for the adopted “creative” path. All this necessar-

and Steindel, very “Cracovian” in their rigor-

servation norm – seen in such appalling produc-

ily led to a state of mild laziness, reassuring one-

ous “triangular” formula and their literal ways

tions as the Amber Gold building. None of these

self in the correctness of the assumed strategies

of adapting Japanese, Portuguese or Swiss mod-

milieus created their own “formative” texts or

of action. These qualities of the intellectual and

els. Warsaw’s traditionalism, on the other hand,

building-manifestos. This is because, first and

emotional condition have survived to this day,

as it has evolved, has become more ingrained

foremost – despite the existence of masters and

and many of the important books published back

in neo-modernisms, and somewhat distanced

the throngs of their disciples-worshippers – it is

then, such as A Scientific Autobiography by Rossi

in its attitude towards fashionable intellectual

difficult to see them in terms of “architectural

(a significant commentary on the design practice

trends, and in many cases, simply any intellec-

schools”. They have always remained, and proba-

of that time), remain little known even today.

tual trends at all.

bly will remain, largely a phenomena of the pro-

LOCAL SCHOOLS?

cles of Kraków and Warsaw were most apparent

themselves in the epidermal layers of architec-

The local specificities of the architectural cir-

fessional-social circle type, most often revealing

in the days of political transition, though they

ture; merely local activities without any major,

Pretentious versions of the manor house or

were not the only ones. The Wrocław expres-

global, intellectual ambitions.

pseudoregional development, promoted by

sionisms, from the circle of Stefan Müller, are

commercial publishers, can of course be easily

echoed in the works of contemporary architects,

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 91

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

JANA TICHÁ

More than iconic We would be hard-pressed to find out when and

which has made him popular with investors and

– was still eccentric enough to “reflect the dramat-

where the adjective “iconic” was used for the first

the public. Its source and power of impact are

ic power of the era of its inception.” 4 The turning

time in connection with architecture. Charles

deeper than the significance of the image itself.

point came when the vacant plot was acquired by

Jencks attempted to introduce it to serious ac-

The history of how the Dancing House came

a Dutch investment company and, in 1992, Frank

ademic debate in 2005 when he published his

into being has been repeatedly told, and lengthy

Gehry joined the project. Over the next two years,

book titled The Iconic Building 1. In the aforemen-

monographs have been devoted to it. 2 So brief-

a design for the house emerged, evidently demon-

tioned publication he describes the iconic build-

ly: in the centre of Prague, in a prestigious loca-

strating Gehry’s characteristic style, although the

ing as a new architectural species, closely linked

tion, at the intersection between a busy street

original concept of Milunić was not completely lost

to economic prosperity and branding. We will not

and a waterfront with elegant tenement houses

in it. Due to the location of the plot – on the water-

find therein a clear definition of the iconic build-

from the turn of the twentieth century, a plot of

front, clearly visible from the Hradčany – and also

ing, but we can conclude that it is a structure that

land became available in the late 1980s. The cor-

due to Frank Gehry’s reputation as a star in the

possesses a distinctly sculptural or extravagant

ner house which was destroyed by bombs during

world of architecture, the project found itself in

shape, is unique and photogenic, and therefore

World War II had not been replaced with a new

the spotlight of both professional circles and the

easily identifiable. It is a kind of celebrity person-

building to that day. Living in the house next

general public, and it sparked many disputes and

age among buildings. The iconic building – or its

door was the dissident Václav Havel, and one

controversies.

image – is easily disseminated by the media, and

of his neighbours was the architect Vlado Mil-

its virtual presence is highly suggestive. It is the

unić. Together they began to make plans to set up

superficiality, censuring its creators for seeking

kind of architecture which, in its form, is remi-

a “house full of culture” 3, in that very location,

attention at all costs. Michal Kohout argued in

niscent of something concrete, which awakens as-

a building that would hold a bookshop, various

somewhat more depth, based on the symbolic role

sociations, acts subliminally, and becomes a sub-

publishing houses, and a small theatre.

of architecture in the representation of social

At the beginning of 1990, Milunić drafted

ject of projections, for it allows everyone and any-

The critics accused the Dancing House of

values: in his opinion, the uniqueness would be

one to put their mental content and meaning into

sketches of a tenement house, which in the gro-

acceptable in the case of an important public build-

it. If there is a building in the Czech Republic that

tesque erotic allegory depicted the difficulties

ing, but not a private office building. As a result, he

could be described as iconic due to its popularity

resulting from the newly acquired freedom. He

accused the building of transgressing the city’s reg-

and media coverage, it is most certainly the Danc-

then began to work on the design of a tenement

ulations – the buildings’ alignment and the height

ing House. However – and there is no doubt about

building whose towering shape with a domed tow-

of the cornice – as he explained in his article titled

it – it was not designed as a fashionable icon. Quite

er no longer showed any figurative references,

“dancing outside the dancefloor.” 5 Among those

the contrary. The iconic quality of Frank Gehry’s

but – within the rather restrained Czech context

who defended the Dancing House during the public

architecture is a side effect of his creative process,

1

Ch. Jencks, The Iconic Building. The Power of Enigma, London: Frances Lincoln Publishers, 2005.

debate at the time – which, in retrospect, merits 2

I. Fialová, Tančící dům, Praha: Zlatý řez, 2003.

3

Vlado Milunić talking to Irena Fialova, in: I. Fialová,

4

V. Milunić, quoted after: I. Fialová, op. cit., p. 44.

op. cit., p. 57.

5

M. Kohout, Tanec mimo parket, Respekt 1993, 24, p. 22.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 92

PHOTO BY CHMEE2 / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS CC BY_SA 3.0

Street front on the right bank of the Vltava River in Prague overlooking the Dancing House (Czech: Tančící dům), designed by Vlado Milunic, Frank Gehry, 1994–1996

admiration – was Rostislav Švácha, later the creator

because it was perceived as a non-serious game

frames makes a reference – albeit in a modified,

of the popular legend of Czech solemnity. By

that should not belong in that domain.

contemporary form – to horizontal divisions in

responding to Michal Kohout, he defended the right

At the time of the construction of the Dancing

stucco decorations on the façades of the neigh-

of exceptional buildings to transgress the rules

House, very few people understood just how much

bouring buildings. Culminating in the fabric of the

which were in force at a given time, and he present-

Gehry wanted the building to be a “good neigh-

Dancing House is the entire frontline of the town-

ed a long list of Prague’s important monuments of

bour.” Gehry indeed works rather like a sculp-

houses on the Vltava river, in a movement follow-

modern architecture that would never have come

tor, starting from the whole and then working his

ing the direction of its flow towards the centre of

into being if the proposed designs were always

way to the inside; his method of work is very spe-

the city. Frank Gehry himself often spoke about

judged so severely. He mentions, among other

cific. First, he considers what a building should

his being inspired by the architecture of Prague

buildings, the Cubist house under the Black Madon-

look like, how it should be shaped within its loca-

in connection with the Dancing House, and about

na, designed by Gočár. He goes on to suggest that

tion – in this phase he works with sketches and pa-

the unique location of the riverfront building, and

Gehry and Milunić were criticized not so much for

per models – then he modifies the shape to suit

stated that he would not have built such a struc-

falling out of the building alignment but for their

the specific requirements of the stated program.

ture in Los Angeles. 9. Frank Gehry’s architecture

“jumping out of the Czech moralism of restrained,

Gehry’s contextuality is not pictorial, nor is it in

should be approached without any preconcep-

severe, matter-of-fact and ascetic architecture” that

the foreground, in the sense that he does not try

tions, prejudices, but with curiosity and openness

is characterized by “the aversion to all creative

to imitate the neighbouring buildings. In the Cali-

– we might say, like a child would approach it. If

accomplishments”, which “refuse to limit them-

fornian “neighbourhood mix”, Gehry has learned

we wanted to assume the role of an intellectual, an

selves to a simple description of functions, and defy

to actively create context, to give a place its char-

academic, then we could interpret Gehry’s work as

conventional understanding of purposeful utility.”

acter, to conduct dialogue with the people about

a practical manifestation of what Jorge Otero-Pai-

Švácha hit the bullseye. A reference framework for

the place, through architecture. In Prague, the

los described in his architectural theory as “phe-

Gehry’s approach was lacking, either in the local

sensibility of his approach is apparent – we can

nomenal revolution.” This is what Otero-Pailos has

intellectual debate, where the critique of modernist

see with what sensitivity the building fits into

to say about the protagonists of this movement:

architectural design on a purely functional basis

the place, helps to emphasize the corner of the

“The awareness of the history of modernism has

had never (so far) happened, or in everyday sur-

street, rounds with its elegant curve the turn of

led them, paradoxically, to the quest for the ahis-

roundings, marked by the poverty of real socialism

the busy street before the latter enters the bridge,

torical constant, which lies at the foundation of all

with all its false egalitarianism. Frank Gehry found

and at the same time signals that the line of build-

modern architectural expressions. Independent-

in California in the 1980s a peculiar way out of the

ings gradually decreases, that it ends and paus-

ly of one another, they all came to the conclusion

crisis of modernism; albeit in harmony with his

es there – to make way for free space, overlook-

that this supra-temporal constant is a sensory ex-

own nature; he decided to rely on deeper layers of

ing the river. The vertical corner of the building,

perience. […] All architecture that was ever creat-

the psyche than mere rational thinking – he turned

with a double tower, corresponds to the tendency

ed was organized according to the elementary lan-

to intuition and sensory reception. He raised archi-

of Prague architecture and the topography of the

guage of basic bodily sensations / feelings”. 10 And

tecture from the function of a simple box, designat-

city’s nucleus, namely a dynamic balance of pow-

the architecture constructed in this manner is in-

ed to carry out a task, and led it out of the abstract

er, in which “practically every old building is both

deed far from being a mere image, an icon.

space of rationality into the chaos of human life

weighing down towards the ground, and moving

with all that belongs therein. The association of

upwards,” as noted by Christian Norberg-Schulz.

Gehry’s architecture with sculpture – as a free ex-

8

7

6

The corrugated façade with protruding window

pression of human creativity – was correctly read in the Czech Republic, and yet it inspired aversion

6

R. Śvácha, Odpověď Michalu Kohoutovi, Architekt 1993, 16–17, p. 9.

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik 9

Gehry Talks, Architecture & Process, ed. M. Friedman, New York: Rizzoli, 1999, p. 207–211.

7 8

Frank Gehry talking to Irena Fialova, in: I. Fialová,

10 J. Otero-Pailos, Architectural Phenomenology and The

op. cit., p. 115.

Rise of the Postmodern, [in:] The SAGE Handbook of

Ch. Norberg-Schulz, Genius loci, Praha: Odeon, 1994,

Architecture Theory, eds. G.C. Crysler, S. Cairns, H.

p. 81.

Heynen, London: SAGE, 2012.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 93

The text is a fragment of the book by Jana Ticha Prostor a místo. Architecture na území České republiky 1989–2014, Prague: Zlatý řez, 2015.

SOURCE: CULTURAL CONTEXTS DOCUMENTATION DEPARTMENT OF THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM IN KRAKÓW

MAGDALENA ZYCH

Demolition and improvisation while the rivers flow as they always did The story of dwellings in southern Poland Jer-

The juxtaposition of the rivers andthe build-

in the same area today? Could the concrete and

zy Czajkowski, ethnographer, and long-serv-

ing material in a text that was written thirty-five

the CMUs somehow be linked to the rivers run-

ing director of the Museum of Folk Architecture

years ago, is puzzling. Could this concept be re-

ning through those same places? In the 1980

in Sanok, began by recalling two large rivers,

peated when describing buildings constructed

text, the rivers were necessary in order to illus-

1

the Vistula and the San, and he also mentioned the smaller Dunajec. When writing about the south of Poland, we might add the Poprad and the Raba to the list, and maybe the Wisłok, too.

trate the geography and its relationship to the 1

J. Czajkowski, Ze studiów nad historycznym rozwojem domu wiejskiego w południowej Polsce, “Polska

ate surroundings: timber, back then still intui-

Sztuka Ludowa – Konteksty” 1980, vol. 34, p. 3–4.

tively treated by many, as well as stone and clay,

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 95

Materials from field research by Jerzy Czajkowski

material that could be obtained in the immedi-

often combined with woodchips – almost com-

common denominators of regional conditions

2 thousand from lightning strikes. A ban on

pletely absent in today’s circulation of construc-

that we face today.

thatch was introduced by the Resolution of the

Czajkowski’s work was preceded by post-war

tion materials; if anything, present in the form of

Council of Ministers No. 221 of June 13, 1961”. 5

a quote, a reference or a citation. The author dis-

cataloguing studies conducted by teams from the

Postwar fire regulations effectively prevented

cussed the subject of “folk architecture” against

Warsaw University of Technology (Department

the use of the now forgotten, traditional carpen-

the background of mountain ranges, valleys, ex-

of Polish Architecture), whose responsibilities

try methods. The decreasing availability of the

panses of lowlands and forests. In addition to

were later taken up by the Cracow Section of Folk

construction material also factored in, and with

historical sources, he also used the results from

Art Research at the Polish Academy of Sciences

the nationalization of manorial forests, the rules

field research he had conducted with his team in

– while both institutions were working in coop-

for logging changed. At the same time, the War-

the 1960s, recording the existing world of cottag-

eration with the Department for the Protection

saw Peasant House, shaped like an undulating

es and other wooden structures. He dealt in eth-

of Landscape and the Native (i.e. ethnographic)

field of wheat, and without a piece of wood in it,

nographic and architectural documentation at

Monuments, established in 1945 within the Min-

attracted tourists, including those arriving from

a time of peaking interest in folk architecture on

istry of Culture. Timber architecture only fully

the countryside, and it influenced more than one

the part of monument conservation and muse-

and properly focused the attention of monument

local project.

um professionals. 2 The photographs, plans, and

conservators in 1953, that is a decade later, when

functional descriptions presented in his work

it became apparent that wooden heritage was

portant, element of the transformation of lo-

An equally important, or perhaps more im-

related to the landscape outlined in the intro-

disappearing at an increasing pace. When recall-

cal village architecture was the memory of war

duction, and resulted from the relationship be-

ing the origins of the need to recognize folk ar-

– wooden villages burned easily, usually leav-

tween the material that the builder employed,

chitecture, we must also mention the first cata-

ing no traces, sometimes a smouldering ruin.

and the immediate surroundings. The diversi-

loguing initiative that originated during the Sec-

We might recall that the famous marching song

ty of the described landscapes is a distinct fea-

ond National Conservation Congress held in 1927,

of Gwardia Ludowa (the People’s Guard), or, in

ture of the south, and the author pointed to a va-

and a regulation that followed one year later, to

fact, Piosenka partyzantów (Song of the Parti-

riety of ways of life, to ethnic differences, which

which we owe the first monument lists that in-

sans), written by Wanda Zieleńczyk, the cous-

today are no longer as significant as they were

cluded buildings of wooden architecture. 3

in of poet Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, started

fifty years ago. On the other hand, the diversi-

Before we continue, we should stop for a mo-

with the line “We from burnt villages”. A photo-

ty of climatic conditions that he had emphasized

ment, and ponder the realities of the fieldwork

graph of a burned village, captioned “War anni-

still remains valid today – as exemplified by the

conducted by Jerzy Czajkowski. His was still

hilates culture”, opened a 1951 exhibition at the

strong westerly winds in the Podhale and the Są-

a world of wooden houses and farm buildings,

Ethnographic Museum, which had just received

decczyzna regions, necessitating the setting up

still inhabited, but slowly, gradually abandoned,

a home in the former town hall of Kazimierz dis-

of farm buildings in such a way that the house

dismantled, and chopped up for firewood. In

trict. Only after having seen that photograph

is protected, or the addition ofextra walls filled

a way, today we are witnessing the same process

would one pass on to the exhibit of the interior

with hay, leaves or straw. Just as the rivers still

again, despite the fact that even back then it had

of a Cracovian cottage, reconstructed with refer-

flow in their courses, so the winds continue to

seemed about to end. “According to data from

ence to the model image. 6

blow from the westerly direction. Perhaps, sim-

1962, in Poland there were 8 million rural build-

ply, the weather – even when taking into account

ings, of which 50% were timber structures. On

rious attempts to overcome the housing crisis,

the changing climate – remains one of the few

average, 25000 burnt down annually, of which

at a time when many people still lived in ruins.

3

Ibid, p. 107.

5

M. Grabski, op cit., p. 158, footnote 545.

4

Archival materials from that study are kept at

6

T. Seweryn, Izby wiejskie i warsztaty przemysłu

2

M. Grabski, Ochrona budownictwa drewnianego.

4

The Post-war era was also marked by labo-

Małopolskie realizacje skansenowskie w końcu XIX

the Seweryn Udziela Ethnographic Museum in

ludowego w Muzeum Etnograficznym w Krakowie.

i w XX wieku, Kraków 2012, p. 184.

Kraków.

Przewodnik, Kraków 1952, p. 3.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 96

SOURCE: CULTURAL CONTEXTS DOCUMENTATION DEPARTMENT OF THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL MUSEUM IN KRAKÓW

As David Crowley notes, recalling Jan Minor-

borrowed from another field. When researchers

ski’s Architektura samorzutna (Spontaneous ar-

write about the tainted identity at the times of mi-

chitecture) from the 1963 edition of Architektu-

gration within Communist Poland, of city careers

ra monthly, and referring to Bernard Rudolf-

made by peasants; when they recall the many im-

sky’s “architecture without architects” , this was

ages of uprooting found throughout Polish lit-

also a time of treating the resources of the new

erature, they describe a world in which a new

landscape in a creative and useful way. Minor-

identity is moulded out of elements that were at

ski wrote about the suburbs, areas poor in tim-

hand 9 – improvising, and yet remaining in con-

ber but which provided many other types of con-

nection with the landscape. If today we were to

struction debris, and he emphasized the fact that

study the development of the cottage in south-

it was post-war poverty that had forced this way

ern Poland, what could we add to Jerzy Czajkow-

of thinking which involved locally available ma-

ski’s observations? One thing is certain: hous-

terial. As a result, the housing situation of those

es in the countryside are no longer built of tim-

who opted for improvisation was significantly

ber. When entered in a web search engine, the

improved. How classic this trend has turned out

phrase “wooden house for demolition” produces

to be is demonstrated by contemporary single

a specific catalogue of situations, in which there

and environment-friendly, clay houses are an ex-

family housing, often filled with makeshift yet

is no longer any functionality other than the vi-

treme example of the distance that comes from

extremely durable solutions, showcasing a syn-

sion of an empty plot, cleared for some future

what is nearest – the local variety of earth, which

thesis of past decades. The scale and the thrust of

purpose. Czajkowski wrote that in the 19th cen-

can become a building material. Log houses, in

the implemented “temporary solutions” caused

tury, brick houses were considered worse than

a universal model version, tempt very few. Ex-

them to blend into the master plans of the built

timber ones; they were perceived as poor. Today,

perts in fitting moss insulation in the space be-

homes, turning this illegal spontaneity into a dis-

villagers would discourage inexperienced new-

tween the beams get only rare commissions from

tinctive feature of the Polish landscape.

comers, potential settlers – who may have had

open-air museums, whereas obtaining the proper

a vision of a cottage in the country – from build-

species of moss for the purpose is in fact illegal,

es on the landscape is found in the houses impro-

ing a wooden house amongst the latest catalogue

and for the record, those craftsmen use wheat-

vised out of a range of materials, and the abun-

homes built of hollow cement blocks, and they

grass rather than moss. People find the referenc-

dance of the solutions applied, even in single fam-

would most certainly never dream of such an out-

es to the material, to the local landscape, puzzling

ily housing. This tradition is embedded in the

landish idea themselves. Timber is costly; cheap-

to say the least. They are tolerated only as an atti-

rigour of the coping system – in the sense of cop-

er materials and the marketing strategies of con-

tude specific to the expert custodians of open-air

ing with the difficult material reality, and there-

crete manufacturers have replaced the gesture

museums, merely historically linked to the local-

fore, thrift, self-sufficiency, and self-determina-

of belonging to the local world, expressed in the

ly inhabited world of homes and landscapes. And

tion – as Tomasz Rakowski put it – telling the sto-

local material. Today, old houses that have been

with that in mind, it is impossible not to think

ry of the auto-creative function it performs. At

demolished are less likely to be chopped up for

that the unchanging direction of the strong wind,

the same time, perhaps creating new forms out of

firewood, because the material thus obtained is

and the presence of the constantly flowing river,

what is handy, useful, and mergeable is a solution

valued by west European builders as a rarity. To-

are the only truly clear, organic and visible links

day, “masonry” means specialization in making

to the place. Is this a point where something can

gravestones. Perceived as radically ecological

be woven in; perhaps a suggested theme, whence

7

Another trace of these kinds of local influenc-

8

7

D. Crowley, Chłop w mieście, [in:] Polska – kraj folklo-

an improvisation might begin?

ru?, ed. J. Kordjak, transl. I. Suchan, Warszawa 2016, p. 78.

8

9

Zob. B. Brzostek, Czy folklor wszedł do śródmieścia?

T. Rakowski, Łowcy, zbieracze, praktycy niemocy,

O motywach ludowych w PRL, [in:] Polska – kraj

Gdańsk: Słowo/obraz terytoria, 2009.

folkloru?, op. cit., p. 58.

autoportret 2 [57] 2017 | 97

Translation from Polish: Dorota Wąsik

Materials from field research by Jerzy Czajkowski

Fundacja bęc zmiana prezentuje

kapitalizm historia krótkiego trWania

kacper pobłocki

p u k az! r e t W dobrych i złych księgarniach www.beczmiana.pl/sklep

ÁKOS MORÁVANSZKY

Master’s degree program in Architectural Engineering. Her

MARTIN VARGA

tecture. Curator of architectural exhibitions. Board mem-

Professor of Architectural The-

research interests include the history of construction and

Architect, PhD student at the In-

ber of the Instytut Architektury [Institute of Architecture]

ory at the Federal Institute of

engineering, as well as the preservation of modernist archi-

stitute of History and Theory of

Foundation.

Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). He

tecture. Curator of architectural exhibitions, among others:

Architecture and Monument

obtained his doctorate at the Vi-

Pier Luigi Nervi. Architecture as challenge, MAXXI, Rome,

Conservation, at the Slovak Tech-

enna University of Technology.

2010-2011 (more information: www.sixxi.eu).

nical University (STU) in Bratisla-

Architect, graduate of the Faculty

va. Member of the Archimera As-

of Architecture, Warsaw Univer-

He was a researcher at the Get-

MACIEJ MIŁOBĘDZKI

ty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in San-

SERGIO PORETTI

sociation (http://www.archimera.sk), bringing together stu-

sity of Technology. From 1984 to

ta Monica, and visiting professor at the Massachusetts Insti-

Professor at Tor Vergata Univer-

dents and young architecture graduates. Co-founder of the

1988 he worked in the Spółdziel-

tute of Technology, among others. His research and publica-

sity in Rome, where he lectures

“Ô” studio (www.studiuo.com), specialising in designs apply-

nia Pracy Twórczej Architek-

tions concern the history of Eastern and Central European

on the subject of architectural

ing local construction details.

tów i Artystów Plastyków [Cre-

architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries and the history of

structures. He specializes in the

architectural theory.

history of construction, preser-

DANIELA MAJZLANOVÁ

chitects and Artists]. Co-founder of JEMS Architekci studio,

vation of modernist architecture

ative Work Cooperative of ArArchitect, studied at the Acade-

where he has focused all his architectural activities since

KENNETH FRAMPTON

and engineering accomplishments in the Italian architecture

my of Fine Arts (VŠVU) in Brati-

1988. Supervisor of diploma theses at the Faculty of Archi-

British architect, architectural

of the 1930s. From 1990 to 2007 he chaired DoCoMoMo

slava, received her Master’s de-

tecture, Poznań University of Technology. Since 2008 he

critic and historian, professor at

Italia – the Italian branch of the International Committee

gree at the Academy of Fine Arts

has been teaching at the Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw

the Graduate School of Architec-

for Documentation and Conservation of Building, Sites and

in Vienna. PhD student at the In-

University of Technology. Laureate of the SARP Honorary

ture, Planning and Preservation at

Neighbourhoods of Modern Movement.

stitute of History and Theory of

Award (2002).

Columbia University in New York.

Architecture and Monument Conservation at the Slovak JURKO PROCHAŚKO

One of the most recognized histo-

Technical University (STU) in Bratislava.

MAGDALENA ZYCH

rians of modernist architecture around the world, he played

Essayist and translator. He pub-

a significant role in the development of architectural phenom-

lishes in the “Krytyka” journal

KAMILA TWARDOWSKA

from the Jagiellonian Univer-

enology. His most important texts written over a period of

in Kiev; in Poland – in “Tygodnik

Architectural historian, PhD stu-

sity. At the Ethnographic Mu-

35 years have been collected in the Anthology titled Labour,

Powszechny”. German Philolo-

dent at the Institute of Art His-

seum in Kraków, she coordi-

Work and Architecture (London & New York, Phaidon, 2002).

gist by education, he has translat-

tory of the Jagiellonian Univer-

nates research projects, includ-

ed Musil and Roth, among others.

sity. She works in the Depart-

JAROSŁAW SZEWCZYK

Translator of Polish essays (including Kołakowski and Wit-

Architect, graduate and research-

tlin). He lives in Lviv.

er of the Faculty of Architecture at

Ethnographer, graduated

ing “dzieło-działka” [At the Allot-

ment of Architecture and Urban

ment] (completed project) and “Wesele 21” [Wedding 21]. As

Planning at the Kraków Histori-

a PhD student at the Institute of Ethnology and Cultural An-

cal Museum. Author of the monograph on the architect Fry-

thropology of the Jagiellonian University, she is exploring contemporary ethnographic collections.

Białystok University of Technolo-

ROMAN RUTKOWSKI

deryk Tadanier (Kraków: Instytut Architektury, 2016) and

gy (since 1996; in 2006 he obtained

Architect, owner of the Wrocław

many academic and popular publications. Designer of exhi-

his PhD from the Warsaw Uni-

studio Roman Rutkowski

bition spaces.

versity of Technology; followed

Architects, winner of the Europe

JANA TICHÁ Art historian, graduate of

by postdoctoral degree in 2012). Author of numerous publica-

40 Under 40 Award for the

STANISŁAW DEŃKO

the Masaryk University. Edi-

tions devoted to architecture. He has a passion for running.

best European architects of the

Polish architect. Founder and

tor-in-Chief of the “Zlatý řez”.

young generation, architectural

CEO of a Cracovian architec-

She lectures on modernist and

JUHANI PALLASMAA

critic collaborating with several architectural magazines in

tural office “Wizja”. Lectur-

contemporary architecture at

Finnish architect, Professor

Poland and abroad, lecturer at the faculties of architecture

er at the Cracow Academy, and

Emeritus at the Helsinki Universi-

at the Wrocław University of Technology in Wrocław and

the Faculty of Architecture, Cra-

ture and Design, and at the Faculty of Architecture of the

ty of Technology and visiting pro-

the Slovak University of Technology (STU) Bratislava.

cow University of Technology;

Czech Technical University in Prague. Author of numer-

fessor at several American uni-

the Academy of Arts, Architec-

in the years 1995-1999 chief architect of the City of Kraków;

ous publications devoted to architecture, co-author of the

versities (Washington University

DOROTA LEŚNIAK-RYCHLAK

Vice President for Creativity in the Management Board of

exhibition in the Czech Republic and Slovakia Pavilion at

in St. Louis, University of Illinois).

Editor-in-chief of the Autoportret

the SARP Polish Architects’ Association and SARP Kraków

the 12th Biennale of Architecture in Venice in 2010.

Juhani Pallasmaa’s thinking is rooted in the experience of ar-

quarterly, curator of architec-

Branch. Laureate of the SARP 2016 Honorary Award.

chitecture and general reflection upon the human condition,

tural exhibitions, author and

but it takes into account the wide spectrum of cultural stimu-

editor of publications on modern

MARTA KARPIŃSKA

Architect and scenographer.

li, and finds its footing in various philosophical and aesthetic

and contemporary architecture.

Assistant Editor of the Autopor-

Since 2012, together with Bar-

traditions. As such, it is an attempt at a holistic view of the re-

Co-founder and President

tret quarterly. Curator of archi-

bara Nawrocka, they have made

DOMINIKA WILCZYŃSKA

lationship between man and his environment and of the role

of the Instytut Architektury [Institute of Architecture]

tectural exhibitions, author and

up the “Palce Lizać” Collective,

that the human body and senses play in it. Two books by Pal-

Foundation.

editor of publications on modern

which deals with issues of urban

lasma have been published in the Polish language to date: The

and contemporary architecture.

space in close collaboration with

Eyes of the Skin. Architecture and the Senses (Oczy skóry. Ar-

DAMAS GRUSKA

chitektura i zmysły, Kraków: Instytut Architektury, 2012) and

University lecturer and publi-

The Thinking Hand. Existential and Embodied Wisdom in Ar-

cist. He regularly writes for lead-

chitecture (Myśląca dłoń. Egzystencjalna i ucieleśniona mą-

ing Slovak newspapers and mag-

MICHAŁ WIŚNIEWSKI

KUBA SKOCZEK

drość w architekturze, Kraków: Instytut Architektury, 2015).

azines. In 2004 he founded the

Art historian and architect, in-

Visual artist. He works in graph-

“K&S” cultural magazine, and

terested in links between mod-

ic design, especially posters and

TULLIA IORI

acted as its editor-in-chief for the

ernist architecture and politics

books. He creates projects of in-

She studied land engineering and

next four years.

in the context of Central Europe.

terdisciplinary character, mov-

did her PhD in that field. Since

Lecturer at the Cracow Universi-

ing in the areas of art installa-

2013, she has been a professor at

ty of Economics and an employ-

tion, film, design, street art and

Board member of the Instytut Architektury [Institute of Architecture] Foundation.

Tor Vergata University in Rome,

ee of the International Cultural Centre in Kraków. Fulbright

where she coordinates a five-year

scholarship holder. Author of many publications on archi-

the residents and users thereof. Co-founder of the Zakład Usług Miejskich [Municipal Services] Association.

conceptual art.

All the phenomena directly accessible to immediate description are like symptoms or a dream to be analyzed. In the same way, we should have to be prepared to conduct our research up to the stable images and the permanent dreams which make up a nation's cultural resources and which feed its spontaneous judgments and its least elaborated reactions regarding experienced situations. Images and symbols constitute what might be called the awakened dream of a historical group. It is in this sense that I speak of the ethico-mythical nucleus which constitutes the cultural resources of a nation. One may, therefore, think that the riddle of human diversity lies in the structure of this subconscious or unconscious.

The strange thing, in fact, is that there are many cultures and not a single humanity.

The mere fact that there are different languages is already very disturbing and seems to indicate that as far back as history allows us to go, one finds historical shapes which are coherent and closed, constituted cultural wholes. Right from the start, so it seems, man is different from man; the shattered condition of languages is the most obvious sign of this primitive in cohesion. This is the astonishing thing: humanity is not established in a single cultural style but has "congealed" in coherent closed historical shapes: the cultures. The human condition is such that different contexts of civilization are possible.

Paul Ricoeur, Universal Civilization and National Cultures