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ALCHEMISTS’ HOUSE – ARCHITECTURE PARLANTE IN POST-FUNCTIONALIST ERA
Abstract
Architecture of the Alchemists’ House, which was carried out according to a design of Dariusz Koz?owski in Mochnackiego street in Cracow, inspired cogitation on architecture parlante and threads of significance in architecture of the post-functionalist era. Architecture parlante was born in France and it means „speaking architecture” – expressing through its form, details and general character of a building, content and meaning carried by the architectural work. Turning to the past, postmodern architecture returns to the expression of architectural form, conveying its destiny, but above all, the content value, material and semantic, of the architectural work. The postmodern architecture parlante balances between figurative motives drawn from history or imagination, symbolism and abstract expression of geometry, it is ambiguous and perverse, subordinated to conventions adopted by architects. Individual dialects of creators take under consideration expression of form and architectural composition – symbolism and conciseness of geometry, the meaning of figurative motives: sculptures, details and ornaments. In his architectural and painting work Dariusz Koz?owski advocates a formal and content labyrinth, redefining the concept of architecture parlante. The architect, taking from resources of imagination, uses the language of forms drawn “from the past”, which he subjectively reinterprets, building new, processed meanings. Expressive, mysterious and theatrical architecture of the Alchemists’ House is complemented by a sculpture of the Mouth molded in concrete, evoking the trademark of the lipsticks producer HEAN cosmetics factory. The sculpture, nonchalantly leaning against the entrance elevation, shows the surreal character of this architecture.
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