Scholarly record

NEW CULTURAL BUILDINGS AS CATALYSTS FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF PUBLIC SPACES - SELECTED POLISH EXAMPLES

Mateusz Gyurkovich

Abstract

The article presents a study of cultural buildings and hybrid cultural complexes that have been built throughout the last decade in many cities in Poland as a result of the „Bilbao effect”, focusing on the improvement of the quality and attractiveness of urban public spaces due to their construction. The research method used in the work was based on desk research, on-site research, as well as a comparative analysis of selected examples, referring them to cases known from literature. The base for the research undertaken by the author were well-known architectural and urban planning theories and manifestoes, studies on urban sociology and the principles of universal design referring to the creation of friendly public spaces within cities. Structures and complexes associated with culture, built in Polish cities of varying scale, were selected for the analysis. It was proven that, in many cases, their construction caused changes to or the urban regeneration of the accompanying public spaces, while sometimes they also became the catalysts for the transformation of neighbouring areas. Depending on their placement within the urban structure, as well as their programme and the scale of a given structure or complex, some of the built projects led to changes in the perception of their entire respective urban organisms, while others remained isolated islands, whose influence was limited only to their immediate vicinity. It appears that functionally and formally attractive built projects, in combination with accompanying generally accessible spaces, can lead to an improvement in the quality of urban systems of public spaces, as well as to making the public domain more attractive only under the condition of making them a part of citywide development plans and transformation strategies.

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