Identity of a place or architectural adaptations of
building structures.
Leaning towards individualism and subjectivism inheres in every one of
us in spite of culture, tradition or social ranking and also determines our
personality. No doubt, cultural environment decides if there is a field for
development or limitation or suppression by conditions of collective life.
No matter how it gets, we try to emphasize our likes and tastes not
only by individual character of our behavior or apparel but also by selecting
spatial values in which we are meant to live.
This aspiration for individual opinion, distinction in creating a
spatial reality has been appreciated from long ago. That has been proved by
architectural heritage and material culture artifacts. For "architecture"
there is particular and remarkable way of creating physical and social, "hidden-found"
identification. Ipso facto, the personality of each of us can be analyzed by
specific rules of identity in reference to culture which delegates uniqueness of
each place as well as its public meaning.
Each period of history, nearer or further, is conductive for defining
its principal values and differentiates some directions and visions of reality,
including spatial reality.
As a result of developing variability in particular periods of history
there are preferences in life style, ways of habitation and configurations of
surroundings. Also, it is perceived that in spite of cultural continuity, from
time to time, there are favorable circumstances for more radical
transformations when dissimilarity of points of view involves changes in
conception of spatial reality configuration. Such phenomenon is called
progress, modernity. Today, when technology still remains an important aspect
of our life, society demands it to be humanized and more social. There is a
question, heard more often these days, about public utility buildings which
have often been improved like shopping malls or hypermarkets built in such
large numbers - is it a fact that its "coldness" in creating social
spaces, so called common spaces, produced a feeling of strangeness in social
perception?
Without doubt, its loneliness and irrelevant scale in comparison with
surrounding causes anxiety. It can be said that generating cultural emptiness
by huge shopping malls became a fact.
It is obvious that identification with environment we live in exists
more or less in every human. We identify with a place where we have been
raised, with home, street or district.
We like to stay in buildings where we feel good, those, in relation to
its architectural form or function, we have established emotional bond with,
what is proved by aesthetic experiences coming from admiring glances at museum
exhibitions.
Man tries to organize space in a way that it fits his biological and
social needs and meets so called higher level values like cultural and
religious ones.
Architecture can support that process to a high degree.
Therefore marketability of spatial values will be shaped in relation to
conscious choice of elements dragging attention and also as a reason of
satisfying needs of individuals and social groups.
Effective perception of those attractive places in a space is depended
also on inner humans’ needs. But for sure, there are going to be open space
areas which are related to realization of social goals.
Today, we look for self-renewal culture of manners, new life style
which is all about making humane decisions based on hierarchy of values, beauty
of the surrounding; we look for that in manners, clothing, art, ethics,
generally in everyday life.
Criteria of forming a space from the visual point of view or based on
social moods and emotions are not measurable – that is why, we can not point
out the exact rules and ways of acting. The important matter, which has to be
considerate is a particular game or opposites between tradition and progress.
At on hand, there is a need of maintenance the continuum, which
according to sociologists is a condition of society self-determination and
rests on utilization of generative values and at the other hand, there is a necessity
of experimentations, what technologists call “trail production”. [1]
Contemporary buildings of public utility have to create those feelings
and we know that it comes along with time, patina of the walls, social
acceptation and if there is one condition accomplished – a condition of high
esthetical quality of those buildings.
Without doubt, first of all this architecture has to become a part of
the surrounding to get accepted. In that period of time it remains in a process
of esthetical verification and social judgment.
In 1998 European Council of
Spatial Planners enacted The New Charter of Athens, where the chapter
“Satisfying The Needs Of The City Of Tomorrow And The Aspirations Of Citizens”
says about meaning of cultural values for city development to underline the cultural diversity of
social groups, local identification, and strengthen identity by maintenance of
traditional values. United Nations conferences and international debates about
natural environment condition also emphasize meaning of cultural values for
sustainable, spatial city development. Unanimously culture became the fourth,
beside economy, sociology and ecology, important factor of proper city
structure formations.
Therefore, in urban planning
there is still important as follows:
-
cultural tradition, respect for history and rules of historical
heritage preservation both in material and immaterial meaning
-
cultural expression
-
everyday social life culture; acceptation of differences, elimination
of xenophobia and racism
Architects show an urgent need of finding solutions for spatial issues
such as multithreaded strategies of changes and evolution of urban spaces
including renovation, related to the necessity for revitalization of untidy
districts, both residential and industrial.
Therefore, it seems that, one of some elements solving projects of
historical heritage protection in question, there is adaptation of existing
architectural structures related with utilitarian function or even with religious
worship.
Aforesaid groups of objects usually have historical, historic values,
but often there is only sentimental value. However, deeply grounded in its
historical roots, they determine place identity and because of its genius loci
they are noticed as an inseparable part of a bigger, spatial entirety of
extraordinary cultural and esthetic attributes.
It is a result of the fact, that these buildings are individual in
their form and in public perception, connected with environment, accepted.
Also what matters is their location which in most cases bases on crystallized
urban concentrated settlement. Often, according to its technical condition, it
is easier to design and build in their place a new building. Also accumulation
of profits and losses eliminates process of adaptation to a new function.
In highly developed countries, where investment cost should be a
crucial factor, more and more, there are seen examples of giving up mathematics
to immeasurable values, ipso facto timeless ones. In support of those actions
there are words by John Dewey, that " ideas are real if they grow out of
social ground".
Innovative look at adaptations of old, industrial buildings is
presented by B. Tschumi in his work about "Le Fresony"[2].
He analyzes ways of solving adaptations by giving an example of above mentioned
building; pays attention to the fact that, if we destroy old buildings we will
lose "magic of a place”, which is so hard to create, at the other hand, if
a feeling of mission makes us to reconvert it all to its original state we do
not accept any challenge of new branches of art, which take the old issue and
activate it by new relations and supplements to make a new space by imposition the
‘new one’ on the ‘old one’. After Tschumi there comes into existence new “space
between” for “usual and unusual behaviors”.
Tchumi also claims that the old reality has a chance to give a
background for a new one, and the new one – this “multifunctional space”[3]
becomes a new urban quality of XXI century, which strategically uses urban
issue from the beginning of XX century. According to Tchumi, the most precious
fact is the clash of history and presence.
Preservation, renovation and change of old
urban structure indulge in a pause, in reflection which everyone whom it may
concern will experience new urban policy system. A goal of that system would be
to plan and to exploit our historical environment to create a new urban
culture.
With regard to limited number of architectural objects like these
(wars, planning tear downs, spatial chaos policy) we should treat them with
reverence and imagination. New function in these buildings brings something
more than just "commercial area", something what we are not able to
find in new-built hypermarkets. This is spirit of a history, rooted color of surrounding,
orientation point in a city structure.
At last but not least, there is tradition of a place and building
itself. For some charm comes from companionship and for others it is a place
they remember from childhood. Whichever intentions people have, they want to
reach their aim, so they come exactly "here", not somewhere else.
Individual aim is subordinated to what we call "atmosphere of a place".
When a place gains character, starts to have an atmosphere, than it stands out
among others. It can be a historical place, surviving or reconstructed fragment
of space. A place linked both with memory, identity and imagination. Relocation
to a historical place but modernly reconfigured is an equivalent of
"return to home".
PhD
Tomasz Kapecki
Cracow
University of Technology
Faculty of
Architecture
Warszawska 24 str.
31-155 Cracow
Poland