Janusz Barnaś

Observations concerning multifunctional sport and entertainment facilities of London indicate a number of problems associated with their use. These large and undoubtedly expensive buildings should be designed in a way enabling their flexible use and change of their functional layout taking into account the adaptation to requirements and trends, which in the extreme case, were not known at the moment of creating the objectives and design of these facilities. Sometimes, before the completion of construction process, its handover and opening, it turns out, that functional solutions are not following the latest standards of this buildings’ type. A separate issue is the construction of special purpose buildings, which by reason of their single use or unique character of the event, for which they were designed and constructed, have to be later adjusted to the needs of everyday use or dismantled.

With the evolution of architectural form, the notion of the façade and its look undergoes changes as well. The paper discusses modern solutions applied in external curtain walls of buildings and presents new capabilities provided by new construction materials including double-skin façades. The paper presents buildings that achieved high energy efficiency due to, among other factors, adequate façade construction

The essay discusses the issues related to the phenomenon of inspiration in the process of creating architectural forms. The sources of such inspiration are particularly evident during the process of developing temporary architecture, or architecture which does not have a clear function, or in fact none at all, being more of a sculpture than a building. Structures of this type usually reflect the idea behind them in the most vivid manner – the idea that first settled in the mind of its creator.

The sketch is an inseparable part of the process of creating an architectural space, being present at every stage of its development ‒ during the stage when an idea is formed, all the way to the moment of the work itself. It is useful as a means of writing down an architect’s thoughts, in presenting his work to a client, as well as a supporting tool during the process of overseeing the construction of a building. Thanks to its indeterminate nature it stimulates the imagination during the early stages of design, being at the same time the easiest means of communicating one’s thoughts on the construction site. The article outlines the usefulness of the sketch as a tool that an architect can use, basing on the examples provided by contemporary creators of architecture.