The following article describes Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s fresco, Effects of Good Government, introduces the artist and the period when he worked. The author also describes his own artistic experiences in relation to the fresco.

The city is lauded as one of the most important products of civilisation. However, cities differ from each other, and socialist cities are an altogether different phenomenon. All types of so- cialist cities share one characteristic – they have no social spaces. The article faces the issue of revitalisation of post-socialist cities through redevelopment of their public spaces.

Buildings maintain their original shape for some time after their completion. Thereafter, they begin to deteriorate gradually. Their technical and aesthetical longevity is diverse and depends on many acting factors. First of all, the rules of building art should be obeyed while designing and constructing as well as the selection of adequate building materials is necessary. A very important factor, which determines their durability, is the local climate. The most adverse climatic conditions for buildings are in the coastal localities. One can perceive there best the impact of particular climatic factors on accelerated deterioration of building structures, as opposed to other more advantageous geographical situations. The paper presents the results of observations in situ and the analysis of technical and aesthetical condition of selected buildings in some cities in the Netherlands and Spain, with the aim of elucidating the reasons of their aesthetical and technical deterioration.

It is a common sentiment that concrete is the symbol and essence of materiality in architecture. For many designers the experience of concrete – the liquid stone – is the moment of getting the primeval insight into the nature of architecture and a confirmation that all that exists in the sphere of architecture has some form and matter. From this source spring the works of many an architect. In the following article three examples of Parisian architectural designs are presented, ones that have had influence over the development of ideas in modern architecture. Concrete buildings of Auguste Perret, Le Corbusier and the Beckmann N’Thépé atelier constitute the proof that confirms the thesis that some ideas remain, while others pass – the concrete matter, even though it is subjected to changes, has remained for a hundred years firmly united with the thought that brings the physical shape of architecture to fruition.

Among the representatives of German historicism there are two who occupy the most prominent position: Conrad Wilhelm Hase, a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (at first a student in Hanover) and Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a student of the Berlin Building Academy. Among the wide oeuvre of these artists, sacred architecture is of essential importance. numerous temples designed by them have become separate chapters of forms, shaped in a separate, individual stylistic trend. Among the many realizations of other contemporary authors, Schinkel and Hase developed their own model of sacred object, which serves as a canvas for experiments with forms of historicism.

Public space in its physical aspects is considered commonly accessible. Over the course of time, its traditional, historical forms have been transformed and re-interpreted. Once pragmatic, representative, evocative and symbolic, public spaces are now embodying new forms of relationships. The article analyses the social nature of public space regarded integral part of urban morphology on the example of Curtural Congress Centre in Lucerne and National Museum Art Centre in Madrid, both by Jean Nouvel. Since his early works, Nouvel has shown particular interest for blurring the boarders and integrating interior with exterior. In the first of the two examples, the surrounding landscape has been integrated with the interior, in the later – the entire city. This approach is analogical to the one presented in the Nuova Topografia di Roma (1748) by Giambattista Nolli where enclosed public spaces (porches, courtyards, etc.) and public interiors (mostly referred to churches) are undoubtedly an extension of streets and squares. It is the general approach for contenporary public building design to make a building strongly interlaced with the network of open public spaces rather than an isolated entiny.

Ceaseless advancement changes the history of cities and their smaller spatial structures at a fast pace. Public urban spaces are subjected to transformations, as they wish to live up to demands of modern day – they yearn to delight with their novel character, idiosyncrasy, the magic of technology. Large metorpolises of China, which exist within the milieu of mass culture, have dynamically severed the ties with the ambience of traditional orderliness so as to pave way for the creation of new architecture – unpredicted and signifying the modern times. Crowded public spaces prepare the ground for the icons of modern architecture. They serve as places where the very icons can be studied. In that case, do they fulfill their essential function of strengthening social bonds?

Theatre architecture remains one of the oldest and most durable types of building. It has accompanied the European civilization from the times of ancient Greece. At that time, there were three principal types of performances. The first was dramatic plays, the second – music recitals and the third – sports events. The performances took place, respectively, in theaters, odeons and stadiums (or hippodromes). The ancient Greek theatre is indisputably a model for contemporary theatre architecture. One of the biggest Greek theatres was the Dionysus Theatre, located on the south slope of Acropolis in Athens, with an auditorium from 5th century B.C. Its neighbour is a substantially younger Herodus Atticus Odeon, an example of Roman theatre based on Greek model. The ancient odeon is also a „prototype” – its examples are the no longer existing buildings of the Pericles Odeon, or the Agrippa Odeon. The models of the contemporary en-ronde theatre can be seen in the form of Greek stadium, the prototype of Roman amphitheatre. Relations of theatre and its ancient archetypes are still very strong, and the deliberations about Greek theatre still relevant today, as they continue to serve as a basis for research of contemporary theatre architecture.

In the modern-day transformations of cities and regions in Europe, maintaining and emphasizing one’s own identity is a substantial problem. It refers especially to industrial areas, in particular the ones connected with exploitation of natural resources through different mining techniques. The example of east Bavaria shows that mining areas and buildings can still be a basis of regional identity – regardless of current state of mining activity. Bavarian cities, referred to in the course of the article, represent different stages of development of mining function – from active industrial exploitation, through the phase of liquidation of mines, until the post-industrial period, in which the remains of mining industry, retained in different states, no longer perform their original role. During the analysis of the identity of mining towns, all of the above stages were taken into consideration. The essence of this identity in contemporary development and functioning of both deep and opencast mines was of particular importance. The conclusions that are drawn from the deliberation, not only point towards the crucial role of mining function in the shaping of historical and contemporary identity of selected Bavarian towns, but are also an interesting background for analogical research of the numerous mining centres in Poland.

Krakow town houses from the turn of the 20th century have mainly distinct character, in spite of many similarities and analogies to architecture of Paris, Rennes, Vienna and Graz among (among others applying similar materials and decorative motives). Their elevations have mid- level forms between sobriety and moderation of French houses, and mainly decorative of Vienna ones (and some of Paris). Town houses described in the paper were connected with the history of cities, set in the tradition of local images and techniques.

Rome, as the headquarter of fascist Italy, became the place where il Duce was fulfilling his dreams of restoring the Great Empire. The architecture that appeared in the times of the dictator, is as much progressive (it has roots in the early 20th century European Avant-garde art), as it is traditional – through its references to ideas of culture and nation. In the course of the article, I presented the conditions that gave rise to fascist architecture in Rome. Daring architectural designs, connected with widening the streets, construction of new districts, highlighting the ancient monuments, led to destruction of parts of the city (mass evictions, damaged Renaissance and Baroque monuments). Realization of those enterprises was possible only during authoritarian rule – Mussolini had no difficulty either in commissioning the construction of the new, or destruction of the old buildings. At the threshold of the approaching war, Italian architecture performed primarily an ideological function, and secondarily, it fulfilled the material and aesthetic needs of the nation.

The article presents the problems connected with the transformation of urban structures, which use the existing resources. A more in-depth analysis was conducted in terms of chosen methods of urban recycling that help to both preserve the deteriorating buildings and places in cities, and to use them temporarily while waiting for the final modernization.

Tokyo, one of the global cities – so multi-threaded, vast, that almost indescribable. This article attempts to present an overview of the city and selected examples of contemporary architecture, that permanently inscribing in the canon of architecture, not only certify their affiliation with the art of building, but also enable to show the characteristic icons of Tokyo. Simultaneously, attention was directed to the role of the tectonics of architectural form, and the shape of buildings with respect to its observer’s perception of architecture.

The following article was inspired both by the famed first line of Endymion by John Keats – “A thing of beauty is a joy forever” and by reflections on Danish design. Reflections on the central role of design in Danish life coincided with the publication by philosopher Ronald Dworkin Religion without God (2013, polish ed. 2014). The article is a brief analysis of as- sociations and similarities between the attitude of Danish design companies and the concepts proposed by Dworkin.