An urban design manifesto prepared in 1980 by two eminent US urban design practitioners and theoreticians s revisited to ascertain its relevance today. The original work was organised in three parts: 1) Problems for Modern Urban Design, 2) Goals for Urban Life and 3) An Urban Fabric for an Urban Life. This examination focuses on the first part to assess eh extent to which the problems are still relevant, how they need to be modified or augmented in the light of current problems. The Manifesto identifies eight separate sets of problems and this study expands the first problem that of poor living environments so that it is discussed under five sub problems which were not identified by the original authors but proposed in this paper as being of growing concern. They are; Pollution, Extreme Weather Events, Demographic Change, Obesity and Security. The relevance of these to urban form is discussed. The other seven of the Manifesto problems have been grouped for discussion in this paper under two headings. It is suggested that the first group of four are closely related to one another and have been exacerbated since the publication of the original Manifesto by ongoing processes of globalisation and deregulation. These are; Giantism and Loss of Control, Large-scale Privatisation and the Loss of Public Life, Rootless Professionalism and Injustice.
The final group of three problems consists of those which while being a consequent of the same political/ economic processes have been and remain central concerns of urbanists. They are Destruction of Valued Places,
Placelessness, and Centrifugal Fragmentation. While professional skills have been directed to seeking solutions to
these problems their implementation has been less effective and unforeseen consequences have emerged such as
Green Belts restricting urban growth but increasing the dispersal of populations and increasing traffic movements. With respect to the problems it identified as being of concern for urban design, the Manifesto has proved remarkable resilient over the last 30 years. All the problems are still central and are even more severe than when the Manifesto was first drafted. Under the heading of Poor Living Environments it has been considered appropriate to outline in more detail some issues which have become even more acute. However a major concern, not covered in the original work, is the growing awareness of the importance of urban ecosystems and how human settlements are threatening natural habitats and even changing global systems to the extent that it is claimed a new geological age has been entered – the Anthropocene.

What exactly means the term ‘the sense of the city’? How can we answer this question precisely if we are not sure what a city is? Is it an accident on a map or form of art? Is it a symbol of culture or symbol of power? We could multiply questions but there is no simple answer. But we are professionals and people living around are waiting for our reasoning; therefore, we have to verify visible trends in the 21st century city that apply to all, both new and old, approaches to city planning. Ultimately, we have to try to build the model of the City of Harmonious Development meaning.

The major metropolises of the world face several problems due to their rapid growth. From among these, it is considered that Chinese cities in particular deserve special attention due to the diversity of challenges they face. Out of the 1,367,820,000 population of China in 2014, 54.77% constituted the urban population1 – this figure takes on more relevance when we consider that only sixty-five years ago, just 10.64% of the population was urban. From the total population of the country, about 17% live in the ten most major cities and their metropolitan areas2. Taking into account the relevance of the metropolis in the Chinese context, we propose a set of topics, challenges and trends in contemporary urbanization in China.

Beginning with definitions of the terms ‘city’ and ‘suburbs’, this article discusses the transformation of the urban settlement patterns, identifying the changes in the ‘forms of living’ and the cultural factors that have produced them, with particular reference to Latin America. Factors that are shared – also chronologically – with the Countries of the Mediterranean Europe (but not only) and involve cultural, social and economic globalized issues.

The paper presents the particular form of an urban block, divided into plots and built up with detached buildings. This form is derived from the single-family housing and has been adapted for multifamily housing purpose.

Network of settlements in the Carpathians was formed during the Middle Ages for most of the area. In the process of its creation, the most important factor was the presence of transit routes connecting northern and southern routes as well as the piedmont extending from east to west. Cities were invested in along all of these routes. In most planning documents, prepared at the national and provincial level, tradition was based on the development of tourism, leisure and spa treatment, in the southern Polish. Today, this development directs the main focus primarily on the towns and areas with high natural resources and cultural values. Therefore, this tendency becomes the source of conflict. Finally, the potential of the social resources, intellectual and business people of the region has not yet been fully utilised.

We are surrounded by architecture on an everyday basis, we all encounter it; therefore, we should make sure it is useful, beautiful, and harmonious. Architecture is created for man, for people, for society. For this reason, it has to exhibit appropriate practical and artistic values. It should create a beautiful, harmonious space. It is imperative to provide residents with good contact with nature in the urban living environment, and attractive public spaces of an urban character. Architecture created lately in Cracow consists of new city landmarks, as well as of growing number of residential developments of different scale, which has been built in vacant (sometimes green) areas. Are they all fulfilling the needs of the contemporary society? Over recent years, the attitudes and awareness of Cracow residents have changed, most of all in the subject of the cleanness of air, noise, and ecology. Today, we all wish to live in a city which is healthy, hence the efforts to make sure that both contemporary architecture and public transport are ecological and do not emit pollution and noise. Is this possible to achieve in a city in which the planning policy is dependent on the insufficient legal documents (study of development, instead of master plan)? The examples presented in this paper shows that, at least in Cracow, the situation is slowly changing for better

The space of the Trzech Wieszczów Avenues, which has opened up the development of Krakow in a Poland that had become united after World War I, has presently become dominated by transport functions. It is one of the most recognisable urban spaces, along which many outstanding works of architecture and important public forms of use are located. The forecasted traffic calming along the avenue, which is to happen after the completion of Krakow’s third ring road, could lead to spatial transformations, as an improvement in the quality of residential areas and the reintegration of public spaces. The detailed variants which present The Green Gardens of the Avenues and the Woonerf Along the Avenues were developed at the ATW 2.0 2016 workshop by a Cracow University of Technology team under the supervision of Andrzej Szarata.

Some cities have incessantly teemed with life for centuries, even for millennia. Currently, the oldest inhabited urban settlements are deemed to be those located in the Old World. Their contemporary layouts are very different to how they were originally, this is very often hidden in relics which attest to the older layers. Searching for such layers is a fascinating task. Sometimes, they can be found in the layout of public spaces, or in the architecture of historic buildings and complexes. Others remain deeply concealed underneath the surface of streets, squares, pavements, and parks. Most frequently, the exposure of larger parts of the remains of old architectural and urban structures is not easy due to the need to secure efficient functioning of the contemporary urban tissue. Architectural and archaeological reserves established especially in Europe, help to restore the lost memory of the city by exhibiting its historic layers.

European cathedrals and churches are not only a testament to faith but are also masterpieces of architecture and generators of the highest order of intellectual, emotional and aesthetic values. They are also important components of cultural contexts. The image of a temple often plays a part in the cultural space of a city – apart from the commonly understood religious function – it creates cities, it is a part of national memory, it strengthens social identity, in addition to fulfilling an aesthetic and marketing function. By remaining bound to each other, temples are a part of the multi-layered heritage of past generations.

This paper contains several author’s propositions for the shaping of structural systems for the design of high-rise buildings. The author has developed these structural systems as special types of space structures. The main goal in the processes of shaping these structures was to strive to enhance their rigidity by relatively simple means. Additionally, there was the aim to incorporate alternative evacuation routes in cases of emergency rather than only by vertical transportation means, which are usually located only in the central cores of tall buildings. The proposed structural systems of aboveground floors need to be highly resistant to the maximum values of horizontal, vertical, thermal and earthquake loads. These structures for high-rise buildings can be constructed from steel, reinforced concrete or they can be compound systems. Applications of these systems will considerably enrich the scope of the architectonic views of the tall buildings in which they are incorporated. The safety of tall buildings is to a large extent determined by the stability of their foundation structure particularly when they are located in areas with subsoil of small load capacity or areas that are at risk of earthquake. The paper also presents some proposals for the shaping of the foundation systems devised by the author and indented for heavily loaded objects including high-rise buildings.

The paper contains a short history of the evolution of vaults and the principles of creating digital models of barrel vaults with the use of AutoCAD software. It is also richly illustrated with drawings of digital models created in AutoCAD.

The discussion contained in the paper highlights the relationship between the process of revitalisation and the specialisation of landscape architecture. This is an artistic, professional and scientific field that is focused on the theoretical foundations of shaping landscapes and the development of practical methods of designing them. Revitalisation, on the other hand, is defined as a process of the internal renewal of degraded urban or rural spaces. In order to develop a proper plan of action, it is necessary to perform various types of analyses with the aim of discovering the source of the crisis that has taken hold of a given area, as well as determining the natural and cultural values which define the identity of an area, on the basis of which, the right decisions regarding the composition of its space can be made. This paper also provides examples of rural areas in the west of Germany that have undergone multi aspect renewal, as well as efforts that are being made in relation to rural areas located in Poland. These examples highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the process of revitalisation and its key issues: those of establishing spatial harmony and the preservation and highlighting of the heritage of the landscape.

A regulation plan for the city of Bielsko procured in 1899 described ways of arranging the city landscape in the circumstances of a dynamic industrial growth. The following dissertation is focused on the matters concerning municipal parks. Documents from the 19th century are compared with modern planning documents as well as today’s needs and expectations of residents of the city. It also presents the current condition of park greenery.

In this paper, the author presents a practical method for the construction of anamorphic images based on their analytical properties that are characteristic of reflective conical anamorphic images. This study is a continuation of the earlier work in which the geometrical principles from a real-life image were described. In this paper, the author presents a set of analytical formulas that are used to describe the transformation together with their digital notation in the MS Excel software. The originally developed analytical model of transformation lets the author generate anamorphic images of any designed objects on the condition that they are represented by the parametric equations. These parametric formulas make the essential condition for enhancing the creation of the final form of an anamorphic image. Some exemplary anamorphic images have been presented here together with their visualisation that has been created with the aid of a prototype, conicalshaped mirror. The solutions presented in this work provide a tool for the precise design and development of anamorphic images within the urban space of a town and in the interiors of a public use.

Paint research aims to detect the colour schemes used in architecture whether they be the original colours from when the structure was new or schemes used for repainting and renovations. Discoveries, often partial, may result in making difficult decisions since we have to select polychromes worth preserving and to choose the best method to present them. In the following paper, selected examples of the presentation of original colour schemes from Silesia, Lower Austria, Saxony and Brandenburg are discussed.

Other than their basic mission to collect and promote art, museums serve the important culture-producing role of creating architectural landscape in cities. This article provides an analysis of characteristic examples of museums’ spatial expansion (the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art) characterised by specific urban, architectural and cultural conditions existing in Manhattan borough of New York City.

When designing a contemporary garden, be it private or public, it should be remembered that it has to be not only functional and aesthetic, but it should also have some theme and unique atmosphere – this can be achieved through, for example, artistic objects. Properly selected and placed to catch the eye, they arouse emotions and engage the intellect. Every historical epoch and all types of garden have their own distinctive sculptural themes and materials.