Used at the close of the first quarter of the 20th century, the system of erecting buildings from prefabricated elements (so-called “textile block system”) was one of the most distinct and original systems in its idea of architectonic technology based on the rules of standardization and modularity. Particular attention should be paid to the way in which the architect treated the texture of the concrete, making it a very important element of aesthetic expression of a building form. This paper tries to bring us closer to F.L. Wright’s pioneering contribution in the aesthetic development and dissemination of prefabricated technologies of concrete for the needs of housing architecture.

Precast concrete constructions were used by many countries during the second half 20-th century to provide low-income housing for the growing urban population. However nowadays urban residential buildings became one of the major problems cities have to address; with their day to day issues like anti-social behavior and crime. This project aims to show how different countries attempted to rehabilitate those places. I will provide an evidence showing that to rehabilitate those housing estates we need one necessary factor and that is a change in mentality inhabitants living in block estates.

Recently people are witnesses of intense school shutdown. It is a huge danger for sustainable development of society outside big cities. One of the ways to withdraw consequences of this process is construction building with multi functional character containing education and culture.

This paper presents distribution of multifamily building residential in respect system residential buildings distinguishing multifamily buildings habitable and groups of multifamily buildings habitable on chosen examples from Amsterdam. Context of this place has got influence on creating a residential multifamily architecture.

Present-day changes in land use and management are increasingly resulting in the loss of landscape identity. With a view to ensuring effective protection, management and planning of historic landscapes, more and more European countries are undertaking comprehensive programmes aimed at recognizing and assessing historic landscape values. This paper presents the assumptions and the possible applications of selected systems for assessing historic landscapes character in Great Britain and in Germany.

Attractive city center frequently constitutes its showcase. It is a peculiar place assembling impressive architectural objects with a significant historical importance. That is why this is a place which everyone want to see (tourists and occupants). Sometimes, aesthetic and functional values of the central urban space are connected with the character of the city itself. The size and main functions are different in a further regions. For instance, main promenade in Iwonicz Zdrój health resort looks completely different than the market square in Głogów Małopolski (one of the biggest marketplaces in Poland). Distinguishing features of the marketplaces depend on the regions in which they occur, as well as the size of the city they are situated in. This paper presents characteristic of the selected city centers located in the podkarpackie voivodeship. The main problems faced by the most prestigious urban spaces have been presented, as well as modern requirements of the citizens residing in city centers selected for the analysis.

This paper presents a method of forming detached houses architecture in modern times. Taking advantage of the inspiration on unrealized concept of building from the year 1924 has been indicated. The realization of Sagaponac House #4 from 2006 has been compared with the project of Brick Country House from Twenties of previous century.

Krakow, as many other developing metropolitan areas, undergoes dynamic suburban processes. Underinvested areas located in direct range of influence of large scale urban centers are becoming a scene of spontaneous city-creating processes. The paper presents results of analyses of new building complexes in the Krakow suburbia. Studies have proved weak spatial relation between particular investments, which may bear witness to an increasing role of network type relation in creating contemporary urban structures. Network type urban relations are not conducive to large-scale social structures in the way public spaces of streets and squares used to be in the traditional urban design. The “new order”, that is being shaped in suburban areas, seems to question some traditional social rules. Therefore the question of relation between these two: social and spatial dimensions of a city became up-to-date. Are new urban structures going to shape a new society, or maybe on the contrary – suburban neoplasm is a result of a contemporary civilization disease?

Time is the deficient good in contemporary world. The lack of free time is the problem not only of adults but also more and more often of young people. In fact, free time is very important part for all children, as stimulating their coprehensive development, that is why there is a need of interdisciplinary researches to this issue. The paper presents results of the author’s survey of children in three cities of different size and charakter in Małopolska. The subject of the survey was children’s favorite way and places of spending time. The results will be a base for settlement of optimal spatial conditions of spending time in a valuable way by children.

The paper explains how climatic conditions and the closely related principle of energy efficiency influence the forms of traditional buildings, as well as presents how to draw on traditional experiences in shaping the contemporary sustainable architecture. The methods of reducing buildings energy consumption are assigned to three main stages of its existence: the stage of construction, operation and decommissioning.

The paper presents three plans of Cracow from 1655, 1657 and 1702, together with an assessment of their suitability as a source materials for the studies of western suburbs restitution after the Swedish invasion in the years 1655–1657. This research is in fact highly relevant to the history of urban development in Cracow: although after the Swedish invasion only a small part of the suburbs was rebuilt, on the basis of those structures, in subsequent years, the exclusive tenement houses district was formed in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Human scale as a technical term does not have an axiomatic and unequivocal definition; it is used intuitively, predominantly to describe buildings which do not have it. As a feature, human scale has a positive connotation; it is usually associated with friendly design and it indicates its right proportions. This article presents a short overview of various definitions of human scale and an outline of development of the concept. Furthermore, the article presents some practical recommendations and advice which could prove useful in architectural design and describing architecture. The focal point of this paper is the psychological aspect of human scale i.e. the influence of the size of buildings and its parts on the human psyche in the setting of residential settlements.

The idea of modern city parks was born in the USA, wherefrom was transferred to Europe and towards other continents. It was represented by the pioneer of landscape architecture F.L. Olmsted, author of the Central Park in Manhattan (in 1857, area 350 ha). After 156 years, Manhattan still sustains a position of the leading model for good creating contemporary city parks. The main motivation of it, is a quality of a city life. At first “green lung” of them, also their surfaces biologically active, realized an idea of hygienic and salubrious industrial city, then reducing results of pollution emitted by fuel both used for heating and for vehicles. Now, the leading idea is amelioration of stressful existence in super modern metropolis; this encourages towards plural and attractive creation of parks.