The phenomenon of aging societies all over the world is getting significantly bigger in size. This stage of life will affect each of us to a lesser or greater extent, which is why it is so important to undertake large-scale actions that will enable active, peaceful and, above all, safe and dignified experience of old age. Investing in older social groups is, in fact, an action beyond generations, ensuring current younger generations with decent living conditions and a safe environment in the future. This article aims to analyze the forms of housing for older people in the world, taking into account their problems and needs. The most important aspects of the issue, which guided the execution of the assumptions, will be identified. These aspects should be taken into account when creating new senior architectural and urban solutions.

Rem Koolhaas published Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto for Manhattan in 1978. He closes the book with a series of concise speculative projects to illustrate his point. The first of these, „The City of the Captive Globe”, is an ambiguous and constantly re-interpreted metaphor for metropolitanism and the lifestyle associated with it. Interpreted as a synthesis of the „retroactive manifesto”, Captive Globe allows us to grasp the ideological background of the urban design thought of Koolhaas and OMA, his design studio. Between 1995 and 2007 OMA carried out the project for the new City Center of Almere near Amsterdam. Through the three postulates of the City of the Captive Globe, the authors attempt an in-depth understanding of Almere master plan, going beyond the analysis of its formal features.

Increase in building density is one of the key methods of preventing uncontrolled urban sprawl. On the other hand, especially in the case of residential housing, high density entails a number of functional and spatial challenges that the current typologies are not able to fully describe. As a consequence, they transform, mix with each other, and often find new applications, different from their modernist prototypes. Such is the case of applying access decks layouts in contemporary residential buildings in high density downtown areas. This research study, using contemporary French designs as an example, attempts to characterise this type of development against the backdrop of the source modernist typology. The research area encompasses the central districts of Paris due to their extremely high density of development. The analysis of professional literature and available publications was adopted as a research method. In the course of the research, a number of common features in the analysed buildings was noted which may indicate a significant typological distinctiveness. Moreover, it was established that such structures may constitute a valuable supplement to the existing typology of residential buildings, especially if the ground floors feature functions with significant spatial requirements and if plots characterised by unfavourable shape or dimensions are being developed.

In the current global pandemic situation, more and more people are asking themselves where it is better to live. In a house or in an apartment? Of course, opinions are divided. However facing to be closure in the residential space, more and more people have considered the possibility of buying even a small plot of land giving the opportunity to enjoy the open space and communing with greenery. Foreclosure has resulted that many people now struggling with issues of exclusion and depression. The opportunity to get out and commune with nature can have a positive impact on a person’s mood and perception of their current situation. Large city agglomerations, often deprived of sufficient green areas, are not able to provide adequate living conditions. Architects and urban planners in recent decades have been trying to provide the most convenient solutions to improve the quality of life in large cities. There are numerous green areas in cities or housing estates, often connected with water reservoirs providing better micro climatic conditions. In objects, green walls and roofs are being introduced to increase the comfort of living. It is worth to analyze a contemporary resident approach to the choice of place to live, what is better for him - a house or a flat (apartment)? Is it better to live in a house with a garden or in an apartment with a large balcony overgrown with greenery? Is it better to locate the apartment in the city center or on the suburbs, where there are larger concentrations of greenery? The issues presented in this article relate to research related to life satisfaction in houses or apartments of city dwellers, as well as they complement the research related to the observation of the impact of greenery on the leveling of the Urban Heat Island. Greenery is one of the factors improving micro climatic conditions, it is a stabilizer of temperature and humidity. Residents of selected appartments and houses were asked in what environment they would like to live and what is most important for them in terms of comfort of living. This paper will present the results of surveys and research on UHI in relation to green areas and their introduction into residential buildings. The aim of this paper is to illustrate the how important is relationship between residents’ satisfaction of living place and the biologically active areas in their vicinity.

The paper presents the definition of key terms distinguished and used in the field of vacationing, leisure, and recreation. It explains their similarities and differences. The classification has been developed for holiday centers according to their intended use, forms of activity, and types of services. Key criteria for their classification are provided. It analyzes the experience of designing contemporary recreation centers in Ukraine and all over the world, and identifies key trends in the development of their architecture and infrastructure in general.

Over the past few years, murals have actively and firmly entered into the fabric of the architectural environment as one of the most powerful artistic means of urban art. According to the latest statistics, Ukraine, and Kyiv in particular, tops the list of leaders of the countries with the largest number of murals. Based on the historical context, the murals performed a social and propaganda mission. Already in the XXI century, Ukraine has experienced two revolutions. And they became a powerful impetus for the active manifestation of „street art” on free surfaces. But in contrast to the monumental and decorative compositions of totalitarian art, which still adorn the cities of Ukraine, the artistic and graphic language has changed. Young designers in modern graphic trends, form an updated visual representation of established stylistic solutions. The purpose of the article is an attempt to determine the historical conditions of the murals’ development, the features and principles of their solutions in the city space, as well as modern and promising means of implementation. The article discusses the factors and conditions of the evolution of modern murals, their typology and thematic focus, techniques and means of spatial composition and artistic solutions.

This paper discusses matters related to beauty in the space of the housing environment, determining factors that affect the sensation of beauty in architectural and urban designs. The sense of beauty is a feature of a person’s individual perception, associated with a given period of time, and perceiving beauty and creative are among humanity’s most important characteristics. The mutual harmonious spatial relations between architecture and nature affect human perception and the perception of beauty in the housing environment. These matters have been presented using two cases of selected architectural and urban complexes.