Architecture and the development of downgraded urban areas

Abstract

Architecture surrounds us daily. We notice low-rise buildings and high-rise buildings, big and small edifices but we hardly ever notice their design or beauty, not to mention their surroundings, the urban interior where they are situated. This also applies to contemporary architecture. The paper suggests focusing on objects that function as museums, especially modern art museums which become characteristic features in urban space and to which urban systems are subordinated, e.g. Frank Ghery’s Bilbao centre. This function has become important and distinct over the last two centuries. That is why it is placed in objects whose architecture is special: sometimes extravagant and often monumental in scale but always significant on an urban scale. It is because architecture is not only a costume or a shell enclosing any odd interior. It forms an integral part of the urban context which is an important pretext for making it happen. It is also a composition of volumes, their forms, functions, light, the idea contained within the entire object, and first of all, its subjective perception analysed in terms of directing public attention to particular objects with a view to making them distinct. The paper presents an analysis of some examples of European museums of modern art – including some Polish ones – as significant architecture which is a key component on the scale of a city or its fragment. The aim is to stress the importance of the activities of local authorities and architects and the decisions they make for the development of downgraded urban areas.