Criterion of Authenticity or New Creation in Historical Fortresses on the Territory of Poland

Abstract

The article discusses adapting ruins or poorly preserved historical structures to new functions, presenting a study of the situation in Polish architecture compared to the efforts of outstanding Western European architects. UNESCO increasingly considers the “criterion of authenticity” in publications on the adaptation of historical structures to modern needs. Some architectural conservators believe castle ruins or other structures should be left in their extant state, even considering their further destruction a natural process. Others argue that ruins are haphazard and lean towards their development, partial reconstruction or redevelopment. Examples of known Western European additions and adaptations of castles to new functions (e.g. Castelgrande in Bellinzona, Switzerland, the Bensberg and Halle castles, Germany) give us hope that interesting modern solutions can also appear in Poland, instead of the increasingly prevalent reconstructions. This hope is particularly justified by the 2013 RIBA Stirling Prize for the best building designed by British architects, awarded for the design of Astley Castle in Warwickshire, West Midlands, England. Saving the ruined twelfth-century castle, a new, contrasting two-storey shell was installed inside the historical walls, turning the castle into a history-rich monument. The Stirling Prize proves the justification and acceptance of such actions. In Poland the situation regarding adapting historical fortresses to new functions is altogether different. According to the latest scholarly calculations, there are currently 421 castles registered as listed sites, around 200 of which are pre-fifteenth-century ones. After World War II a reconstruction of cities from wartime destruction began, also covering larger castles and palaces, which were being turned into museums. The common neglect of aristocratic and noble residences during this time was based on economic and ideological reasons. Many became schools, kindergartens, orphanages or retirement homes, while landed estates became State Agricultural Farms. The situation started changing after 1990, when former residence owners began returning to their homes, while conservation authorities transferred ruined structures to new, mostly private owners, who declared the will to renovate them, in order to have them saved. Local governments also started to recognise that the picturesque castle ruins can become regional tourist attractions. The author’s observations and studies of preserved structures proved that there is a lack of modern additions similar to the aforementioned Western European ones. Historical reconstructions are preferred, even in cases with no historical documentation (castles in Bobolice, Korzkiew, Wytrzyszczka, Tykocin). Meanwhile, an introduction of new massings on the basis of winning an architectural competition inside the preserved medieval walls of Ciechanów Castle was sternly refused by conservation authorities. Certain delicate modern additions are being made by experienced designers (Gniew Castle), giving us hope for a change of stance among conservation decision-makers. An analysis of historical processes, as well as a tracing of the stylistic changes of the architecture of the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, in addition to the artistic stances of their authors justifies the claim that modern architecture has the mandate for intervention into historical substance in cases justified by the necessity of introducing additions or the replacement of said tissue.