Ecological City – Types of Wastewater Treatment Plants in Poland: The Influence of Technology on Space

Abstract

Newly designed structures that provide technical services to cities gain new spatial forms. In terms of their functional and spatial structure they often also fulfil new, additional functions. This is possible thanks to, among other things, new technical and technological solutions. A departure from the typical approach based on merely associating engineering structures with an envelope of technical solutions of sorts, without care for architectural form, detail or site development, brings positive effects in terms of spatial relationships. In the case of pro-environmental structures this also has a functional dimension—oftentimes these structures start fulfilling additional functions, e.g. as a part of ecological education. Simultaneously, we can observe that some structures that provide the engineering infrastructure to the city gain a new architectural form, new site development of the space that surrounds them or are being equipped with new, additional functions, more frequently than others. Without a doubt, influence on which structures are being transformed in accordance with the abovementioned directions, and which remain on the sidelines of new spatial, architectural and functional solution, is exerted by the primary function of the structure—which is in itself obvious. However, within the group of structures with the same functions we can also observe significant differences. One example of this are wastewater treatment and water purification plants. The goal of this article is to find the answer to the following questions: is the form of a structure and its site development determined by various types of technological solutions in wastewater treatment and water purification plants—and if so, then in what manner? Furthermore, do differences in technology have an impact on the immediate surroundings of the plants and—on a wider scale—on the space of the city? The results of the study will advance knowledge concerning the dependencies between technological solutions and architectural form, as well as spatial relations within the functional and spatial structure of cities.