MBA Kraków 2021

– in translate –

Panel Curator: Piotr Chuchacz

Aleje Krasińskiego, Mickiewicza i Słowackiego, or the  Avenues of the Three Romantic Poets (in liberal translation) were built in Krakow after the demolition of the peripheral, circumferential  (linia cyrkumwalacyjna as it was then called) railway line. The line itself was constructed in the 1880s, along the fortifications of the then Austrian Fortress Krakow. The earthen wall of the fortifications served as a railway embankment (brim). Since  1911/1912 the area was consequently transformed into the representational and main thoroughfare of the city, lined with high quality architecture (mainly, of course, all the variations of the Modern one in the period between the two World Wars) .

The issue of that boulevard, the so called second circumferential thoroughfare (druga obwodnica) appears in the public debate for a few years now, but not very broadly. Especially in the context of the planned rebuilding: in December 2020, the City of Krakow has announced the tender for the design of the tram line connecting two of the main crossroads in the course of the Avenues – at the Nowy Kleparz market square and the Inwalidów Square.  The tender was adjudicated and the design studies and projects are being made by an external firm from central Poland. That is of course in keeping with the now established world trend to return the cities to the pedestrians, bicycles and green areas, whereby there are, sadly, apparently no sound solutions for the car traffic instead (both on the regional and city level). Moreover, the western frontage of the Avenues at the discussed section was recently (May 2021) listed at the national monuments’ register, which protects but  limits future attempts at the adaptation of architecture (now mainly residential, university and office uses).

In our part of Europe – Central Europe, sharing similar heritage  – there are many  examples of comparable avenues, from the grand boulevard of Nagykörut in Budapest, thoroughfares in Milan, or the  Kurfürstendamm boulevard in w Berlin. The discussion panel, with participation of architects, urban planners , civic activists and other interested parties, including the audience, shall concern the status quo and attempts at revitalisation, re-use, sustainability of the urban layouts similar to the Aleje Trzech Wieszczów – Avenues –  and of course the plans and reality of the Aleje themselves.

Panel Curator: Marta A. Urbańska

Kraków does not only consist of the Wawel castle, listed monuments and university, but it is also the nexus of various activities of its inhabitants. Among them, there are also many industries. They are inscribed into the city’s history and space. Nowa Huta is a district that grew around the huge steel mill. Its history is a testimony to the post-war modernisation of the country, but it is also the history of societal and systemic transformations, and of contemporaneity. Today, the origin of this district is legible, but it is not obvious that it shall stay so in the future. Industry, in its old form, is losing its economic and ecological raison d’etre and without the steel works – or its fragments, chosen wisely, to be preserved – Nowa Huta may lose its identity. Today, we know that industrial structures may be reused. The space between them may also have new uses. The panel discussion at the International Biennale of Architecture intends to be an attempt at showing possibilities of rational preservation and re-use of the industrial heritage of Nowa Huta.

Panel Curator: Marcin Brataniec

– in translate –

Workshops and Panel Curator: Małgorzata Tomczak