Table of contents

Conservation planning plays an important role in the protection and development of historic villages. The evaluation of conservation planning is helpful to find out the problems existing in the village protection work which helps to improve the conservation planning system. The paper briefly summarizes the conservation planning background of Nanshe historic village in Dongguan city, Guangdong province, China. The conservation planning guided the protection work of Nanshe village since 2002. It evaluates four aspects of the conservation planning implementation and effect such as protection and utilization of the ancient buildings, roadway repair, landscape and basic sanitation facilities improvement by ways of field research and questionnaire survey. There are only nineteen ancient buildings repaired and the rest of them are part of repaired or not repaired. Most of the roadways are well preserved. Only four of them are partly repaired or not repaired. Most of the villagers like to chat under the ancient banyan trees. Conservation Planning pays not much attention to the needs of the residents. Although conservation planning of Nanshe village developed the near, middle and long term target it actually took 14 years to carry out the near target. It enhances the social awareness of Nanshe village and the sense of belongings of the villagers. Most of the villagers are satisfied with the implementation of the conservation planning. Meanwhile, the paper exposes the conservation planning is too idealistic. It lacks of implementation details and the three phases of the investment funds and pays not much attention to the needs of residents.

The goal of this paper is to answer the question about the current importance of structures associated with the thermal processing of waste within the space of Polish cities and what status can they have in the functional and spatial structure of Polish cities in the future. The construction of thermal waste processing plants in Poland is currently a new and important problem, with numerous structures of this type being built due to increasing care for the natural environment, with the introduction of legal regulations, as well as due to the possibility of obtaining large external funding for the purposes of undertaking pro-environmental spatial initiatives, etc. For this reason, the paper contains research on the increase in the number of thermal waste processing plants in Poland in recent years. The abovementioned data was compared with similar information from other European Union member states. In the group containing Polish thermal waste processing plants, research was performed regarding the stage of the construction of a plant (operating plant, plant under construction, design in a construction phase, etc.). The paper also contains a listing of the functions other than the basic form of use, which is the incineration of waste - similarly to numerous foreign examples - that the environmentally friendly waste incineration plants fulfil in Poland, dividing the additional forms of use into "hard" elements (at the design level, requiring the expansion of a building featuring new elements that are not directly associated with the basic purpose of waste processing) and soft (social, educational, promotional actions, as well as other endeavours that require human involvement, but that do not entail significant design work on the buildings itself, expanding its form of use, etc.) as well as mixed activity, which required design work, but on a relatively small scale. Research was also conducted regarding the placement of thermal waste processing plants within the spatial structures of cities (a city's outer zone, central zone, etc.) and their placement in relation to the more important urban units, in addition to specifying what type of urban structure they are located in. On the basis of the research, we can observe that the construction of environmentally friendly thermal waste processing plants is a valid and new problem in Poland, and the potential that lies in the construction of a new environmentally friendly structure and the possibility of using it to improve the quality of an urban space is often left untapped, bringing the construction of such a structure down to nothing but its technological function. The research can serve as a comparative study for similar experiences in other countries, or for studies related to urban structures and their elements.

Waste production is one of the greatest problems of the modern world. It is inevitably related to the increase of industrialization. One of the most difficult, and growing in amounts, waste is scrap tyres. The most common method of utilization of end-of-life tyres by their incineration raises much concern in terms of air pollution. More sustainable seems to reuse the tyre derived products – rubber in particular – in civil engineering, where the interesting properties of this material may be effectively utilized. This paper presents results of direct shear strength tests on sand-rubber mixtures, which were next applied to a numerical FEM (finite element method) model of a road embankment built on soft ground. The laboratory tests, conducted for two types of scrap tyre rubber granulates (0.5 – 2 mm and 1 – 5 mm in size) mixed with medium fluvial sand in various proportions (5, 10, 30 and 50% by weight), proved that the unit weight of the mixtures is distinctly smaller that the unit weight of sand alone and at 50% rubber content it drops by half. The internal angle of friction stays almost unchanged for the mixtures with up to 10% of rubber (33 - 37°), but decreases by about 10° when the rubber content increases to 50%. In most of the cases analysed, the cohesion intercept is higher in case of sand-rubber mixtures when compared to sand alone. The numerical model simulated a 4.5 m high embankment with a 3 m thick layer made of sand-rubber mixtures, containing 0%, 10% or 30% of the waste product, founded on a weak subsoil (with a 3 m layer of organic soil). The results showed that stability factor of the structure built with the layer containing 30% of the coarser rubber granulate has increased from 1.60 – for sand only, to 2.15. The embankment was also able to carry load increased from 32 kPa to 45.5 kPa and its base showed much smaller settlement. The results prove that the use of tyre derived aggregates in embankment construction is not only an effective way of utilization of this problematic waste, but can also improve behaviour of such a structure.

Recently, an expanded understanding of building performance acknowledges that all forces acting on buildings (climate, energies, information, and human agents) are not static and fixed, but rather mutable and transient. With the use of parametric and multi-criteria optimization digital tools, buildings' envelopes can be designed to respond to various requirements. This paper explores the possibilities of architectural design to benefit human conditions, which encompasses mental well-being, environmental quality of life during the Climate Change era. The first part of the paper defines the main factors (such as: lack of green nature and sunlight, noise and pollution) which are influencing the formation of psychological disorder in big cities. The negative impact of these factors is constantly increasing in the time of Climate Change progressing. The second part presents results of the research program undertaken at West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin by author. The program goes on to attempt to solve the problem through architectural design. This study highlights a social problem, such as mental well-being, resulting from urbanization or effects of the climate change, and serves as a useful background for further research on the possibilities of redefining sustainable and human friendly design.

Implementations concerning adaptation of historic facilities for public utility objects are associated with the necessity of solving many complex, often conflicting expectations of future users. This mainly concerns the function that includes construction, technology and aesthetic issues. The list of issues is completed with proper protection of historic values, different in each case. The procedure leading to obtaining the expected solution is a multicriteria procedure, usually difficult to accurately define and requiring designer's large experience. An innovative approach has been used for the analysis, namely - the modified EA FAHP (Extent Analysis Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) Chang's method of a multicriteria analysis for the assessment of complex functional and spatial issues. Selection of optimal spatial form of an adapted historic building intended for the multi-functional public utility facility was analysed. The assumed functional flexibility was determined in the scope of: education, conference, and chamber spectacles, such as drama, concerts, in different stage-audience layouts.

How long does a space or an object have to last? If in the past an object or a building manufacturing was designed to last as much as possible, nowadays it is designed to have a life related to the time in which it will be used. Flexibility is what characterizes a space, it's the ability to be variable and adaptable to changes in the lives of users or in relation to the use which these will make over time. The evolution of the labour market, the difficulty of inserting within it and the need to push more and more frequent move today in the trial of living space models increasingly flexible: people, especially young people, are forced to move on territory outlining a new condition to which the flexible nomadic dwellings offer an adequate response, ensuring high functional performance in confined spaces.

Nowadays, we are faced with a challenge of having to join building structures with elements of nature, which seems to be the paradigm of modern planning and design. The questions arise, however, with reference to the following categories: the leading idea, the relation between elements of nature and buildings, the features of a structure combining such elements and, finally, our perception of this structure. If we consider both the overwhelming globalization and our attempts to preserve local values, the only reasonable solution is to develop naturalistic greenery. It can add its uniqueness to any building and to any developed area. Our holistic model, presented in this paper, contains the above mentioned categories within the scope of naturalism. The model is divided into principles, actions related, and possible effects to be obtained. It provides a useful tool for determining the ways and priorities of our design. Although it is not possible to consider all possible actions and solutions in order to support sustainability in any particular design, we can choose, however, a proper mode for our design according to the local conditions by turning to the heuristic method, which helps to choose priorities and targets. Our approach is an attempt to follow the ways of nature as in the natural environment it is optimal solutions that appear and survive, idealism being the domain of mankind only. We try to describe various natural processes in a manner comprehensible to us, which is always a generalization. Such definitions, however, called artificial by naturalists, are presented as art or the current state of knowledge by artists and engineers. Reality, in fact, is always more complicated than its definitions. The heuristic method demonstrates the way how to optimize our design. It requires that all possible information about the local environment should be gathered, as the more is known, the fewer mistakes are made. Following the unquestionable principles, we can choose the related actions. As there is no need and, probably, no possibility to implement all of them in a particular case, we must find our own way. The holistic model shows the effects of our actions and thus enabling us to compare them with our own targets. Following the method will help us to make conscious decisions, but not to implement all possible tasks in our program. In nature, every species has its own capabilities to adjust and creates its habitat accordingly, disregarding the universal idea of taking all possible benefits offered by nature. In order to follow the principles of sustainability we have to act similarly. When designing we should rather try to approach perfection than create ideal solutions, because what is perceived as ideal at the present state of knowledge, will always be imperfect. The paper describes three case studies of the heuristic approach in landscape design. They are all located in Silesia, Poland. The first is GPP Business Park in Katowice, whose building and its surrounding with the greenery designed according to the discussed method received the Outstanding BREEAM Certification. The second is the recreation area of Rybaczowka near Strzelce Opolskie, whose redeveloping design won the highest rating in a government competition for the ecological fund investments. The third is Row Rudzki - an ecological area in the center of an industrial city.

Green spaces which are one of the most important public spaces in urban design have an important role on qualified daily urban life. People escape from intense work pressure and traffic jam of metropoles to those urban green areas to take a breath even they cover a small size. In time, people's expectations from green spaces as functional and quantitative needs are changing. This change occurs due to increasing population and as the character of the urban life. This study examines the functional use and quantitative change of urban green spaces of Kırklareli Province from past to present. Kırklareli is a border city to Bulgaria which is located in north-west part of Turkey and this gives a transitional and a multicultural character to the city. The population is about 67360. In the course of time; green space needs have increased by the increasing population. In addition to this, green spaces' functional use change has been identified. According to the results of the study; from the aspect of the green space standards, Kırklareli found above standards with 17.5 m² per capita, but on the other hand, sport and playground areas found insufficient. The Oldest and the newest city plans of Kırklareli (1940s and 2012s cadastral plans) have been compared and site surveys implemented as the methodology. In site survey, current green spaces' functional uses as sport or playground are observed and determined and also current quantitative measure of the green spaces are verified. Urban green spaces in Kırklareli Province evaluated through considering world's most populated urban green space standards and Turkey's standards. This study utilizes to compose a substructure of the urban green space. Determined deficiencies and inadequacies of green spaces and functional needs in this study, can guide to further studies and implementations of Kırklareli Municipality.

People's expectations from the city have changed with the transformation of urban life. Urban space is not the only place where structures are formed. Urban space also consists of a combination of public spaces, semi-public spaces, and private spaces. As social and cultural phenomena, social events occur and people communicate with each other in these spaces. Therefore, streets and neighbourhoods composed of houses are not only physical spaces, but they also have important social and cultural dimensions. Modern life has brought a plethora of changes that affected the cities. Due to rapid changes today, the urban space forms in the conversion process are also designed differently. Historically, the space organization based on the streets of the semi-public life in Turkish cities has been transformed into mass housing and housing estate-style life in recent years. This transformation has been expressed differently in urban life not only physically, but also socially and culturally. The street which is regarded as a public space was a place where people communicated and social events happened in the past; but today, the streets are rife with security problems and they have become a concept evoking an image of street that is bordered with buildings. Spatial separation has emerged with middle and upper classes isolating themselves from the streets and heading towards gated communities, especially for security reasons. This social and spatial separation has begun to lead to various problems in cities. Eskisehir is an important Anatolian city located between Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and Istanbul. This research was conducted in two research sites in Eskisehir: one is a gated community where middle and upper-income groups reside, and the other is a residential neighbourhood where middle-income groups live. These groups were studied through a survey. The spatial preferences of the residents in these two areas and their relation with the neighbourhood are examined. These groups were surveyed and their relations with their relatives have been researched.

Colour control is a specific tool to identify local environment. Especially in the historic area or conservation area, to promote colour control is very necessary. Therefore, there are many standards of colour to control such as Munsell, colour name, and L*a*b*. This research is aimed to analyze the appropriate colour control by using a Munsell standard colour which is suitable to visual perception. The study area is scoped in northern region of Lanna culture in Thailand which nowadays used names of colours to control. Chiang Mai and Lamphun are selected to be case study because they are in a center of Lanna Empire of Thailand and have many historic significant things such as city wall, temple, monastery, palace, and city moat. The mainly procedure conducts in this article is based on the analysis of material colour. The study chose local natural materials which are used in the historic significant things. Earthen clay tile, wooden roof tile, burnt clay brick, laterites, hard wood, bamboo, silver, and gold are evaluated. The procedure used the DIC application of android processor on smart phone. This application has a conversion data to switch a colour value from pick-up point in photo to many colour values such as RGB, CMYK which Munsell value is included. The photos were taken within the historic area of Chiang Mai and Lamphun by random. The result can scope a range of colours of Munsell standard of natural colour (N), red (R), yellow (Y), and yellow-red (YR). A natural colour (N) can be suggested a range 1.0-9.0 (N 1.0-9.0). Red can be ranged the value between 3.0-7.0 and chroma between 3.0-9.0 (R 3.0-7.0/3.0-9.0). Yellow can be ranged the value between 6.0-9.0 and chroma between 4.0-12.0 (Y 6.0-9.0/4.0-12.0). Yellow-red can be ranged the value between 2.0-8.0 and chroma between 2.0-11.0 (YR 2.0-8.0/2.0-11.0). The results can be revealed a process of colour analysis of historic colour control and may offer to be an ordinance in further.

The following article describes the problem of regeneration of industrial wasteland. It is illustrated with examples selected form various design projects created by outstanding contemporary landscape architects. It also shows how a correctly planned and performed project concerning regeneration of derelict industrial sites serves multiple functions, i. e. it serves as recreational zone as well as activates people. Moreover, it significantly enhances environmental value of a given area as well as stimulates emergence of innovative landscape investments. The paper presents innovative compositional arrangements used in creating projects concerning brownfields; balanced proportions of spatial elements, the possibility of approaching the area from different levels and perspectives and, also, the possibility of engaging fully with nature by physical contact with it.

Natural light in the Cistercian churches is closely linked not only with the liturgical requirements at the "officium" but also with the canonical hours based on the "ora et labora" dictated by the Rule of St. Benedict. The Cistercian architecture, in its beginnings (12th century forward) is characterized by austerity, simplicity and the play of light and shadow that gives value to the monastic architectural space itself, making it perfect for a contemplative experience. In the Cistercian Monastery the church is the central piece of the monastic building. Nave, transept and apse are the main architectural components to which is added the choir. This paper contextualizes the importance and close connections of natural light, within the Cistercian Monasteries architecture. Thus the essence of daylight is analysed within the Church of the Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris, in Évora, Portugal. This former Monastery (13th - 19th centuries) includes the church, at the south-eastern corner which has not only a high choir, but also a low lateral choir (within the presbytery). Its unchanged exterior walls are made of solid masonry. Although the function of the walls is primarily structural, the windows allow the daylight to penetrate the space of the church. The church has two external façades facing northeast and southeast. The combined orientation effect of the church's main axis and the sun trajectory determines how the sunlight reaches the interior of this architectural structure. This study presents the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the luminous environment in the church of S. Bento de Cástris, being the first based on the authors' perception of the effect of the daylight within the different areas of the enclosed space. The appreciation of the spatial experiences was supported by quantitative daylight simulations that were conducted in selected areas within the space. With this paper is intended to contribute to the debate about the specificity of daylight, in the context of Cistercian architecture.

The Cistercian Order (11th century) stands out as an apologist of the simplicity and austerity of the space. According to the Order of Cîteaux, only with an austere space, without any distractions, the true spiritual contemplation is achieved. This Order was an aggregator and consolidator pole during the Christian Reconquest. Thus, as it happens with other Religious Orders, Cîteaux has a vast heritage legacy. This heritage is witness, not only of the historical, but also social, political, and spiritual evolution. This legacy resumes the key principles to an austere liturgy, which requirements, in the beginning, are based on the simplicity of worship and of the connection between man and God. Later, these requirements allowed the development of the liturgy itself and its relation with the believers. Consequently, it can be concisely established an empirical approach between the Cistercian churches and the acoustics conditioning of these spaces. This outcome is fundamental in order to understand the connection between liturgy and the conception of the Cistercian churches as well as the constructed space and its history. So, an analysis of these principles is essential to establish the relation between acoustic and religious buildings design throughout history. It is also a mean of understanding the knowledge of acoustics principles that the Cistercian Order bequeathed to Portugal. This paper presents an empirical approach on Cistercian monastic churches acoustics. These spaces are the place where the greatest acoustic efforts are concentrated and it is also the space where the liturgy reaches greater importance. On the other hand, Portugal is a country which has an important Cistercian legacy over several periods of history. Consequently, the Portuguese Cistercian monastic churches are representative of the development of the liturgy, the design of spaces and of the acoustic requirements of their churches since the 12th century until the 21st century and it is of great importance to implement this study.

This paper aims to present a contribution to the history of the reform and renewal in the Portuguese Cistercian monasteries throughout almost nine centuries of cultural and architectural history in this Country. The Cistercian Order played a remarkable role in the affirmation of Portugal (1143) and had unquestionable position, since the medieval period, in the construction of a significant part of the Portuguese culture. The reform of many Monasteries came with the Autonomous Congregation of Alcobaça (1567). In fact, the Portuguese Cistercian Monasteries absorbed the regional ways of construction with masonry (granite in the north and limestone in the south) but it is without a doubt in its architecture that change and renewal can be found as strength and a tool for achieving a status of cultural landmarks. The renewal and reform in the Portuguese Cistercian Monasteries was not restricted to the styles in vogue but also was related to the physical expansion of the monasteries. This could be achieved by adding new aisles and cloisters like in Alcobaça or Salzedas Monasteries. Though there are cases of unconventional renewals and reformations such as the existence of two churches in the Monastery of Salzedas and the example of the open air Museum of the Monastery of S. João de Tarouca were can be found the former medieval monastery, as a result of new archaeological research and a prospective hypothesis of its volumetric layout, in between the walls of the 17th century dormitories and the Church. This continuous architectonic renewal is still being carried out in the 21st century either by the Portuguese Government, through several heritage institutes since the 20th century, or a few individuals on their one.The history of the Portuguese Cistercian Monasteries blends itself with the history of Portugal as the continuous architectonic renewals and reforms were also a result of nine centuries of events and changes in this Country.

This article aims to presents 'the formal architectural language of Lanna Designs" that is a linguistic paradigm for decrypt the linguistic system which is hidden in the Lanna façade style. Lanna Designs present an identity of vital ordered and crucial articulated formal language which inherently set of mathematical rules for the arrangement of ornaments. The scope of this article is attempted to the morphology of façades of the ten shop houses which located in Lampang Old city and have familiar proportion and style. In this article, the sampling of façade buildings required proportion as three-stall and two-story with familiar style. The morphology is described based on terms of a symbolic encoding system that is represented as graphically building grammar. The system helps to emphasize commonalities in façade languages and propose a prototype of identified Lanna façade design. This methodology might be the option for decrypt or study in every facades style.

University campuses have a small city view containing basic city functions such as work, accommodation, rest and transportation. They are spaces of social life that occupy large areas, have population density and different activities, change and grow with the cities they live in, and memorize the past accumulations. In this context, it is necessary for campuses to form and protect their own memories like cities. Campus memory is the ability of individuals to keep, maintain and - when necessary- reveal the experiences, sensations, comprehensions gathered from physical environment. "Cognitive mapping" is used to reveal the physical and emotional relationship that individuals make with the city and the individual-city interaction. Cognitive maps are created graphically using verbal and geometric items on paper by remembering these coded urban images. In this study, to determine the urban images belonging to Eskisehir Osmangazi University Meselik Campus, architecture students who have a short period experience of the campus were asked to note the areas they interact with the campus on the cognitive map. Campus memory items are identified by analysing the cognitive maps of the individuals who experienced the campus. In the direction of the obtained data, the campus area was re-read with five basic elements of Lynch: paths, districts, edges, nodes, and landmarks. As a result of these analyses, it is seen that religious structure, which is a large symbolic structure, located next to the main entrance in the settlement and health care facilities defined as landmarks are located in the memory of most of the individuals. Then, paths, nodes, districts, edges and educational buildings are listed respectively in cognitive maps.

Permeable reactive barriers are one of the most important in situ technologies in groundwater remediation. Most of the installed PRBs have tended to use singular reactive media, but there is an increasing number of applications using combined or sequenced media to treat mixtures of contaminants within a groundwater plume. The concept of a multi-layered permeable reactive barrier (MPRB) to prevent and protect groundwater along traffic routes, especially in ecologically and naturally valuable areas, was developed following several field and laboratory investigations conducted in the Department of Geotechnical Engineering of the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. In accordance with the guidelines of the Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council for the selection of reactive materials, numerous laboratory and field investigations should be performed to determine the environmental conditions, type and concentrations of the contaminants, and the physical-chemical and permeability properties of the reactive materials. However, the deformation and strength properties of the reactive materials should be also considered in the design and evaluation of the safety conditions. In this paper, strength and deformation properties of silica spongolite, zeolite, and activated carbon were investigated using direct shear and oedometer tests. The laboratory test results were used in numerical calculations with the application of the finite element method. The aim of this study was to define the impact of the installation stages of a multi-layered permeable reactive barrier on the stability of a road embankment. Numerical analysis may prevent, reduce or eliminate the risk in the case of a breakdown during the construction or/and exploitation of a PRB.

In cities that have historic urban layout, with a clearly separated main representative space – the main square, or the main street (a pedestrian area), specifying the location of the centre is not difficult neither for residents nor for people from the "outside". Interesting is a situation in which, in the structure of the city there is no clearly designated main public space equipped with all the necessary services, and the period of location and development of urban system falls on the twentieth century. One example of such city in Poland is Stalowa Wola - founded in 1938 as part of the Central Industrial District. The city was located not far away from Rozwadów town, which, because of the development of Stalowa Wola, was absorbed by the new structure and became a district of the bigger city.

Activities related to the execution of construction works often exert pressure on the quality of environmental factors in adjacent habitat. In various stages of realization of the works if is the opening of the building site and access roads, borrow pits and the storage, or the construction itself, all the related activities will cause harm in various degrees of vegetation on the construction site and its surroundings. Large areas are rendered non-productive and, although they should be restored for use in the same place or elsewhere, sometimes they can lose their natural habitat baseline. The paper is presenting a case study of air quality monitoring using the AQM 65 analyser for a construction site located near Timisoara locality, Timis County, Romania.

This paper aims to achieve volumetric calculations for different mineral aggregates using different methods of analysis and also comparison of results. To achieve these comparative studies and presentation were chosen two software licensed, namely TopoLT 11.2 and Surfer 13. TopoLT program is a program dedicated to the development of topographic and cadastral plans. 3D terrain model, level courves and calculation of cut and fill volumes, including georeferencing of images. The program Surfer 13 is produced by Golden Software, in 1983 and is active mainly used in various fields such as agriculture, construction, geophysical, geotechnical engineering, GIS, water resources and others. It is also able to achieve GRID terrain model, to achieve the density maps using the method of isolines, volumetric calculations, 3D maps. Also, it can read different file types, including SHP, DXF and XLSX. In these paper it is presented a comparison in terms of achieving volumetric calculations using TopoLT program by two methods: a method where we choose a 3D model both for surface as well as below the top surface and a 3D model in which we choose a 3D terrain model for the bottom surface and another 3D model for the top surface. The comparison of the two variants will be made with data obtained from the realization of volumetric calculations with the program Surfer 13 generating GRID terrain model. The topographical measurements were performed with equipment from Leica GPS 1200 Series. Measurements were made using Romanian position determination system - ROMPOS which ensures accurate positioning of reference and coordinates ETRS through the National Network of GNSS Permanent Stations. GPS data processing was performed with the program Leica Geo Combined Office. For the volumetric calculating the GPS used point are in 1970 stereographic projection system and for the altitude the reference is 1975 the Black Sea projection system.

In our contemporary cities, some public spaces seem to have greater ability to host art interventions, like historical centers, urban sprawl areas, gardens and parks, new residential districts, among others. Also in port cities, its waterfronts constitute privileged spaces for the placement of public art. On Lisbon's riverfront, we can see a relevant number of works and of monuments of strong symbolic nature. In turn, the placement of public art is a way to value the inherently symbolic nature of the waterfronts and to emphasize its monumentality. However, the criteria for the placement of public art on those spaces are not always clear. In some cases, there are some thematic correspondences between the works and the places, namely with the theme of the water, the Discoveries and others like that. Nevertheless, we cannot observe a profound spatial integration, or a design with the context. In some cases, the artistic elements are produced with a logic of isolated work of art and later they are acquired and placed in some public space. In other cases, we assist to an unusual situation: a work is conceived in a strict relation with a place, but then, without any evident justification, it is dislocated to a completely different context. Or simply it is removed, disappearing from the public space. Although it seems a strange situation, such kind of dislocations often occurs in Lisbon. On this framework, this research proposes a discussion about the processes of implementation of public art. We will analyze two cases of public art replacement:1) The monument Primeira Travessia Aérea do Atlântico Sul (First Aerial Crossing of the South Atlantic), by Laranjeira Santos and Rodrigues Fernandes, 1972; and 2) The public sculpture Ribeira das Naus, by Charters de Almeida, 1995. Both works were designed to very specific and important places on Lisbon's waterfront and both were later replaced to other locations on the inner city, quite far from the river. This kind of "(de)monumentalization" of a space originates the following questions: why is a work removed from a public space and why it is decided to give it another destination? What are the implications of those changes? Is public art removable? Considering public art besides its purely aesthetic significance, this phenomenon seems to reveal that the physical and the social integration with the place are not always important, or, at least, they are only important in some moments. Also, we can see it from another point of view: a removal or a replacement of a work always reveals specific strategies for certain places, in certain moments. We can thus conclude that the processes of implementation of public art are clearly indicators of the policies and of the dynamics of the cities.

Currently, there is a tendency in architecture to search for solutions implementing the assumptions of the sustainable development paradigm. A number of them are components of architecture, which in the future will certainly affect urban planning and architecture to a much greater extent. On the one hand, an issue of great significance is the need to integrate sustainable system elements with the spatial structure of environmentally friendly architectural facilities and complexes and to determine their influence on design solutions as well as the implementation, operation and recycling, while on the other hand, it is very important to solve the problem of how to design buildings, housing estates and towns so that their impact on the environment will be acceptable, i.e. will not exceed the possibilities of natural environment regeneration and, how to cooperate in interdisciplinary design teams to reach an agreement and acceptance so as to achieve harmony between the built and natural environment, which is a basis of sustainable development. In this broad interdisciplinary context an increasing importance is being attached to design strategies, systems of evaluating designs and buildings as well as tools to support integrated activities in the field of architectural design. The above topics are the subject of research presented in this paper. The basic research aim of the paper is: to look for a current method of solving design tasks within the framework of Integrated Design Process (IDP) using modern design tools and technical possibilities, in the context of sustainable development imperative, including, the optimisation of IDP design strategies regarding the assumptions of conscious creation of sustainable built environment, adjusted to Polish conditions. As a case study used examples of Scandinavian housing settlements, sustainable in a broad context.

Thermal comfort determines the state of satisfaction of a person or group of people with thermal conditions of the environment in which the person or group of persons is staying. This state of satisfaction depends on the balance between the amount of heat generated by the body's metabolism, and the dissipation of heat from the body to the surrounding environment. Due to differences in body build, metabolism, clothing etc. individuals may feel the parameters of the environment in which they are staying differently. Therefore, it is impossible to ensure the thermal comfort of all users of the room. However, properly designed building systems (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) allow for creating optimal thermal conditions that will evaluated positively by the vast majority of users. Due to the fact that currently we spend even 100% of the day indoors, the subject becomes extremely important.

The article presents the evaluation of thermal comfort in rooms heated with a tiled fireplace with the function of accumulation of heat using the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) and PPD (Predicted Percentage Dissatisfied) indices. It also presents the results of studies, on the quality of the micro-climate in such spaces. The system of heating premises described in the article is not a standard solution, but is now more and more commonly used as a supplement to the heating system, or even as a primary heating system in small objects, e.g. single-family houses, seasonal homes, etc. The studies comprised the measurements and analysis of typical internal micro-climate parameters: temperature, relative humidity and CO₂ concentration. The results obtained did not raise any major reservations. In order to fully assess the conditions of use, the evaluation of thermal comfort of the analyzed rooms was made. Therefore, additionally the temperature of radiation of the surrounding areas, and the insulation of the users' clothing was determined. Based on the data obtained, the PPD and PMV indices were determined according to EN ISO 7730: 2005 Ergonomics of the thermal environment - Analytical determination and interpretation of thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD indices and local thermal comfort criteria [1]. The obtained PMV values did not fit within the limits of thermal comfort, and the percentage of people dissatisfied reached almost 20%.

The fire of building is a threat to its users. The biggest threat is generation, during lifetime of fire, hot gases and smoke. The purpose of quick and efficient evacuation from the area covered by the fire, at first step the escape routes have to be secured from smokiness. The smoke ventilation systems are used for this purpose. The proper design and execution of smoke ventilation is important not only because of the safety, but also of the maintenance of comfort in the building at a time when there is no fire. The manuscript presents the effect of incorrectly realized smoke ventilation in the stairwell of the medium building. The analysis shows that the flaps of smoke ventilation located in the stairwell may have a significant impact on the proper functioning of mechanical ventilation in the period when there is no fire. The improperly installed or incorrect insulated components cause perturbation of air flow and they change pressure distribution in the building. The conclusion of the analysis is the need to include the entire technical equipment of the building during the design and realization of its individual elements. The impact of various installations at each other is very important, and the omission of any of them can cause disturbances in the proper work of another.

The article presents the effects of research on models of high density housing. The authors present urban projects for experimental high density housing estates. The design was based on research performed on 38 examples of similar housing in Poland that have been built after 2003. Some of the case studies show extreme density and that inspired the researchers to test individual virtual solutions that would answer the question: How far can we push the limits? The experimental housing projects show strengths and weaknesses of design driven only by such indexes as FAR (floor attenuation ratio - housing density) and DPH (dwellings per hectare). Although such projects are implemented, the authors believe that there are reasons for limits since high index values may be in contradiction to the optimum character of housing environment. Virtual models on virtual plots presented by the authors were oriented toward maximising the DPH index and DAI (dwellings area index) which is very often the main driver for developers. The authors also raise the question of sustainability of such solutions. The research was carried out in the URBAN model research group (Gliwice, Poland) that consists of academic researchers and architecture students. The models reflect architectural and urban regulations that are valid in Poland. Conclusions might be helpful for urban planners, urban designers, developers, architects and architecture students.

An innovative method for shaping attractive architectural free forms of buildings is proposed. Consistency of shell roofs and plane-walled oblique elevations of the building free forms is preserved due to utilization of specific geometrical tetrahedrons controlling general forms of entire buildings. The method proposed enables shaping roofs as warped shell forms made up of plane steel sheets folded in one direction and connected to each other along their longitudinal edges to obtain a plane strip. Next, the strip is elastically transformed into a shell shape so that a freedom of the width increments of each shell fold would be ensured. Such effective sheet shape transformations make it possible to limit the negative influence of these initial fold's shape changes on the strength and stability of the designed roof shell. The method also allows to shape oblique plane elevation walls almost freely both individual buildings and their complex structures.

Renewable energy sources are used in the modern energy-efficient buildings to improve their energy balance. One of them is used in the mechanical ventilation system ground air heat exchanger (earth-air heat exchanger - EAHX). This solution, right after heat recovery from exhaust air (recuperation), allows the reduction in the energy needed to obtain the desired temperature of supply air. The article presents the results of "in situ" measurements of pipe ground air heat exchanger cooperating with the air handling unit, supporting cooling the building in the summer season, in Polish climatic conditions. The laboratory consists of a ventilation unit intake - exhaust with rotor for which the source of fresh air is the air intake wall and two air intakes field cooperating with the tube with ground air heat exchangers. Selection of the source of fresh air is performed using sprocket with actuators. This system is part of the ventilation system of the Malopolska Laboratory of Energy-Efficient Building (MLBE) building of Cracow University of Technology. The measuring system are, among others, the sensors of parameters of air inlets and outlets of the heat exchanger channels EAHX and weather station that senses the local weather conditions. The measurement data are recorded and archived by the integrated process control system in the building of MLBE. During the study measurements of operating parameters of the ventilation unit cooperating with the selected source of fresh air were performed. Two cases of operation of the system: using EAHX heat exchanger and without it, were analyzed. Potentially the use of ground air heat exchanger in the mechanical ventilation system can reduce the energy demand for heating or cooling rooms by the pre-adjustment of the supply air temperature. Considering the results can be concluded that the continuous use of these exchangers is not optimal. This relationship is appropriate not only on an annual basis for the transitional periods (spring and autumn), but also in individual days in the potentially most favorable periods of work exchanger (summer and winter). Inappropriate operation of the heat exchanger, will lead to a temporary increase in energy consumption for the preparation of the desired air temperature, relative to the fresh air unit which is non-pretreated. For optimal energy system operation: exchanger EAHX - air handling unit, to preserve the most favourable parameters of inlet air to handling unit, there is a need to dynamically adjust the source of fresh air, depending on changing external conditions and the required outlet temperature of central unit (temperature of air forced to the rooms).

A vertical slum is defined as a socially vulnerable community in a building, with serious problems of functionality, safety and habitability. It is related to an important level of physical degradation, and a precarious socioeconomic situation of its occupants. Their inability to create a real community for proper and mandatory maintenance increases the physical deterioration of the building. The abandonment of the original owners of the houses can cause a system of illegal occupation and illegal activities, and vice versa. In many cases, the new occupants are primarily interested in maintaining the building in a state of precariousness in order to avoid any attempt of renovation by administrations. These security and habitability problems often extend outside the building and they affect a whole community of neighbours within the neighbourhood who feel threatened and insecure, causing their rejection and a strong social segregation in the area. This article wants to show some of the results from a research work developed on a case study of vertical slum in the city of Malaga, in Spain. In this context of marginality previously described, the research project explores different alternatives for the renovation of a building, its vulnerable community and the neighbourhood in which it is inserted. The project establishes four major objectives: (a) a physical renovation of the building, (b) social transformation in a disadvantaged environment, (c) functional evolution-from a residential model to a new hybrid model with a mixed supply of social services, and (d) the incorporation of new parameters of environmental sustainability that improve the energetic behaviour of the building (transforming it into a building of almost zero consumption).

The research closes with a series of strategies and results for the case study. However, the main contribution of the work is related to the research methodology that has been developed. This is structured according to the four principles of integrated urban renovation, based on a physical, social, economic and environmental perspective. This methodology and results have been explained so that they can be transferred to other areas and experience of urban recycling in vulnerable social environments.

The city waste is one of the main urban problems to be solved, since they generate large impacts on the environment, like use of land, contamination of the soil, water and air, and human diseases, among others. In Rosario city, placed in the Argentina Humid Pampa and having about 1 million inhabitants, the Municipality is developing different strategies in order to reduce the waste impact (295 000 Tons in 2016). One of the most important actions was the construction of the Bella Vista compost plant in 2012 (within the largest in South America). In the present work we analysed the possibility to use urban organic waste (that for Rosario city represents about 58% of the total waste in the last years) for: a) compost production and b) biogas production, with compost as a by-product. We determined the produced compost and biogas and the corresponding greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, considering three possible scenarios: A reference scenario (S_r) where 24 100 Tons of urban solid waste per year is transported from the city houses and buildings to a transfer landfill and then to the a final disposal landfill; a scenario number one (S₁) in which the same fraction of waste is transported to the Compost plant and transformed to compost and a scenario number two (S₂) where the same quantity of waste is used for the production of biogas (and compost). Applying the IPCC 2006 Model, we compare the results of the annual GHG emissions, in order to select the best alternative: to expand the Compost plant or to build a Biogas (plus compost) plant. We also discussed the extension of the present analysis to the situation in which all the capability of the Compost plant (25% of the 2016 waste production of the city) is used and the impact these plants are having for a better quality of life of persons involved in the informal waste activity.

The article presents single-family houses architecture transformations since 1989, with particularly close attention paid to the significance of detail, facture, and colour. The article presents the architecture as an art of designing and building facilities with both use and aesthetic value, an art of shaping space and building forms. Architectural work should correspond to the intended function, technique, economic and aesthetic requirements, thus shaping all elements of human immediate environment, both inside and outside of the building. Architecture of the building is perceived as form, structure, and function, as well as detail, facture, and colour. Facture and colour are created through materials used for external finishes. The solid of the building is noticed first while looking at the building, then the finishes detail such as colour, facture, and detail. Materials for external finishes are commonly selected for their aesthetic value equally with their technical characteristics. The detail was always a characteristic element of style. However, currently the fashion for details can be observed, the fashion for usage of materials for external finishes and inter-connected with that colour and facture. The architecture of Polish single-family houses underwent considerable metamorphosis after system change of 1989 – from destitute in form, devoid in detail and colour socmodernism, to architecture extremely varied in terms of form, utilised structures, materials, and detail. Hence, appearance of the phenomenon called fashion can be observed in the architecture, understood as constant changeability, seeking novelty, and creation based on opinion-forming centres. The architectural fashion consists of form, function, structure, building materials, detail, facture, and colour trends, e.g. after rejecting socmodernism, steep roofs characteristic for single-family houses trend started. After 1989, initially individual single-family house projects were created; however, rapidly developing building market precipitated the creation of catalogue solutions, repetitive and conventional. Currently, potential customers have access to catalogues of numerous design studios and companies, every last one including few dozens of comprehensive constructions design options of single-family house at the fewest. In the conventional catalogue designs, steep roofs began to gain popularity, becoming increasingly complicated with various choices of roof windows as time passes. The entrances are frequently adorned with porticos and columns. So-called "mansion architecture" of the single-family houses has developed. Recently, fashion alluding to modernism of 1920s has developed in the single-family houses architecture. New trends among architects are adapted with increasing frequency by investors looking for unconventional solutions. The neo-modernism trend is noticeable predominantly in individual projects; however, it appears in catalogue propositions with increasing frequency. Designs of single-family houses of simplistic shape and distinct expression emerge, with flat roofs, minimalistic detail, and vital, carefully chosen in terms of facture and colour, material solutions of wall finishes. Apart from the conventional solutions, presently the building market offers a vast variety of meticulously prepared, factory-made, and thoroughly checked in various realisations details. Architects discontinued using manufactured and individually designed detail in favour of utilising conventional solutions for designed objects. In a well-designed single-family house, facture, colour, and detail of materials utilised in external finishes should harmonise with the building shape and form.

Since the second half of the 20th century, urban environment has experienced significant transformation. Splash of interactivity, bottom-up initiations with development of creative sector of city economy and participatory planning, irretrievably changed the attitude to the urban medium. One of the most intensively growing field – creative industry – provided cities with numerous cultural clusters, which boosted urban economic development and social cohesion. Supported in many cases by gentrification and revitalization, these processes brought renovation of brownfield and more comprehensive approaches to urban design. Understanding of the economic benefits made city managers start an active promotion of creative clusters and their intensive integration into urban life, involving the main museums and cultural institutions. Thus, a new type of cultural clusters – Museum Quarter - appeared. Holding the position of cultural flagman in the historical heart of the city, Museum Quarters (MQs) pretend to take on an important role both in urban planning structure and in social life. Furthermore, such role usually has strong influence on the surrounding districts, in a positive or negative way. Although basic principles are still applied for all types of cultural districts, the phenomena of "Museum Quarters" due to the complexity of planning, operating and maintenance issues, stepped far above basic cultural clusters, requiring substantially new attitude to the planning of such urban entities. Five clusters were chosen for this study: MQs in Vienna, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and the currently developing project in Budapest. The main purpose of this paper is to elaborate the principles for the practical implementation of Museum Quarters by the definition and classification of their specific urban planning aspects. The complexity of target object – Museum Quarter - and its multi-level relationships with the whole city, require from the research interdisciplinary approach and methodology of systemic-structural analysis. The typology of different MQs - identifying specific and common features – is based on studies of urban grids and architectural characters. The critical observation and comparison of the sociopolitical background and the traditional and modern understanding of museum environment helped to define some crucial misconceptions in interpretation, such as the widespread attitude to the Museum Quarter as a museum building, not as a part of urban medium, causing documented obstacles to development. Consideration of drawbacks and advantages, as the results of this study, showed potential of Museum Quarters as new models of urban environment for smart-governed, economically and socially sustainable contemporary city life.

The result of the deteriorating condition of the environment and climate change is to increase the efficient use of fuel and energy and the rational use of energy resources. Great potential for reducing consumption of fossil fuels are stuck in heating systems ranging from generation, transmission and distribution and ending with the recipients rationalize their consumption of heat. Efficient production of heat is obtained during optimal boiler load. The boiler type WR operates with the highest efficiency of 80-85%, the rate of fuel consumption is the lowest, and the process is close to complete combustion. In such conditions to the atmosphere are emitted mainly: SO₂, CO₂ and NO_X. Pollutants such as CO, CH₄, HF, HCl, NH₃, etc., are the result of incomplete and imperfect combustion, that is, when the boiler is working inefficiently [1-3]. Measurements of pollutant concentrations were performed using an analyzer FTIR Gasmet DX4000. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy is a technique of measuring that allows a very precise identification of qualitative and quantitative range of compounds, including gaseous pollutants. Device used to measure the concentrations of gaseous pollutants allow determining the amount of carbon, sulphur and nitrogen compounds, which measurement is not defined any rules, including chlorine compounds, hydrogen, methane, ammonia and volatile organic compounds. In this publication presents part of the literature the use of heat for domestic hot water production in summer and heating demand in winter. Described the characteristics of the water boilers WR type used for heating. Presents the results study of the emissions in the production of hot water for the summer and winter seasons.

The article presents the effects of research on different types of models of single family houses and multifamily houses. Exterior layout and interior functional layout are the main drivers for the final result of a design. Models are an important medium for presentation of architectural designs and play a pivotal role in explaining the first idea to people and potential clients. Although 3D models have unlimited possibilities of representation, some people cannot understand or 'feel' the designed space. The authors try to test how to combine the interior and the exterior in a single synthetic model. Several models of different houses have been presented in the article. All the case studies were developed with physical models, 3D models, and 2D hand sketches. The main focus of the work with the models was to achieve a coherent vision for future feeling of open space in designed houses. The research shows how synthetic models might be helpful in the design process. The research was carried in the URBAN model research group (urbanmodel.org, Gliwice, Poland) that consists of academic researchers and architects. The models reflect architectural experience gathered by the authors during their work on theoretical models, architectural projects and by supervision on site during construction site visits. Conclusions might be helpful for developers, architects, interior designers and architecture students.

The intention of this work is to highlight the importance of understanding military cemeteries as objects of cultural and historical heritage and as a part of garden design history. The design and maintenance of cemeteries and graves is a manifestation of the national culture. This is even more evident in military cemeteries, the maintenance of which is regulated by international agreements. Objects of military cemeteries are important places not only from the historical and architectural point of view, but also as green space. Most military cemeteries in Slovakia originated from World War I and II. In Slovakia, 160,000 soldiers were buried, 75,206 of them lost their lives in World War I and 93,000 in World War II. 32,495 war graves are registered by The Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic - 23,316 war graves from World War I and 9,179 from World War II. From the period of World War II, there are 22 cemeteries and graveyards in Slovakia, established for soldiers of the Soviet, German, Romanian and Czechoslovak army. Military cemeteries and memorials are mostly high quality works of architecture and art. This paper focuses on the current situation and restoration issues of military cemeteries by examining the Military Cemetery in Zvolen. In the context of its planned reconstruction, a comprehensive tree assessment has been started in 2016. The Military Cemetery in Zvolen, being one of the largest military cemeteries in Slovakia, consists of The Cemetery of the Soviet Army with 17,628 buried soldiers and The Romanian Cemetery with 11,000 buried soldiers. The Romanian Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries of the Romanian Army in Europe. Both cemeteries were declared national cultural monuments in 1963. In the cemetery, dendrometrical parameters and the health condition of trees were evaluated. In total, there are 825 woody plants. In both cemeteries, coniferous trees prevail, mainly individuals of the genus Thuja (49.4 %). Moreover, the maintenance of greenery and the aesthetics of the landscape composition were assessed. Based on the assessment of woody plant species composition, health condition of trees and their aesthetic qualities, necessary changes in the cemetery landscape composition were designed.

This research aims to design and implement tools and methods focused at the assessment of the thermal properties of full size Rectangular Straw Bales (RSB) of various nature and origin, because their thermal behaviour is one of the key topics in market development of sustainable building materials. As a first approach a method based on a Hot-Box in agreement with the ASTM C1363 – 11 standard was adopted. This method was found to be difficult for the accurate measurement of energy flows. Instead, a method based on a constant energy input was developed. With this approach the thermal conductivity of a Rectangular Straw-Bale (RSB λ) can be determined by knowing the thermal conductivity of the materials used to build the chamber and the internal and external temperature of the samples and of the chamber. A measurement a metering chamber was built and placed inside a climate chamber, maintained at constant temperature. A known quantity of energy was introduced inside the metering chamber. A series of thermopiles detects the temperature of the internal and external surfaces of the metering chamber and of the specimens allowing to calculate the thermal conductivity of RSB in its natural shape. Different cereal samples were tested. The values were found consistent with those published in scientific literature.

This work analyses how the built environment affects the quality of the air to be introduced into buildings from light shafts. Several factors such as urban environment and building design intervene in the ability of the light shaft to produce its air change process. Urban areas continuously pollute the air in cities which affects the human health and the environment sustainability. Poor air quality outside buildings supposes a big energy waste to promote an acceptable air quality inside buildings. That requires a large flow rate to maintain the indoor air quality which is translated to an energy efficiency term.

The main objective focuses on the impact of standardized architecture design in the quality of the indoor air dependent on the air change in the light shaft. The air change capacity of the outdoor space is numbered analysed using the concept of air change efficiency (ACE). ACE is determined by the built environment, the wind conditions and the design of the building containing light shafts. This concept is comparatively evaluated inside a control domain virtually defined to obtain the mean age of the air for a known air volume.

The longer the light shaft in the wind direction is, the better the ACE is compared with other options. Light shafts up to 12 metres high are the most suitable in order to obtain acceptable efficiency results. Other studied cases verify that assumption.

Different simplified tools for the technicians to evaluate the design of buildings containing light shafts are proposed. Some strategies of architectural design of buildings with light shafts to be used for ventilation are presented.

The form and functions of airports change over time, just like the form and function of cities. Historically, airports are understood as places of aircraft landing, control towers operation and location of other facilities used for communication and transport. This traditional model is giving way to the concept of so-called Airport Cities, based on the assumption that, in addition to its infrastructure and air services, also non-air services are performed, constituting a source of income. At the same time, their reach and impact on the economy of the areas around the airport are expanding. Idea City Airport appeared in the United States in the late twentieth century. The author is J. D. Kasarda, he believes that it is around these big air ports that airport cities develop. In the world, there are currently 45 areas which can be classified in this category, out of which 12 are located in Europe. Main air traffic hubs in Europe are not only the most important passenger traffic junctions, but also largest centres dispatching goods (cargo). It can be said that, among the 30 largest airports, 24 are the largest in terms of both passenger and freight traffic. These airports cover up to 89.9% of the total freight transport of all European airports. At the same time, they serve 56.9% of all passengers in Europe. Based on the concept of Airport City was developed document THE INTEGRATED REGIONAL POLYCENTRIC DEVELOPMENT PLANS FOR THE WARSAW MODLIN AIRPORT CATCHMENT AREA. The plan developed takes into account the findings of the Mazovian voivodeship spatial development plan, specifying the details of its provisions where possible. The development is the first step for the implementation of the concept of the Modlin Airport City. The accomplishment of this ambitious vision will only be possible with hard work of a number of entities, as well as taking into account the former Modlin Fortress, currently under revitalisation, in concepts and plans.

The TLS method (Terrestrial Laser Scanning) may replace the traditional building survey methods, e.g. those requiring the use measuring tapes or range finders. This technology allows for collecting digital data in the form of a point cloud, which can be used to create a 3D model of a building. In addition, it allows for collecting data with an incredible precision, which translates into the possibility to reproduce all architectural features of a building. This data is applied in reverse engineering to create a 3D model of an object existing in a physical space. This study presents the results of a research carried out using a point cloud to recreate the architectural features of a historical building with the application of reverse engineering. The research was conducted on a two-storey residential building with a basement and an attic. Out of the building's façade sticks a veranda featuring a complicated, wooden structure. The measurements were taken at the medium and the highest resolution using a ScanStation C10 laser scanner by Leica. The data obtained was processed using specialist software, which allowed for the application of reverse engineering, especially for reproducing the sculpted details of the veranda. Following digitization, all redundant data was removed from the point cloud and the cloud was subjected to modelling. For testing purposes, a selected part of the veranda was modelled by means of two methods: surface matching and Triangulated Irregular Network. Both modelling methods were applied in the case of data collected at medium and the highest resolution. Creating a model based on data obtained at medium resolution, both by means of the surface matching and the TIN method, does not allow for a precise recreation of architectural details. The study presents certain sculpted elements recreated based on the highest resolution data with superimposed TIN juxtaposed against a digital image. The resulting model is very precise. Creating good models requires highly accurate field data. It is important to properly choose the distance between the measuring station and the measured object in order to ensure that the angles of incidence (horizontal and vertical) of the laser beam are as straight as possible. The model created based on medium resolution offers very poor quality of details, i.e. only the bigger, basic elements of each detail are clearly visible, while the smaller ones are blurred. This is why in order to obtain data sufficient to reproduce architectural details laser scanning should be performed at the highest resolution. In addition, modelling by means of the surface matching method should be avoided - a better idea is to use the TIN method. In addition to providing a realistically-looking visualization, the method has one more important advantage - it is 4 times faster than the surface matching method.

Mărăști Village, 1918, a village on the front line of the First World War, the place where General Mackensen and General Averescu met face to face for 12 days. After the 12 days of heavy fighting at an altitude of 536 meters, the Romanians won the battle, but they lost 4800 people and the village was destroyed. The village was rehabilitated due to Mărăști Society; whose objective was to rebuild it as a "historical village in the Romanian style". The place was in a building site for 6 years. A number of 73 houses were rehabilitated and 20 new houses, a church and a school were erected. The village was provided with a water supply system and an electricity grid with diesel-generators. All this was designed in the Neo-Romanian style by 6 architects. In a short period and on a large territory, the terrible consequences of the war were changed into a reconstruction and modernization theme, from the infrastructure in general to the dwellings in particular. It was a tremendous effort because of the isolated position of the village, which required an impressive logistic support for those times. The new architectural products were designed in the style that was already considered the Neo-Romania style in the 1910-1920 decade. The village is important because it was modernized from the urban point of view. It was a completely new manner characteristic of the urban development in an area where the last Middle Ages peasant upheaval took place in 1907. In the Romanian context, the execution is unique in dimension, scale and theme. At the International level, it is considered a very precise and rare architectural intervention.

The study arose from question about the future of towns, as well as the possibility of their development. The paper is an attempt to look at the direction in which many towns around the world aim, connecting to a networks, and especially the network of Cittaslow. The author asked a few questions - whether the Cittaslow network actually helps towns to use their inner potential, build their brand and improve the quality of residents' lifes? The starting point for the case study method adopted in the paper is a discussion of examples of urban networks as a background for a wider Cittaslow characteristic. For this purpose, there was conducted literature and in situ research on the Cittaslow towns, the query of documents related to Polish Cittaslow, own photographic documentation was collected and a series of talks were carried out in different offices and municipalities. The database constructed in this way, allowed the analysis and conclusions. An important part of the research was the synthesis of information on the integrated project which has been taken in 14 Polish Slow Cities. "The Cross-Local Programme of Revitalization of Cittaslow Town Network in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship" is a unique action on the scale of the entire international Cittaslow network. Each of the participating towns tried to exploit through revitalization its own unique potential for real growth and improve the quality of life of its residents. Through the joint action, even the smallest town could more easily obtain significant funding. The involvement of regional government and understanding of the idea was also crucial. Cittaslow network, although not perfect, may in the long term strengthen linkages and exchange of experience between the slow towns and not lead to their unification. Furthermore, as shown by the example of Polish "The Cross-Local Programme of Revitalization of Cittaslow Town Network in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship", belonging to the Cittaslow network could help to raise funds for the implementation of a comprehensive revitalization, as well as to integrate revitalization projects in the whole region. Joint venture naturally consolidated these slow towns in the Warmia-Mazury region and facilitated to operate efficiently in the network, as well as to undertake other common "hard" measures. As a result, obtained effect of revitalization is likely to be a more coherent and holistic.

Geomatics represents a natural consequence of the accelerated development of information technology; it's a combination of the basic concepts of Geodesy and Geoinformation and encompasses a wide range of the fields, including tools and techniques used in surveying, mapping, remote sensing, Geographic information systems (GIS), global navigation systems by satellite (GPS), geography, planning and decision making in almost all areas: infrastructure, environment, demography, urbanism, health, sociology, economics, tourism, administration, transportation and many others. As a consequence of the population growth and industrialization, society has become more complex for government and other institutions, with the result that more complex and complicated tasks have to be performed. In order to solve these tasks properly, more and more information is required. Having passed through the stages of agricultural and industrial societies, we now live in an information society. Town planning cadastre defines itself as a particular cadastre, a part of the general one, which involves inventory and systematic evidence of the buildings, fields, networks and utilities inside towns. All these problems regard both technical and economic aspects. In order to automate cadastral activity, the first important procedure is to collect all physical information from a certain territory, which will supply later on the database for town cadastre. Geodetic activity for engineering projects is able to provide accurate solutions for positioning, setting out, control, mapping in order to cover basic needs of land administrative information and decision making for the local authorities. The paper points out the purpose and the importance of town planning cadastre for providing the exact data on the situation of the urban fond in order to identify its needs; it presents the case of Timisoara city located in the western side of Romania that has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2021. As a national strategy, a key component in the policies of growth poles is promoting urban development as part of a long-term project with sustainable impact on economic, cultural and social development.

Beauty, utility, durability - these are the features of good architecture and should also be the distinguishing qualities of every residential building. But do beauty and utility remain along with the passing of time? Performance characteristics are an indicator of both, the technical as well as aesthetic state of buildings. Aesthetic needs are in disagreement with the merciless aging process. The beauty of a city is formed not only by the original forms of new residential buildings, but also by existing tenement housing; thus preserving their aesthetics becomes a necessity. Time is continuously passing and along with it, aging intensifies. The aging process is a natural phenomenon for every material. The life expectancy of building materials is also limited. Along with the passing of time, the technical state of residential buildings continuously deteriorates. With the passing of time, the aesthetic values and preferences of users of flats change and the usability of the building decreases. The permanence of buildings, including residential buildings, is shaped not only by the forces of nature but also by activities of humans. A long lifespan is ensured by carrying out ongoing, systematic renovation-repair works. It is thanks to them that buildings derived from past centuries are still being used, and their market attractiveness is not decreasing.

The article presents a general idea of Industry 4.0 concept with the introduction presenting descriptions of the most important aspects in terms of production and construction industry development. The importance of the SME sector is stressed showing that this group of companies plays significant role in the European economy. The main objective of the article is to define and show possible research areas connected with the introduction of Industry 4.0 concept into SMEs with the main focus on the construction sector. For this purpose, an analysis was made, based on the most recent literature, to point out actual needs in the SMEs sector in terms of its evolution into 4.0 level. What is more, the analysis was performed based on the most popular articles published in journals available in Thomson Reuters Web of Science Core Collection database regarding Industry 4.0 concept in the last decade showing the actual change of interest in this filed, taking into account possibility of usage of this concept in the construction and production sector. Authors tried to describe current knowledge regarding Industry 4.0 introduction for SMEs. Performed analysis showed that there is a wide spectrum of disciplines that are affected by the Industry 4.0 that needs to be examined considering introduction into SMEs. Study also showed that multidiscipline approach was not investigated so far to create special rules, procedures and methods and know-how designed for introduction of main principles of Industry 4.0 in the SME sector. Authors came to the conclusions that there should be more stress put into research in this field especially taking into account the huge potential which lies in SME sector in terms of global economic strength.

The author investigates into the state of public and semi-public spaces in the Polish housing estates erected in the times of mass housing projects (1960 - 1980). The character of these estates is special. On the one hand, the buildings were accompanied by lavishly designed open spaces with elaborate material infrastructure: urban design followed the ideas that time – and strict regulations – that, in theory, prevented creation of substandard spaces. Provision of affordable housing was given a priority in the centrally controlled economy, so vast greenfield areas were devoted to housing. Moreover, the estates often stay under one management of housing cooperatives for years. The assets are relatively modern and usually conveniently located within the city/town infrastructure. This gives the areas advantage over contemporary housing schemes affected by constraints imposed by prior development and commercial approach to the provision of housing. On the other hand, technical wear and tear, functional obsolescence, years of underinvestment, natural demographic changes in local communities, changing ownership structure, and weakening social bonds make the large housing estates with their too lavishly designed public areas an ungrateful object of management.

Recent availability of the European Union funds for modernization of public spaces increases the numbers of municipal projects and individual initiatives to activate communities by improving public and semi-public spaces. A question arises whether the money and effort is spent reasonably. Do people actually use the new facilities? Are they encouraged to affect the form and function of their surrounding? Does the public space change according to some passing fancies, or according to the changing needs?

To juxtapose the development of technical condition of infrastructure and functions offered by the space between buildings with the expectations of users, the author repeatedly views the scene and conducts structured interviews with the inhabitants of the estates. The paper presents the results of two interdisciplinary surveys, held five years apart in the same estate, and based on the same questionnaire. Its results confirm that user expectations evolve. The interest in the development of green areas, and availability of recreational facilities in the proximity of home is growing as people observe that changes are possible. Some people declare some form of active participation in improvements. Preferences towards functions and accessibility of the areas reflect changes in the demographic structure. Surveys of this kind may be regularly used in defining guidelines for further improvement measures, and raising user awareness of the personal responsibility for the condition of the neighbourhood.

Modern architecture in the Western World bore fruit at the beginning of the 20th Century in consequence of the process of modernity and seeking of the proper architecture for it. It was formed firstly towards the end of the 1920s. The main reason of this nonsynchronous development was the inadequacy of enlightenment and industrial revolution during the Ottoman Empire and the lack of formation of an intellectual infrastructure which provides the basis of modernity. However, the Ottoman Westernization occurring in the 19th century constituted the foundations of the Republic modernity founded in 1923. The earliest modern architectural designs in Turkey were first practised by European architects after the foundation of the Republic and internalised and practised extensively by the native architects afterwards. The early modern architecture of Turkey, named as "1930s Modernism", continued until the beginning of the World War II. This period was formed in between the periods of first and second nationalist architecture movements. The early modern architecture period of Turkey was a period which high-quality designs were made. It was practised and internalised not only in big cities such as Ankara and in Istanbul, but also in the medium and small cities of the country. This situation was not just about a formal exception but about the internalisation of modernity by the society. Eskisehir is one of the most important pioneering cities of the Republic period in terms of industrial and educational developments. The earliest modern buildings were built as the public buildings by the state and non-citizen architects in the inadequate conditions of the country in terms of economy and professional people. The earliest modern houses of the city designed by these architects were the prototypes for the later practices which offered the citizens a new lifestyle. The modern houses were the symbols of prestige and status for the owners and the dwellers. The features of early modern buildings of Eskisehir as a medium-size city of Turkey will be examined in this study within the scope of the early modern architectural period of Turkey.

The article presents an analysis of the building cooling load taking into account the variability of the factors affecting the size of the heat gains. In order to minimize the demand for cooling, the effect of shading elements installed on the outside on the windows and its effect on size of the cooling capacity of air conditioning system for the building has been estimated. Multivariate building cooling load calculations to determine the size of the reduction in cooling demand has derived. Determination of heat gain from the sun is laborious, but gives a result which reflects the influence of the surface transparent partitions, devices used as sunscreen and its location on the building envelope in relation to the world, as well as to the internal heat gains has great attention in obtained calculation. In this study, included in the balance sheet of solar heat gains are defined in three different shading of windows. Calculating the total demand cooling is made for variants assuming 0% shading baffles transparent, 50% shading baffles transparent external shutters at an angle of 45 °, 100% shading baffles transparent hours 12 from the N and E and from 12 from the S and W of the outer slat blinds. The calculation of the average hourly cooling load was taken into account the option assuming the hypothetical possibility of default by up to 10% of the time assumed the cooling season temperatures in the rooms. To reduce the consumption of electricity energy in the cooling system of the smallest variant identified the need for the power supply for the operation of the cooling system. Also assessed the financial benefits of the temporary default of comfort.

The aim of the article is to discuss the need of defining and implementation of the linear revitalization - the new approach related to the revitalization processes. The results of the preliminary investigations indicate that this kind of revitalization seems to be an important tool supporting city management and planning, especially in cases of cities fragmentation - causing lack of physical, social, economic and ecological cohesion. The problems which may occur in such situations could be, in author's opinion, solved with the use of linear revitalization. Linear revitalization relates to various linear city structures, which need a renewal. The article presents the idea of new attitude, character of specific actions related to degraded linear structures, draft classification, as well as the potential benefits to the city structure which could be reached due to the linear revitalization implementation. The theoretical deliberations are supplemented by the description and assessment of the chosen case study from Gdynia in Poland. The Kwiatkowskiego Route in Gdynia, playing important role in the city traffic as the external connection, creates the barrier in the city structure, causing many negative effects. Author presents specific problems related to chosen example, and the ways to solve them and to connect city structure. The main conclusion of the study is that the presented approach may be, in author's opinion, the beginning of the discussion related to the linear revitalization, which may become an important and effective tool of sustainable city development. It may help overcoming physical barriers, and minimise functional, economic, social, mental and environmental conflicts caused by city fragmentation.

Ostrava city had developed as an industrial city in socialist era but now faces to deindustrialization. Ostrava-Jih is one of the housing areas developed in the socialist era. In this paper, the attractiveness of Ostrava-Jih for younger generation was showed by interview with inhabitants. As a result, the accessibility to nature around the housing estate, commercial facilities and public facilities, reasonable rent and housing price were evaluated. Besides, the inhabitants have done some activities for making their neighbourhoods more attractive.

The Corine Land Cover (CLC) data is a collection of information about land cover, which was created during the program that was implemented by the EU. In this article authors proposes new index of space fragmentation, which is based on the analysis of the length of the boundaries of the various forms of land use - Ex. This papers contains the procedure of designation the new index and two examples of its use for the two regions in the north – eastern part of Poland. These regions are characterized by a particularly high environmental values. Therefore, especially for these areas it is extremely important to study the fragmentation of landscapes as monitoring the increase of anthropopression. For visualization and spatial analysis authors used GIS technology.

The period between 1960s and 1970s had a significant impact in Romania on the urban development of major cities. Because the vast expansion of the industry, the urban population has massively increased, due the large number of workers coming from the rural areas. This intense process has led to a shortage of homes on the housing market. In order to rapidly build new homes, standard residential project types were erected using large prefabricated concrete panels. By using repetitive patterns, such buildings were built in a short amount of time through the entire country. Nowadays, these buildings represent 1.8% of the built environment and accommodate more than half of a city's population. Even though these units have reached only half their intended life span, they fail to satisfy present living standards and consume huge amounts of energy for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting. Due to the fact that these building are based on standardised projects and were built in such a large scale, the creation of a system that brings them to current standards will not only benefit the building but also it will significantly improve the quality of life within. With the transition of the existing power grids to a "smart grid" such units can become micro power plants in future electricity networks thus contributing to micro-generation and energy storage. If one is to consider the EU 20-20-20 commitments, to find ideas for alternative and innovative strategies for further improving these building through locally adapted measures can be seen as one of the most addressed issues of today. This research offers a possible retrofitting scenario of these buildings towards a sustainable future. The building envelope is upgraded using a modular insulation system with integrated solar cells. Renewable energy systems for cooling and ventilation are integrated in order to provide flexibility of the indoor climate. Due to their small floor area, the space within the apartments is redesigned for a more efficient use of space and an improved natural lighting. Active core modules are placed on top of the unused attics and a solar panel array is introduced. Furthermore accessibility issues are addressed by facilitating access for disabled people and implementing an elevator system that currently these building do not have.

The objective of this research is the documentation of a lost fragment of the Cáceres' Almohad Wall hidden in within some houses that used it in their construction.

Thanks to a research of the urban development of the City of Caceres an anomaly in the urban planning was discovered that made us suspect that some popular houses hided a fragment of the ancient Almohad Wall. After the analysis of this singularity the existence of a "lost piece" of the city was discovered; a hidden denatured military structure preserved along the centuries by several houses that reused it within "economy of means". This paper studies this lost fragment from a holistic perspective: constructive, urbanistic and planimetric; verifying that this is a fragment of the ancient Almohad Wall. The aim of the paper is to contribute not only to the knowledge of Cáceres' Almohad wall, but also to a better understanding of the buildings and spaces of the city from the perspective of how they were constructed; hoping that this knowledge will help to preserve them.

Landfill is one of the most common, widely used waste management technique in Malaysia. The ever increasing of solid waste has made the role of landfill become prominent despite the negative impacts that caused by the landfill is unavoidable. The public and government regulations are getting more aware with the negative impacts that could be brought by the landfill towards the community. It led to the cultural shift to integrate the concept of sustainability into the planning of siting a landfill in an urban area. However, current urban planning tends to emphasize more on the environmental aspect instead of social and economic aspects. This is due to the existing planning guidelines and stakeholder's understandings are more on the environmental aspect. This led to the needs of incorporating the concept of sustainability into the urban planning. Thus, this paper focuses on the industry stakeholders view on the negative impacts that will cause by the landfill towards the urban planning. The industry stakeholders are those who are related to the decision-making in the selection of a landfill site in the government department. The scope of the study is within the country of Malaysia. This study was conducted through the semi-structured interviews with a total of fifteen industry stakeholders to obtain their perspective on the issues of impacts of siting a landfill in the urban area. The data obtained was analysed using the software, QSR NVivo version 10. Results indicate that landfill bought significant sustainability-related impacts towards landfill siting in urban planning. The negative impacts stated by the respondents are categorized under all three sustainable aspects such as environmental, social and economic. Among the results are such as the pollution, such as the generation of leachate, the objection in siting a landfill site against by the public, and the negotiating and getting money contribution from local authorities. The results produced can be served as a guideline for the industry stakeholders to have a holistic overview of the impacts that could lead by the landfill in siting into the urban area in terms of sustainability aspects. Moreover, it serves as a platform for the developing a holistic guideline for urban planning in the consideration of sustainability aspect of the selection for a landfill site.

This paper deals with one of the means of communist control over society in Romania: rural systematization. After the Second World War, the Romanian villages underwent radical changes. The main objective of the communist regime was to reduce the number of villages from 13,129 to 10,000 by the year 2000. To this end, feasibility studies were conducted and the villages were classified as viable and non-viable. About a quarter of Romanian's village were threatened. They were classified according to the following criteria: functionality, infrastructure and social and cultural facilities. The community itself, with its traditional and historical values and the role of the private investors were completely ignored. Some of the villages were to be turned into agro-industrial towns, while others were to be abandoned. The priority of the rural strategy was the shaping of the "New Man" who had to be provided with decent living and safety conditions. The result of the territorial systematization process would be the "New Towns", which had to meet the 'New Man's" needs. This required, among other things, new buildings erected after typical design. The purpose of the communist authorities was to homogenize all the members of the society, so that they were easier to control. Another communist priority was to control the migration from the rural to the urban area by optimizing the commuting system.

Encouraging population growth and improving the living conditions were the means by which the communist authorities planned to incorporate the rural environment into the urban one.

The dialogue among the decision makers and stakeholders is a crucial part of any decision-making processes, particularly in case of integrated transportation planning and planning of green infrastructure where a multitude of actors is present. Although the theory of public participation is well-developed after several decades of research, there is still a lack of practical guidelines due to the specificity of public participation challenges. The paper presents a model of public participation for integrated transport and green infrastructure planning for international project TRANSGREEN covering the area of five European countries – Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Romania. The challenge of the project is to coordinate the efforts of public actors and NGOs in international environment in oftentimes precarious projects of transport infrastructure building and developing of green infrastructure. The project aims at developing and environmentally-friendly and safe international transport network. The proposed public participation procedure consists of five main steps – spread of information (passive), collection of information (consultation), intermediate discussion, engagement and partnership (empowerment). The initial spread of information is a process of communicating with the stakeholders, informing and educating them and it is based on their willingness to be informed. The methods used in this stage are public displays, newsletters or press releases. The second step of consultation is based on transacting the opinions of stakeholders to the decision makers. Pools, surveys, public hearings or written responses are examples of the multitude of ways to achieve this objective and the main principle of openness of stakeholders. The third step is intermediate discussion where all sides of are invited to a dialogue using the tools such as public meetings, workshops or urban walks. The fourth step is an engagement based on humble negotiation, arbitration and mediation. The collaborative skill needed here is dealing with conflicts. The final step in the procedure is partnership and empowerment employing methods as multi-actor decision making, voting or referenda. The leading principle is cooperation. In this ultimate step, the stakeholders are becoming decision makers themselves and the success factor here is continuous evaluation.

The relationship between man and the surrounding cultural environment directs attention in urban and architectural design to the realm of interdisciplinary research. As a result, they should create architectural and urban solutions which provide aesthetic satisfaction. They should also generate social bonds, a sense of identity and maintain the specificity of the local building environment, where tradition and the context of surroundings is the starting point for creating a sustainable living environment. Presented problems focus on the analysis of formal, functional and spatial solutions, in which materials and technology were selected in an optimal way. The continuation of the subject concerns the relationship between the use of the local urban, architectural, material and technological solutions and the quality of the cultural space that meets the principles of sustainable development. Adaptation and transformation of old techniques and traditional materials to create contemporary designs is one of the forms of experimentation encountered in contemporary architecture. Its economic, social and ecological aspects are realised in the form of: satisfying the needs of the local community, renewal and maintenance of modern standards of the surrounding buildings, use of local materials and available space. This means striving to design and transform the space already in use, while reducing the impact on the environment. Analysed buildings and urban spaces are an attempt to answer: whether the strategies applied in the field of architectural, technological and material solutions provide the identification of the place and meet the users' expectations?

The paper discusses a controversy surrounding the latest amendment to the text of the Polish Parliament Act Conservation and the Care of Monuments (2015). It is a common dictum that any edifice cannot exist without good foundations. In this particular case of the mentioned above Act, definition of monument appears to be such a basis. A social interest is one of the constituent elements of the definition mentioned above. In the first part of the paper the notion of the social interest expression has been discussed, particularly from national and international points of view. The second part of the paper comprises some examples from the Polish monument preservation experience with the use of comparison method supported by case study. Only three big Polish cities: Warsaw, Wroclaw and Szczecin are involved in the presented case study but it must be emphasized that many other places on Polish territory experienced the same. Basing on the faith of these cities, the results and discussion chapter proves fundamental discrepancy in social interest notion between national and international scopes using some analytical methods. Finally, in the discussion chapter some proposals for the future amendment of monument definition in the Act of Conservation and the Care of Monuments have been provided.

The theme of the article is to determine the possibility of waste heat recovery and use it to prepare hot water. The scope includes a description of the existing sample of coal-fired boiler plant, the analysis of working condition and heat recovery proposals. For this purpose, a series of calculations necessary to identify the energy effect of exhaust temperature decreasing and transferring recovery heat to hot water processing. Heat recover solutions from the exhaust gases channel between boiler and chimney section were proposed. Estimation for the cost-effectiveness of such a solution was made. All calculations and analysis were performed for typical Polish conditions, for coal-fired boiler plant. Typicality of this solution is manifested by the volatility of the load during the year, due to distribution of heat for heating and hot water, determining the load variation during the day. Analysed system of three boilers in case of load variation allows to operational flexibility and adaptation of the boilers load to the current heat demand. This adaptation requires changes in the operating conditions of boilers and in particular assurance of properly conditions for the combustion of fuel. These conditions have an impact on the existing thermal loss and the overall efficiency of the boiler plant. On the boiler plant efficiency affects particularly exhaust gas temperature and the excess air factor. Increasing the efficiency of boilers plant is possible to reach by following actions: limiting the excess air factor in coal combustion process in boilers and using an additional heat exchanger in the exhaust gas channel outside of boilers (economizer) intended to preheat the hot water.

Acquisition and processing of as much solar energy for heating and electricity generation in Poland and in the world is a very important objective in the policy of alternative energy sources. The main problem with the reception of solar energy by solar collectors is vary energy supply at different times of day and year and low flux density of radiation. The term of solar radiation one mean transmission or emission of energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. The radiation emitted from the surface of the sun spreads out in all directions in space, reaches the Earth's surface in only partly, especially the solar collectors. The most important parameters characterizing solar radiation are daily, monthly and annual sum of solar radiation. Its express the amount of solar energy which falls on a unit area at a given time. Number of hours of sunshine during the day are dependent on two key factors. The first one is the time from the sunrise to sunset, which strongly depends on the date and latitude. The second factor is the weather (clouds), influences solar radiation, radiation in touch with clouds is absorbed and dissipated. This publication shows the impact on the energy yield of the flat collector installation and astronomical conditions (angle of inclination and declination of solar), and climate. The calculations of determining the astronomical conditions of the place where the installation is located ware analyzed. The solar installation is located in Rzeszow (Poland) and the plate collector placed on the roof of building. Based on specific methodology for selected days the calculation of the elevation angle of the Sun, hourly angle, the sun azimuth and angle of incidence of the radiation on any plane were set. The results are shown in diagrams. The effect of cloud cover on the acquisition of solar energy by the collector is also shown.

This investigation shows the European influence on the work of Portuguese architects of the Enlightenment period. Based on previous studies we focus our attention on the design of "Praça do Comércio" square and on a hypothesis, that it was based on the French Royal Square. We demonstrate that the design of Lisbon from the second half of the eighteenth-century was influenced by the theories and best practices of the time. We also confirm that the architect Eugénio dos Santos e Carvalho, a member of the reconstruction team for the Baixa, had in his personal library several reference books of French architectural practice that certainly influenced his architecture. The plans for the main square of Lisbon's lower city, "Praça do Comércio", can be compared to the "Place de Nos Conquêtes", predecessor of the "Place Vêndome", in its design, architecture and dimensions. This research analysed the cartography and iconography of Lisbon's reconstruction. In particular, the drawings of "Praça do Comércio" and "Place de nos Conquêtes" were exhaustively studied. The comparative study of the elements for both squares lead to the conclusion that the Portuguese square presents many aspects of the French Age of Enlightenment, and in particular those featured in the "Place de nos Conquêtes". This paper concludes that the Portuguese urban design and architectural projects of the 18th century are the result of previous knowledge where it was always possible to articulate the vernacular with academic design, and where many different influences left their mark on the culture of the period. The plans for the lower part of Lisbon display a mixture of references that relate to architectural and urban planning traditions of the Portuguese military engineering and contemporary French urban planning.

Despite extensive and valuable literature and a series of activities over the past several years of scientific studies, there's lack of work presenting a comprehensive inventory of housing shaped over the centuries in terms of the assessment of the users' needs based on suitability and real modernisation. Such coverage of the subject, based largely on research methods using statistical reports on the changes carried out in the substance subject to research, would enable the assessment – as close to the reality as possible – of the housing stock and the potential associated with its further use. The subject of the work is the state of residential architecture resources of the period 1848-2013 in selected cities of Upper Silesia, changes carried out in the architecture and construction. Changes to the architecture and construction carried out in the housing stock subject to research constitute an important means of evaluation of the housing resources by their users. The changes occur three aspects: technical, functional and aesthetic. The main objective of the work is the presentation of a detailed assessment and comprehensive picture of the state of the housing stock of selected cities in Upper Silesia, based on statistical tests, numerous spatial solutions in terms of the evolutionary development of forms of residential architecture in Upper Silesia. The premise of the work is on the one hand, the expansion of knowledge of housing resources in Upper Silesian cities. On the other hand, it is an attempt to formulate a method of the comprehensive assessment of the housing stock in general, using the elements of statistics, analysis of spatial solutions and macrosocial determinants that shape human residential space. For greater clarity and precision of the obtained information, the performed assessment is connected with a direct private space of a dwelling place. It discusses to a limited extent the modernisation and transformation of the neighbourhood or the so-called backyard area.

The centuries-old Polish history, its complicated fortunes and borders changing over the centuries have caused the cultural heritage to be a reflection of the fate of the inhabitants, the intermingling of ethnic groups and the common formation of the culture of the region. The cultural area of southern Poland is particularly full of layers, where diverse historical and geographical influences blend together. That is why the presence of the common construction type for the wooden objects on the two ends of southern Poland, in two different geographical realms, is such an interesting testimony of the Polish cultural melting pot. The main area of the occurrence of the timbered architecture is the borderland of Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. This type of houses was built for the first time in the Middle Ages in the area of Upper Lusatia, then this type of housing has spread to northern Czech Republic and the western part of Lower Silesia. In Poland, there are two main clusters of the occurrence of timbered structures: in Lower Silesia and in the Subcarpathian province, where this type of buildings has been rooted with the German settlers, called the Walddeutsche in this area. The colonisation was also accompanied by the model of settlement village systems moved from the west, the development of the plot, and this specific type of construction. The architecture of the Jasielsko-Sanockie Valleys and the Dynowskie foothills is an interesting, though a very poor form in relation to the Sudeten houses, as the architecture non-recurring in other Polish regions has been formed as a result of the intermingling of the cultures. In this area, the houses and farm buildings with the timbered structures were used most often by farmers and they were not too impressive, so that the residents did not notice their uniqueness. Today, in the natural landscape, they disappear one by one, as a result of lack of maintenance and the replacement of the old materials with objects of a newer technology. Buildings preserved to this day should be under special protection, because due to the small number of such facilities and the lack of a natural continuation of construction forms by the representatives of the ethnic groups, they are relics of the Polish history.

The paper takes under considerations controversies surrounding German architecture designed during Nazi period between 1933-45. This architecture is commonly criticized for being out of innovation, taste & elementary sense of beauty. Moreover, it has been consequently wiped out from architectural manuals, probably for its undoubted associations with the totalitarian system considered as the most maleficent in the whole history. But in the meantime the architecture of another totalitarian system which appeared to be not less sinister than Nazi one is not stigmatized with such verve. It is Socrealism architecture, developed especially in East Europe & reportedly containing lots of similarities with Nazi architecture. Socrealism totalitarian architecture was never condemned like Nazi one, probably due to politically manipulated propaganda that influenced postwar public opinion. This observation leads to reflection that maybe in the same propaganda way some values of Nazi architecture are still consciously dissembled in order to hide the fact that some rules used by Nazi German architects have been also consciously used after the war. Those are especially manipulations that allegedly Nazi architecture consisted of. The paper provides some definitions around totalitarian manipulations as well as ideological assumptions for their implementation. Finally, the register of confirmed manipulations is provided with use of photo case study.

Nowadays the quality of homes and social life are two closely interacting categories which require a more careful interpretation of the users' needs. Their opinions, expectations and "desires" have to be incorporated into both the design and evaluation processes. With specific reference to the experiences of public housing, the practice of "user satisfaction" should be increasingly incorporated during the ex-post (or monitoring) evaluation in order to verify the quality and validity of the service offered, thus activating a real co-participation of the user in the creation and improvement of the housing service. It is well-known that the principle of customer satisfaction derives from the field of marketing as a tool to evaluate how and how much the products/services offered meet the needs of the consumers. In the field of the construction industry, customer satisfaction has been incorporated into the "Post-Occupation Evaluation", an evaluation tool of the performance of the building "in use" through the combination of objective and subjective variables expressed by the occupiers. Widely used since the 1970s in Anglo-Saxon countries, Italy is still struggling to find a systematic implementation. In this perspective, the article presents an application of the customer satisfaction method for the identification of some interventions aimed at improving the quality of a complex of public residential housing localized in Ponticelli, the second most populated district in the outskirts of the metropolitan city of Naples, in the Campania Region (Italy). Following a synthetic introduction of the theme and the explanation of the object of evaluation, the article discusses the methodology and the results, focalizing on some intervention hypotheses verified in terms of economic sustainability.

Well established and maintained green areas have a key role on reaching the high quality of life and sustainability in urban environments. Therefore, green areas must be carefully accounted and evaluated in the urban planning affairs. In this context, the European Green Capitals, which attach a great importance to the green areas, have a great potential to act as a role model for both small and big cities in all around the world. These leading cities (chronologically, Stockholm, Hamburg, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Nantes, Copenhagen, Bristol, Ljubljana, Essen and Nijmegen) are inspiring for the other cities which seek to achieve more sustainable and environmentally friendly places through green areas. From this point of view, the aim of this paper was to investigate the green areas of the European Green Capitals. The paper covered whole European Green Capitals, and the application form of each Green Capital was used as a primary data source. Consequently, the paper put forwarded that the European Green Capitals have considerably large amount and high proportion of green areas. Further, these cities provide an excellent access to the public green areas. As a result of abundant provision and proper distribution, the almost all citizens in most of the Green Capitals live within a distance of 300 meters to a green area. For further researches, the paper suggested that these green capitals should be investigated in terms of their efforts, measures, goals and plans, policies and implications to administer, to protect, to enhance and to expand the green areas.

Due to the increasing need for complex residential buildings, it appears that people migrate into the high-density urban areas because the infrastructural facilities can be easily found in the modern metropolitan areas. Such rapid growth of urbanization creates congested residential buildings obstructing solar radiation and wind flow, whereas most urban residents spend 80-90% of their time indoor. Furthermore, the buildings were mostly built with average materials and construction detail. This causes high humidity condition for tenants that could promote mould growth. This study aims to analyse thermal comfort condition in complex residential building, Thailand for finding the passive solution to improve indoor air quality and respond to local conditions. The research methodology will be in two folds: 1) surveying on case study 2) analysis for finding the passive solution of reducing humidity indoor air The result of the survey indicated that the building need to find passive solution for solving humidity problem, that can be divided into two ways which raising ventilation and indoor temperature including increasing wind-flow ventilation and adjusting thermal temperature, for example; improving building design and stack driven ventilation. For raising indoor temperature or increasing mean radiant temperature, daylight can be passive solution for complex residential design for reducing humidity and enhance illumination indoor space simultaneous.

The article is concerned with a very interesting aspect of architectural design, namely, a contradiction between the building functions and the necessity of giving the building a desired external appearance. One of the possibilities of reconciling this contradiction is using pseudo windows that are visible on the elevation and generally have the form of a black painted recess accompanied by frames and sashes and often single glazing. Of course, there are no windows or openings in the corresponding places in the walls inside the building. The article discusses the differences between false windows and blind widows (German: blende), also known as blank windows, which, in fact, are shallow recesses in the wall having the external appearance of an arcade or a window and which had already been used in Gothic architecture mostly for aesthetic reasons and sometimes to reduce the load of the wall. Moreover, the article describes various false windows that appeared later than blind windows because they did not appear until the 17th century. Contemporary false windows are also discussed and it is shown that contrary to the common belief they are widely used. In his research, the author not only used the Internet data but also carried out his own in situ exploration. The false windows constitute very interesting albeit rare elements of the architectural design of buildings. They have been used successfully for a few hundred years. It might seem that they should have been discarded by now but this has not happened. Quite contrary, since the second half of the 20th century there has been a rapid development of glass curtain walls that serve a similar function in contemporary buildings as the false windows once did, only in a more extensive way.

The process of implementation of the reconstruction of buildings is often associated with the need to adapt them to increased loads. In the restricted access to the archive project documentation it is necessary to use technical solutions to obtain a fairly short period of time necessary to implement the technical parameters of such processes. Dissemination of BIM in the design process can also be used effectively in the processes of identification of existing facilities for the implementation of the work of strengthening or adapting objects to the increased load requirements.

Obtained in the process of research and macroscopic data is then used in the processes of numerical processing aimed at developing a numerical model reflects the actual parameters of the structure of the existing structure and, therefore, allows a better look at the object and the execution of the process to strengthen future.

This article will identify possibilities for the use of BIM in processes of identification technology buildings and structures and indicated the necessary data to be obtained during the preliminary work. Introduced in model solutions enable the use of multi-criteria analysis of the choice of the most optimal solutions in terms of costs or expenditures of time during the process of construction. Taking the above work by building a numerical model of the object allows every step of verification by authorized person inventoried solutions and enables tracking and changes in the situation of those found derogations in relation to the parameters established at the primary stage. In the event of significant deviations, there is the possibility of rapid changes to the completed process of calculation and presentation of alternative solutions. Availability software using BIM technology is increasingly common here knowledge of the implementation of such solutions will become in a short time, the standard for most objects or engineering structures. The use of modern solutions using the described processes will be discussed on the example of an industrial facility where there was a need for installation of new equipment and adapt it to the technical parameters.

The Bay of Biscay is located in the heart of district known as Donostialdea (San Sebastian). Together with the towns of Donostia-San Sebastian, Lezo, Errenteria and Oiartzun, it makes up the so-called Oarsoaldea region, a supramunicipal area of common interest. A urban continuum peculiar to the region, than may be better understood as an area of shared territorially with several elements in common and as a community where individual interests intersect with common interests. The importance of the geographical location of this region is more than notable. It is on the Bay of Biscay right where Spain curves northward to meet France; it is the only natural point of passage on the west end of the Pyrenees Mountains, with La Junquera in Catalonia at the east end, thus communicating the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe. This is the strategic point for each and every known means of transport. The rail system consists of three different types of track gauge; the road network includes major motorways and the national road system; the airports at Hondarribia and Biarritz and the natural port of Pasaia complements this transportation node. All of this takes place in a small space, a natural corridor at the foot of Mount Jaizkibel. What was once considered modern infrastructures sufficient to meet transportation needs is today absolutely insufficient, obsolete and in operative. A set of partial solutions lacking an overall vision cannot be considered an integrated system. Therein lies the origin of the problem. Here is the diagnosis: The Port of Pasaia is obsolete. Pressure is felt from urban growth in the surrounding cities and from the restrictions of the Hondarribia airport. The roads are completely saturated and traffic continues to increase. The railway service is inefficient owing to three different types of track gauge. And each of these infrastructures is subject to its own restrictions and management. This forces us to think about the current state of these services and to come up with a new way of organizing this "infrastructures complex" that can efficiently solve the problems of mobility, based on the different services complementing each other. The system must be understood as a "whole", a system made up of individual parts which are effective in their relationship with the rest of the parts, a single way of understanding and dealing with the problem. The complexity involved in managing this situation and in developing common interest's calls for the creation of a powerful and competent administrator and management entity. Governance is a fundamental 'factor' in achieving the objectives put forward by the community through its managers, as a goal for the transformation, improvement and development of the conditions in its territory and of its inhabitants. The 'social' character that any type of initiative means in this area takes on an unusual dimension due to the effect it reaches on this territorial scale. Hence, the importance of a territory-wide vision regarding local positions, and the need for an appropriate instrument.

The aim of this paper is the theoretical analysis of the possibilities and limitations of using an unconventional technology and the original architectural form stemming from it – the building with external construction and internal insulation. In Central European climatic conditions, the traditional solution for the walls of heated buildings relies on using external thermal insulation. This stems from building physics: it prevents interstitial condensation of water vapour in the wall. Internal insulation is used exceptionally. This is done e.g. in historical buildings undergoing thermal modernization (due to the impossibility of interfering with facade). In such cases, a thermal insulation layer is used on the internal wall surface, along with an additional layer of vapour barrier. The concept of building concerns the intentional usage of an internal insulation. In this case, the construction is a tight external reinforced concrete shell. The architectural form of such building is strongly interrelated with the technology, which was used to build it. The paper presents the essence of this concept in descriptive and drawing form. The basic elements of such building are described (the external construction, the internal insulation and ventilation). As a case study, authors present a project of a residential building along with the description of the applied materials and installation solutions, and the results obtained from thermal, humidity and energetic calculations. The discussion presents the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed concept. The basic advantage of this solution is potentially low building cost. This stems from minimizing the ground works, the simplicity of the joints and the outer finish, as well as from the possibility of prefabrication of the elements. The continuity of the thermal insulation allows to reduce the amount of thermal bridges. The applied technology and form are applicable most of all for small buildings, due to limited possibilities of lighting the interior. The disadvantage of this technology is low heat accumulation of walls. A building in the proposed technology requires constant, forced ventilation. Further theoretical and practical research towards applying this concept would be necessary.

Among the many projects realized in public spaces, some are truly unique – and these are the ones that build the identity of a place. The aim of this paper is to examine how integrating art and cultural strategies into public space can enhance and reinforce the sense of a place. Particular attention is devoted to urban spaces that we call "places in transition", where public art improves the city's imaginative capacity, enlivens neighbourhoods, and sparks civic exchange. Research methods include multidisciplinary literature studies and a detailed case study of the Rose Kennedy Greenway (RKG) – a contemporary urban park in Boston, USA, intended to stitch together the various neighbourhoods surrounding downtown. The Greenway is also a place in transition, to which the Conservancy introduces innovative and contemporary art through temporary exhibitions, engaging people in experiences, interactions and dialogue with art. The five-year Public Art Strategy was supported by Fund for the Arts, a public art program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. The main vision of the project is to amplify the Greenway's unique characteristic through art that is connective, innovative, and celebratory. There are the two main types of projects within the Public Art Strategy for the RKG: short-term projects called "Platforms" and long-term projects called "Magnets". The particular conceptual framework is being developed to guide proposals: connection, interactivity, civic dialogue, ecology, and the environment. The article examines the case and analyses the important issues related to implementing art into a public space such as re-imagining places, short-term and long-term artistic interventions, arts and cultural programming.

Nowadays, one of the main issues that the cities are facing is related with how they are dealing with the challenges toward smartness, including infrastructures, economic, social and environmental aspects. In this sense, some of the current challenges on the global scale, trying to find solutions regarding urban societies, are based on the concept of "smart city". Therefore, is clear that new ideas regarding the cities improvements, which are on the top of global agenda, could be found at the concept of "smart city". As the literature reveals, this is a topic reason among the researchers, which is in a continuous development, in particular regarding societies, countries or regions where it is emerging, such as in the Arabian territories. Dubai, a city in the United Arab Emirates, is an example where in a short period of time, after the oil discovery in the decade of 1970, one small and badly known urban settlement became a pioneer reference in terms of smart cities requirements. Thus, this article presents background information about smart cities, their assets and key pillars, their smart infrastructures and features in cultural, social and environmental terms. The main goals are based on a theoretical approach, developed in order to get more details about smart cities, regarding the features of the Arabian territories. It argues around the case of Dubai, as a pioneer smart city in the Arab world. Among of the main conclusions, there is the idea that the urban transformation process in contemporary societies to secure the smartness, should apply to the use of ICT / information and communication technologies. This use will increase the efficiency concerns to the natural resources, and provide a high quality of life for citizens. The example of Dubai has shown that the decision-makers have built each sector and part of the city in a solid performance, in order to achieve the smart sustainability concept. This city is nowadays a reference on this matter, not only in the Middle East but also considering the global scale.

Modernism is usually recognized and associated with the aesthetics of the International Style, represented by white-plastered, horizontally articulated architecture with skimpy decoration, where function was the main imperative of the architects' ambitions. In Northern Europe though, Modernism also revealed its brick face, representing different manners, styles, and appearances. The brick face of Modernism reflected, in fact, the complexity of the modern change, breaking ties with the historic styles of the 19^th century and being still present in the beginning of the 20^th century. Regardless of the cosmopolitan character of the International Style and its unified aesthetics, architects tried to find and keep shades of individuality. This was especially visible in the references to either regional or even local traditions. This diversity of modernistic architecture is intensified by its different functions.

The language of industrial architecture derives its forms directly from its nature of pure functional idiom, devoted to economic and functional optimization. The industrial form usually seems subordinate to the technical nature of objects. But regardless of that, in the 19^th century and the first half of the 20^th century we can observe an interesting evolution of styles and tendencies in industrial architecture, even in such a narrow and specific field like the architecture of small hydropower plants. The purpose of the research was to recognize the evolution of the architectural form of hydropower plants as a developing branch of industry in the first half of the 20^th century. In Pomerania, during this period, a dynamic growth of investments took place, which concerned the use of the Pomeranian rivers' potential to produce electric energy. At the end of the 19^th century, electricity had a strong meaning as a symbol of a radical civilizational change, which influenced also the aesthetic aspects of architecture. This could suggest that the architecture of hydropower plants should be one of the carriers of the new progressive architecture. In fact, in the case of the Pomeranian hydropower plants, their technical solutions were among the most advanced and progressive solutions of those times, sometimes even experimental, adjusted to the diversity of local geographical conditions. Regardless of that, the architecture of the Pomeranian power plants was rather reflecting the diversity and dynamism of the aesthetic discourse of the time (sometimes even representing and adopting traditional or historical forms). The cascade of the power plants Podgaje (1928), Jastrowie (1930), and Ptusza (1930), all part of the same investment on the river Gwda, can be the example of the absorption and development of new aesthetic trends within the same stream of clinker architecture. The paper describes selected examples of Pomeranian power plants as a comparative study which could illustrate the evolution of the brick architecture of the beginning of the 20^th century.

The characteristic feature of a contemporary city is its inconvenience and oppressiveness caused by the hitherto dominant paradigm of urban planning based on car mobility. As a result, the inhabitants have to cope with air pollution, noise, spatial barriers, sedentary lifestyle and other factors which worsen their health and quality of life. Ecological and physically activating urban mobility thus plays an increasingly important role in the process of creating a friendly and healthy city. For many years, a steadily increasing share of bicycles in urban traffic has been observed. There are also other trending forms of non-motorized transport, such as in-line skates, skateboards, kick scooters, etc. Riding each of them can be regarded as a form of recreation or sport, but also as an ecological, physically activating means of urban mobility. The paper discusses the different forms of recreational mobility in the context of the possibility of combining it with city public transport, with particular emphasis on kick scooters. Kick scooters are becoming more and more popular, not only among children and youth, but also among adults, who use it mainly as a means of the non-motorised urban transport. Numerous publications from different parts of the world show a dynamic growth of this phenomenon. The aim of the article is also to answer the question in what extent the design of public space takes into consideration the use of these new forms of transport and recreation and, consequently, what aspects and requirements should be taken into account in the planning and design process. The paper presents the conclusions of a field study carried out with a group of students in Szczecin and Berlin. The aim of the research was to evaluate the possibilities of using kick scooters in big cities as a means of hybrid mobility combined with public transport by exploring the spectrum of public spaces (streets, squares, traffic nodes and hubs, public buildings, etc.) and testing the existing urban infrastructure. The experiment and research results seem to confirm the vast possibilities granted by kick scooters in this regard.

Physical activity is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. The quality and equipment of urban public space plays an important role in promoting physical activity among people (residents, tourists). In order for recreation and sports activities to be undertaken willingly, in a safe and comprehensive manner, certain spatial conditions and requirements must be met. The distinctive feature of contemporary large cities is the disappearance of local, neighbourly relations, and the consequent loneliness, alienation, and atomization of the residents. Thus, the design of public spaces should be an expression of the values of social inclusion and integration. A properly designed urban space would encourage people to leave their homes and integrate, also by undertaking different forms of physical activities. This, in turn, can lead to raising the quality of the space, especially in the context of its "familiarization" and "domestication". The aim of the research was to identify the architectural and urban features of the public spaces of contemporary cities that can contribute to the promotion of physical activity. The paper presents the research results and the case studies of such spatial solutions and examples of good practices, which invite residents to undertake different forms of physical activities in public spaces. The issue of the integrating, inclusionary, and social function of physical recreation and sport is discussed as well, and so are the possibilities of translating these values into physical characteristics of an urban space. The main conclusions are that taking into account the diverse needs of different social groups, participation in the design and construction process, aesthetic and interesting design, vicinity of the residence, open access for all age groups and the disabled would be the most important spatial determinants of a properly designed, physically activating public space. Strategies of planning the sports and recreation infrastructure should also make sure of their multifunctionality and variability in time to adjust it to the changing needs of the residents.

Yugoslavian Modernist Architecture, although part of a larger cultural phenomenon, received hardly any international attention, since there are only a few internationally published studies about it. Nevertheless, Modernist Architecture of the Inter-war Yugoslavia (Kingdom of Yugoslavia), and specially Modernist Architecture of the Post-war Yugoslavia (Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the "reign" of Tito), represents the most important architectural heritage of the 20th century in former Yugoslavian countries. Belgrade, as the capital city of both newly founded Yugoslavia(s), experienced an immediate economic, political and cultural expansion after the both wars, as well as a large population increase. The construction of sufficient and appropriate new housing was a major undertaking in both periods (1919-1940 and 1948-1980), however conceived and realized with deeply diverging views. The transition from villas and modest apartment buildings, as main housing typologies in the Inter-war period, to the mass housing of the Post-war period, was not only a result of the different socio-political context of the two Yugoslavia(s), but also the country's industrialization, modernization and technological development. Through the classification of Modernist housing buildings in Belgrade, this paper will investigate on relations between the transformations of the main housing typologies executed under different socio-political contexts on the one side, and development of building technologies, construction systems and materials applied on those buildings on the other side. The paper wants to shed light on the Yugoslavian Modernist Architecture in order to increase the international awareness on its architectural and heritage values. The aim is an integrated re-evaluation of the buildings, presentation of their current condition and potentials for future (re)use with a specific focus on building envelopes and construction.

The article raises issues of constructing contemporary architectural structures in cultural heritage protection zones, using the case study of a building located within the campus of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland. Questions revolving around the construction of this building arise from the need to preserve the surrounding historic heritage, and deal with landscaping, architectural and construction solutions as well as interior design. All these problems grow in importance when dealing with such unique buildings like the discussed example of a laboratory building for the Civil Engineering Department, built on a site within a conservation zone of the university campus. The specific character of the building and the specialist equipment with which it was to be furnished (a resistance testing machine, a 17-meter-long wave flume) necessitated a series of analyses. In turn, the fact that the new building was to be erected in the conservation zone meant that collaboration with the Heritage Conservation Office had to be undertaken at the stage of making the plan and continued during the construction works.

The Heritage Officer's recommendations concerning the building's shape, divisions, dimensions, materials used, etc., created a situation where the team of designers and architects had to become engaged in the process of landscape and spatial management. The above requirements concerned the functions of the building and its siting on a land parcel that was difficult to handle, also because of the protected trees growing there. Other constraints included the small size of this site, the developed surroundings, and the pre-defined programme of functions and use of the new building. All the above circumstances made the task difficult and demanded good coordination between individual teams of engineers and architects, both at the stage of making the plan and during the construction works.

Many of the heritage protection zones are spoilt with inappropriate buildings and structures. The historic part of the university campus in Olsztyn, in the town's suburb called Kortowo, is an example. Some of the architecture in this area present features characteristics for socialist realism, which causes disharmony with the remaining late-19th century buildings. This paper is dedicated to the question of how to harmonise new buildings with historic ones, and how to strive towards maintaining spatial order. The case discussed in this article proves that such efforts, even when drastic solutions like demolition are needed, can be successful.

There is no doubt that authenticity is a cardinal feature of architectural heritage and should be protected in the same way as historical and cultural value of monuments or their integrity. Sometimes, one decides to reconstruct a destroyed historical building due to important emotional, scientific, artistic or political reasons (e.g. the Zwinger Palace in Dresden or the Royal Castle in Warsaw). However, the solution which should be an unusual exception too frequently becomes a common and unnecessary practice in contradiction to the sense of architectural conservation. Moreover, a significant part of the society accepts this kind of action and mistakenly believes that copies of historical buildings are originals. Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president and the Nobel Prize winner, gave some consideration to this issue during his last journey to Gdańsk in 2005. With a dilettante casualness, contrary to the modern principles of conservation, Havel concluded that not the authenticity, but beauty/aesthetic value of monuments would matter to common people. In this paper, we try to confront his remarks with the main issues concerning the rebuilding of Gdańsk after the Second World War, especially the partial protection of the city's historical plan and the socialist transformation of allegedly reconstructed burgher houses. We also outline the sad circumstances which led to the post-war annihilation of many survived historical houses in Gdańsk and show how they were ultimately replaced with the neo-historical façades. Moreover, we try to provoke reflection on this matter among people (including some architects) living in the era of "liquid modernity".

The article aims to determine how effective the stricter current requirements for the building envelope insolation are from the economic energy savings perspective. The article deals with a mathematical method for economic assessment of optimal building thermal insulation. The mathematical methods used in this article are based on evaluating the break-even point between the construction expenditures and the economic profit. Recent research shows that energy savings achieved solely through stricter standards applied to the building envelopes are limited in their ability to achieve maximum results. As the ratio of building volume to building envelope increases, further energy saving measures applied to the building envelope produce lower energy saving effects. Energy savings achieved using renewable energy resources, recuperation systems are much more effective. Research shows that much greater effect can be achieved by combining optimal building envelope energy efficiency measures with new requirements related to renewable energy sources and recuperating systems, such as solar batteries, wind turbines or heat pumps.

The abandonment of churches and their adaptation for secular purposes is a current subject in Europe and worldwide. Most cases involve objects that were desacralized and then rebuilt as a whole object for alternative functions. Thus far, the merging of secular and sacred functions in one monumental Catholic church has not raised any issues. The paper describes the case of St. Catherine's Church in Gdansk, Poland, where sacred function exists parallel to the new secular function being implemented. The study is based on the authentic, professional experience of the author. It describes the technical limitations arising from the need to ensure destinies for the optimal conditions of both sacred and secular function, while avoiding undesirable interference between them. The author further identifies architectural solutions most relevant to current requirements for protection of sacred zones in the church, for preservation of the monument, and for optimal function of a modern science museum. Significant design issues include: the inviolability of the sacred zone, preservation of the historical value of the monument, proper operation of new secular zones in compliance with contemporary standards of safety, performance of the assumed mission and profitability. The research indicates specific areas where the highest probability of collision exists between the sacred and profane and where technical problems are likely to occur.

The issue of the creation and location of new museums is a current topic. The decision of where and how to create new museum facilities will impact successful function in the future. Museums are either located in newly designed buildings or in existing buildings. In general, existing buildings adapted for museum use are either formally under conservational protection or not. With regard to museum location in preserved monuments, the author notes that the true impact on authentic monumental building structure still needs intense research. The adaptation of the Great Mill and St. Catherine's Church - two preserved medieval objects located in the historical city center of Gdansk - provide case studies to investigate positive and negative aspects. In both cases, the author carried out architectural projects for the functional purposes of museums: The New Amber Museum and Museum of Science. The author concludes that mutual benefits of adaptation result from: the financial means of the museum institution to invest long-term; the institutional respect of the museum towards heritage, which translates into respect for conservational protection; and the competitive advantage created by the monumental features of the building and the privileged location in a well-established, branded space. Negative aspects result from: space limitations of monuments that disable the museum from extending its exposition and thus prevent institutional development; the overly restrictive requirements of restoration that take priority over the museum mission; and the lack of technically functional space required for contemporary museum technologies, which forces unconventional engineering solutions that are more expensive than the location of the museum in a newly constructed building.

The principles of the market economy adopted in Poland in the nineties have significantly touched the resources of immovable monuments. As a result, monuments have become a product of culture subject to the rules of the free market; and state ownership, patronage and decision-making practice has now been replaced by private interest. Practical monument use has also changed with the shift in ownership of objects after privatization and further advances in technology and the economy. Accordingly, the subject of this research addresses the issue of ensuring protection as well as the profitability of monumental objects of heritage under private investment in association with municipal and state ownership. The nineties of the twentieth century in Poland marked a period of rapid revival in trade based on market principles and openness to contemporary global trends in the design of commercial facilities. Thus, commercial function as a new use has been used for the commercialization of the monument. After 25 years of experience, it turns out that this new use may pose a threat to the conditions of monument preservation. The spatial and location specifics of the monument are poorly matched to the organizational form of trade and product range, despite the huge variety of these forms; the result is bankruptcy of the commercial operation and the consequent loss of use for the monument. Unused objects will eventually be destroyed. Studies have shown that functions supporting the creation of culture, especially museums, are optimal for the use of monuments. The museum function provides sufficiently high prestige and spatial stability, and allows for the maximum preservation of authentic elements, thus performing an additional role as museum piece.

The paper deals with the parametric architecture which is trying to introduce a new spatial language in the context for urban tissue that correspond to the artistic consciousness and the attitude of information and digital technologies era. The first part of the paper defines the main features of parametric architecture (such as: folding, continuity and curvilinearity) which are are characteristic of the new style of named the "parametricism". This architecture is a strong emphasis on geometry, materiality, feasibility and sustainability, what emerges is an explicit agenda promoting material ornamentation, spatial spectacle and formal theatricality. The second part presents result of case study, especially parametric public use buildings, within the tissue of city. The analyzed objects are: The Sage Gateshead (1998-2004) in Gateshead, Kunsthaus in Graz (2000-2003), the Weltstadthaus (2003-2005) in Cologne, The Golden Terraces in Warsaw (2000-2007), the Metropol Parasol in Seville (2005-2011) the King Cross Station (2005-2012) in London, the headquarters of the Pathé Foundation (2006-2014) in Paris. Each of the enumerated examples shows a diverse approach to designing in the urban space, which reflect the age of digital technologies and the information society. In conclusion emphasizes, that new concept of the spatialization of architecture is the equivalent of the democratization of the political system, the liberalization of the economy, among other examples.

As well as being a cutting-edge technology, laser scanning is still developing rapidly. Laser scanners have an almost unlimited range of use in many disciplines of contemporary engineering, where precision and high quality of tasks performed are of the utmost importance. Among these disciplines, special attention is drawn to architecture and urban space studies that is the fields of science which shape the space and surroundings occupied by people, thus having a direct impact on people's lives. It is more complicated to take measurements with a laser scanner than with traditional methods, where laser target markers or a measuring tape are used. A specific procedure must be followed when measurements are taken with a laser scanner, and the aim is to obtain three-dimensional data about a building situated in a given space. Accuracy, low time consumption, safety and non-invasiveness are the primary advantages of this technology used in the civil engineering practice, when handling both historic and modern architecture. Using a laser scanner is especially important when taking measurements of vast engineering constructions, where an application of traditional techniques would be much more difficult and would require higher time and labour inputs, for example because of some less easily accessible nooks and crannies or due to the geometrical complexity of individual components of a building structure.

In this article, the author undertakes the problem of measuring and modelling architectural objects in the process of their valorisation, i.e. the enhancement of their functional, usable, spatial and aesthetic values. Above all, the laser scanning method, by generating results as a point cloud, enables the user to obtain a very detailed, three-dimensional computer image of measured objects, and to make series of analyses and expert investigations, e.g. of the technical condition (deformation of construction elements) as well as the spatial management of the surrounding environment while the measurements are being taken and processed. An example of the application of this technology provided in the article is a large-size building housing a swimming pool, which belongs to the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, north-eastern Poland. With the help of a 3D laser scanner, it was possible to create a spatial model of the building, which is very useful for making inventories, preparing technical documents and evaluating the impact of a building on the surroundings and how its shape matches the urban spatial structure.

The largest church buildings were erected in Poland during the communist era, when there were many difficulties in obtaining planning permission for churches. Today these buildings are usually too large for their users. This is a significant problem for the administrators of these facilities and their parishioners. Finding a way out of this situation is a major challenge for both the church authorities and local communities. One should look for opportunities to use these huge spaces for other purposes, which would not be contrary to the fundamental role of a parish church. In this article, the problem of large churches, of which there are a great many in Poland, will be discussed with particular reference to the Archdiocese of Czestochowa.

The paper presents new approach in multifunctional building design process. Publication defines problems related to the design of complex multifunctional buildings. Currently, contemporary urban areas are characterized by very intensive use of space. Today, buildings are being built bigger and contain more diverse functions to meet the needs of a large number of users in one capacity. The trends show the need for recognition of design objects in an organized structure, which must meet current design criteria. The design process in terms of the complex system is a theoretical model, which is the basis for optimization solutions for the entire life cycle of the building. From the concept phase through exploitation phase to disposal phase multipurpose spaces should guarantee aesthetics, functionality, system efficiency, system safety and environmental protection in the best possible way. The result of the analysis of the design process is presented as a theoretical model of the multifunctional structure. Recognition of multi-criteria model in the form of Cartesian product allows to create a holistic representation of the designed building in the form of a graph model. The proposed network is the theoretical base that can be used in the design process of complex engineering systems. The systematic multi-criteria approach makes possible to maintain control over the entire design process and to provide the best possible performance. With respect to current design requirements, there are no established design rules for multifunctional buildings in relation to their operating phase. Enrichment of the basic criteria with functional flexibility criterion makes it possible to extend the exploitation phase which brings advantages on many levels.

This article discusses the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) at the local level of governance in the field of urban planning. It is based on a literature review, in order to define a set of considerations about their use in the urban context and the challenges ahead on this domain. As a starting point, there is the need of rethinking the local governance through the use of ICT related to cities, focused on the modernization of the processes associated with urban planning. Nowadays, in several societies the paradigm about cities if shifting, from an expansionist way of acting towards a regeneration and rehabilitation approach. In the case of Portugal, the local authorities; the municipalities; are the main responsible for the coordination, and integration of policies with territorial impacts. However, these policies are generally onerous and inefficient, triggering communication and information failures in between local administration and citizens. In this sense, governance should support the decision-making process related to cities' policies, engaging citizens and socio-economic agents. As the main result in this scenario, the use of ICT demonstrates the ability to play an important role in urban planning, by contributing as a simplifying tool, regarding the information and knowledge sharing, gathering local authorities, citizens and socio-economic agents. On the one hand, they promote the reduction of inefficiencies associated to the urban planning process. On the other hand, they boost the development of networks, and consequently the social and territorial cohesion. In summary, the use of ICT infrastructures works as a glue allowing the integration of several intelligence elements of the city, and operating as their base platform. Finally, the literature has revealed that the use of ICT in urban planning should be seen as a means to a wider social goal, and not as an end by itself. With the use of ICT, urban planning authorities are more likely to be aware of the city features in their multiple aspects, being able to define and monitoring the public policies, suitable to each situation, reinforcing the democracy and transparency of local governance.

Due to the necessity of eliminating civilizational backwardness, the contemporary discourse concerning the tradition and post-modernity is based on the assumption that the cultural environment is a part of an integrated system, and its function and form undergo changes in the course of a constant and complex process determined by the current economic, political as well as cultural circumstances. The recognition of the value of architectural monuments is an obvious fact, however, the idea of democratizing the legacy in the context of universal spatial design is a relatively new phenomenon. Adjusting the historic monuments to the needs of people with various limitations affecting their mobility and perception is less and less frequently considered in terms of oppression or arduousness. It has started to be perceived as a potential catalyser of positive changes. Architectural accessibility might contribute to popularizing the knowledge regarding the significance of historical legacy and provide the conditions for its sustainable development and stable subsistence. It is necessary to answer the question: can the cultural space along with the preserved throughout the history tradition of the absence of the excluded groups have a universal character, so that the conditions of using and experiencing this space by people with disabilities would not exceed their capacities.

Owing to the fact that the application of universal design principles is practically more complex than the intuitive understanding of the concept itself, there is a need to continue multidirectional research taking into account methods for the real application of the assumptions underlying the ideas of social egalitarianism. The aim of the paper is adding new concepts to the debate on the roots of spatial discrimination and possibilities of counteracting this phenomenon by modifying the monuments, building complexes and historic places. The conclusions have been based on the analyses of international law regulations and available literature data, but, first of all, on the experience resulting from the cooperation with the people whose exploitation of the space environments is affected by various limitations and with the institutions through which they are organized. The dynamic and competent social and scientific dialogue concerning the issue of universality cannot be possible without the involvement of persons with disabilities.

The article is a voice in the discussion on the common accessibility standards and it attempts to answer a question whether, due to the risk of degrading the original buildings tissue, the introduction of physical changes implied by the ongoing socio-cultural transformation should be limited or rather supported. The paper includes suggestions concerning harmless modifications and supplementing the existing building tissue with those elements which could play a role in creating optimal conditions for the inhabitants' wellbeing and further socio-cultural development. The Author presents arguments supporting the statement that a proper understanding of the physical and mental needs of the users, professional experience as well as a proper level of awareness and empathy might open new possibilities to the designers, thus contributing to the effective reduction of the barriers existing in the space or even to their complete elimination.

One of the most crucial decisions to be made while designing and re-modernizing an operating theatre is selecting a method of transporting the patient through the hospital's spatial arrangement. This decision, while irrelevant at first thought, implies numerous project and functional consequences.

Designing an operating theatre within a hospital is related to numerous specialist requirements with an aim of minimizing the risk of microbiological contamination. Surgeries conducted on the operating theatre take place within sterile areas, usually within a protection area provided with laminar air flow. Furthermore, currently in Poland, there are applicable rules requiring to have entrances secured with tract locks leading towards the operational rooms for hospital personnel, patients as well as hospital equipment and materials. Such construction of an operating theatre provides the necessity of applying detailed procedures of transporting the patient, who in most cases is not able to reach the surgery on his or her own.

In operating theatres functioning during the last decades, the operating tables were most often fixed to the floor. This resulted in the need to relocate the patient, who is ready for surgery, for several times. The consequences of this included risks related shock due to the relocations for the patient as well as physical overload for the medical staff.

The aim of hereby article is to present modern designer solutions providing the opportunity to enhance ergonomics of using the operating theatre.

The construction of the public space has become in the last decades something so important and fundamental in the architecture of the cities, that requires a specific discipline and a concrete study that evaluates the characteristics and actions on it. Not already from an urbanistic perspective but from its own design and constructive perspective, with its character as a place for everyone and for everything, must gather a series of elements that are unique to this space. Barcelona is one of the densest cities in the world that, since the end of the s. XX until our days, tries to solve the public space with a design of quality and optimum. The shortage of public space, which also hosts more than eight million tourists each year, makes it necessary to propose a type of meticulous intervention in order to accommodate all types of users and activities. From the first Universal Exhibition of 1888 through 1929 to the 1992 Olympics as the most important stimulus for this renewal of urban space, Barcelona has been rethinking and evolving in the modus operandi in terms of its urban space. From our professional experience as architects both in the municipal, private and university spheres, we believe that it is our responsibility to confer the public space, that is to say, the design of the urban infrastructure with the attributes necessary to consolidate it in a space Suitable for all without exception and as a place of expression of citizenship. Through the projects of public space developed in our office we will analyze this change of procedure in the construction of squares, parks and other spaces in the city of Barcelona.

This paper delves into relationships between twentieth century utopian concepts of movable structures and the kinematic solutions implemented in contemporary architectural projects. The reason for conducting this study is to determine the impact of early architectural conceptions on today's solutions. This paper points out close links that stem from the imagination of artists and architects working in 1960s and 70s and the solutions implemented by contemporary architects of that era. The research method of this paper is based on comparative analyses of architectural forms with adopted kinematic solutions. It is based on archive drawings' studies and the examination of theoretical concepts. The research pertains to different forms of such mobility that evolved in 1960s and 70s. Many of them, usually based on the simple forms of movement were realized. The more complicated ones remained in the sphere of utopian visionary architecture. In this case, projects often exceed technical limitations and capabilities of design tools. Finally, after some decades, with the development of innovative architectural design tools and new building technologies many early visions materialized into architectural forms. In conclusion, this research indicates that modern kinematic design solutions are often based on conceptual designs formed from the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century.

This article intends to explore the limits of scanning with the technology of 3D Laser Scanner and the 3D printing, as an approximation to its application for the survey and the study of singular elements of the architectural heritage. The case study we developed is the Porta del Drac, in the Pavelló Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudí. We divided the process in two parts, one about how to scan and optimize the survey with the Laser Scanner Technology, made with a Faro Forus3D x330 scanner. The second one, about the optimization of the survey as a high-resolution mesh to have a scaled 3D model to be printed in 3D, for the musealization of the Verdaguer House of Literature in Vil.la Joana (Barcelona), a project developed by the Museum of History of Barcelona, in tribute to Jacint Verdaguer. In the first place, we propose a methodology for the survey of this atypical model, which is of special interest for several factors: the geometric complexity in relation to the occlusions, the thickness of the metallic surfaces, the hidden internal structure partially seen from the outside, the produced noise in its interior, and the instrumental errors. These factors make the survey process complex from the data collection, having to perform several scans from different positions to cover the entire sculpture, which has a geometry composed of a variety of folds that cause occlusions. Also, the union of the positions and the average of the surfaces is of great relevance, since the elements of the sculpture are constructed by a metal plate of 2mm, therefore, the error in the union of all these many positions must be smaller than this. Moreover, optimization of the cloud has a great difficulty because of the noise created by the instrumental error as it is a metal sculpture and because of noise point clouds that are generated inside the internal folds of the wings, which are made with a welded wire mesh with little spaces between them. Finally, the added difficulty that there is an internal structure between elements of the parts of the Drac that are partially hidden and therefore cannot be recorded. Secondly, we expose the procedures performed to move from a point cloud to an optimal high-resolution mesh to be printed in 3D, adapting it to all the limitations that this printing technique entails. On the one hand, for the meshing process, a previous classification of the point cloud by pieces (wings, chains, mosaics, head ...) is made and an internal structure is re-assembled to avoid floating parts. On the other hand, the selection of the 3D printing technique, in this case FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling), limits the size of the model so it needs to be cut by determined maximum dimension, and also it limits the minimum thickness of the model's surface, that is to say, the model cannot be directly scaled to the desired size because the 2mm surfaces would be too thin to be printed. This research intends to advance the knowledge of data acquisition, optimization, modelling and 3D printing, with a case study of great complexity. A process that can be systematized and applied to other models.

In a context of web application in the field of the dissemination of cultural heritage, this article advances in a methodology for the optimization of points clouds obtained through the technology of Laser Scanner (TLS). Identifying the potential of TLS surveys as interactive models that allow the cultural heritage to be perpetuated over time. This point cloud optimization is developed with free software, focusing its exploitation on an interactive web application, which has made it possible to convert two temporary museum exhibitions into permanent exhibitions in virtual format. Developed in conjunction with the Museu d'Història de la Ciutat de Barcelona. The case study focuses on the Palau Reial Major, Gothic style, formed by the chapel of Santa Àgata (built in 1302, on the Roman wall) and Saló del Tinell (built between 1359 and 1370, on the Roman remains). Located in the Plaça del Rei, in the old town of Barcelona. In this application is very important the visual impact, it requires to represent a faithful model of the interior of the building, from the point of view of color and lighting, avoiding the transparencies of the model through a dense cloud of dots, without occlusions, this requires a great quantity of positions. This implies a clear methodology, using different techniques such as photographic proyection, given the complexity of lighting of the building, as much for the artificial lighting as for the lighting of the stained glass. In this process, there were 84 positions that provide greater density of points, which are optimized with free programs. The temporary exhibitions of the case studies, elaborated by the MUHBA in the Saló del Tinell are: "Indianas, 1736-1847. The origins of industrial Barcelona" exposed from May 19, 2012 to March 3, 2013 and "El Món del 1714" exposed from December 20 to September 28, 2014. Both are based on a tour with showcases and exhibitors where different objects of a museum character are shown, such as looms, cloths, dresses, books, among others, accompanied by panels with texts and images that contain the information that each exhibition shows. Virtual applications allow such temporary exposures to become an interactive model, in which information can be permanently consulted. A virtual tour where the user can interact with the information panels and observe in detail the different objects of the exhibition. The results of this work manage to generate a powerful mechanism of diffusion and approximation to the society of the cultural heritage that, otherwise, as a whole as exhibition would disappear.

The medina of Tetuan has suffered a steady growing since its founding at the end of xv century by Sidi al-Mandary. It has always followed the Islamic city rules and included those works carried away by the sultan. This process had two breaking moments, that of the occupation of the city by the Spanish army in 1860 and the establishment of the Spanish protectorate. The first inside widening of the Luneta Street of the medina took place when the Rif War had already finished (provoked by the establishment of the Spanish Protectorate). The Widening was being built and the "modernity" could astonish anyone. The motives for Hadj Ahmed El Oddi to build his own house in the heart of the medina should be searched in the "kaida", that is the tradition so close to the muslin character of Tetuan. Building inside the medina meant not only keeping the familiar tradition but following the way of life their family, neighbours, friends kept. It was considered improper to do it in a different place. They could own properties in the new quarters, but only to be rented, not to be first residence. Dar Oddi was built in 1920 in the city centre al-Blal, the oldest quarter of the medina of Tetuan. Built on the foundation of a demolished house would be built as the new houses already built inside the medina by neighbours and relatives. That 'current fashion' was similar to a muslin house of the beginning of the xx century: based on the tradition but contaminated by the social changes taking place outside he medina and in short inside.

Global climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security including food production in the following decades. This paper is focused on a new possibility and advisability of creating a systemic solution to resolve the problem of food security in highly-urbanized areas. The first part of the paper deal with historical development vertical farms ideas and defines the main environmental and spatial constrains also it indicates that vertical farms are going to be part of the future horticultural production. The second part presents results of the research program undertaken at West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin by authors. The program goes on to attempt to solve the problem through architectural design. This study highlights an integrating large-scale horticultural production directly into the cities, where the most of the food consumption takes place. In conclusions emphasizes, that the design will force architects, engineers and urban planners to completely revise and redefine contemporary design process and understanding of the idea-fix of sustainable design. To successfully migrate food production from extensive rural areas to dense environment of city centres, a new holistic approach, integrating knowledge and advances of multiple fields of science, have to develop.

Nowadays soft mobility is a crucial issue towards a most sustainable urban environment. Not only because it promotes a less polluted atmosphere among the always dense and busy urban fabric, but also because it avoids several traffic problems. The use of bicycles, or mechanic mechanisms to support the pedestrian mobility is an emerging requirement of cities' quality. In this sense, this article aims to discuss the soft mobility as a requirement of smart cities having as a case study one mountain urban area. It refers to the urban area of Covilhã on the highest mountain of Portugal with nearly two thousand meters high. During the last decades, this city's transformation process has driven to an urban sprawl to the suburbs, increasing the efforts in terms of transportation required by the commuters. In fact, the number of inhabitants living in the city centre is decreasing in favour of the peripheral neighbourhoods. At the same time a set of several mechanic mechanisms such as public lifts, has been built in order to promote a soft pedestrian mobility. However, in many cases, because of the lack of connection and continuity of pedestrian paths in between these mechanisms, they are not allowing a pedestrian mobility network at the city scale. Thus, this paper aims to present a set of good practices in terms of pedestrian mobility network at the city scale, in order to promote a smarter urban environment. The principal results are that soft mobility is a key issue in order to turn cities smarter, among several other factors such as smart economy, smart people, smart governance or smart living. The major conclusions show that the concerns with mobility are key tools to achieve the smart city sustainability, providing and efficient and flexible traveling across the urban fabric, boosting the use of non-polluting ways of mobility. At the same time, there is the conclusion that the underlying areas of development for a smart city, despite its cultural or territorial environments, include several aspects such as reducing the transportation problems as congestion, traffic jams or painful accidents.

Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a material that is attracting attention in the construction industry due to the high mechanical strength and durability, leading to structures having low maintenance requirements. The production of UHPC, however, has generally higher environmental impact than normal strength concrete due to the increased demand of cement required in the concrete mix. What is still not sufficiently investigated, is if the longer lifetime, slimmer construction and lower maintenance requirements lead to a net environmental benefit compared to standard concrete bridge design. This study utilizes life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine the lifetime impacts of two comparable highway crossing footbridges spanning 40 meters, designed respectively with UHPC and normal strength concrete. The results of the study show that UHPC is an effective material for reducing lifetime emissions from construction and maintenance of long lasting infrastructure, as the UHPC design outperforms the normal strength concrete bridge in most impact categories.

The article analyzes the aesthetic changes which were introduced as regards the historic barracks in Polish cities from 1918 to the present day. The purpose of the analysis was to determine certain periods in history and to assign characteristic forms of initiatives in reference to the post-military objects to the aforementioned periods. The results of the research served as foundation for establishing three periods: 1) 1918-1939, 2) 1945-1989, 3) after 1989, which were determined in reference to typical types of approach towards the modernization of barrack buildings, conditioned by Poland's political and economic situation. Consequently, the aesthetics of the modernization period characteristic for particular time frames were indicated-the "signs of time" readable in the architecture, referring to periods as follows: 1) symbols of Polishness, associated with regained independence - sculptures, statues, new buildings in contrast with the barracks remaining after the partition, 2) socialistic economy – using barrack as construction resource, utilitarian approach - adaptation to serve new civil functions, often for the needs of production technology, combination of historical and industrial forms, such initiatives on many occasions led to the moral degradation of former militarian districts 3) market economy - constructing new, positive identity and function of barracks buildings confirmed by the tactical changes in their architectural form.

For at least several decades smart or so-called intelligent materials, being the result of great advancements in material engineering, appear in architecture in different applications. Most of them are called "smart" because of their inherent properties: a real-time response to environmental stimuli. There are also those considered to be "smart" due to smart design: their original structure or the composition of their materials are in nanoscale, providing them with unique properties. Colour changes, physical states, temperature or shape–always repeatable and reversible – make these materials attractive to architects, both from a visual and a practical point of view. Their spectacular applications often inspire architects, scientists and artists to create, for instance, city displays revealing various shapes and figures according to daily weather conditions; thermochromics urban seats that reflect peoples' presence; wallpaper with organic patterns that glow in darkness, and many others. On the other hand, more practical projects are being developed, such as "switchable" partition glass walls (that is, we can turn them on and they change their transparency while switching on or off: electrochromic glass is a good example). Other concepts include self-cleaning building envelopes; self-repairing concrete; phase-changing materials diminishing cooling loads in the buildings; energy-generating highways; materials that harden at the moment of impact thus withstanding exceptionally great forces; shape memory alloys playing the role of actuators-opening and - closing façade louvers or thin polymer films mimicking the function of living skin, adopted as a building envelope. All those projects result from the fascination of designers with the possibility to create materials and, in effect, a complex environment that is active, "flexible", and adapts to changing conditions and users' needs and is compatible with real, natural environments. Smart materials that serve this purpose make such projects not only more unique and beautiful but, as their inventors claim, their application may bring real environmental and financial gains in the future. This article presents the most crucial, selected examples of such materials and examines what benefits they could offer.

The aim of the study is to develop a method of computer aided constructing conical perspective of an architectural object, which is close to human perception. The conical perspective considered in the paper is a central projection onto a projection surface being a conical rotary surface or a fragment of it. Whereas, the centre of projection is a stationary point or a point moving on a circular path. The graphical mapping results of the perspective representation is realized directly on an unrolled flat projection surface. The projective relation between a range of points on a line and the perspective image of the same range of points received on a cylindrical projection surface permitted to derive formulas for drawing perspective. Next, the analytical algorithms for drawing perspective image of a straight line passing through any two points were formulated. It enabled drawing a perspective wireframe image of a given 3D object. The use of the moving view point as well as the application of the changeable base elements of perspective as the variables in the algorithms enable drawing conical perspective from different viewing positions. Due to this fact, the perspective drawing method is universal. The algorithms are formulated and tested in Mathcad Professional software, but can be implemented in AutoCAD and majority of computer graphical packages, which makes drawing a perspective image more efficient and easier. The presented conical perspective representation, and the convenient method of its mapping directly on the flat unrolled surface can find application for numerous advertisement and art presentations.