Autoportret 22. Przestrzenie władzy

-- metaphysics and homoeroticism. permanence of the fascist ideology in the public space / terry kirk
The public space in Italy still bears traces of the interwar fascist period. Mussolini's Forum, the Fascist Academy of Physical Education and the sports stadium still perform their original functions. The author tries to do away with defensive strategies of the academic discourse, which have become part of the public consciousness and which make it impossible to assess the fascist heritage accurately.

-- paradoxes of socialist realism. the architect versus the authorities in the stalin ussr / vadim bass
It seems spuriously easy to enumerate elements of the canon of socialist-realist architecture. Yet this style falls outside unambiguous definitions, as its distinctive characteristics include indeterminateness and constant search for a visual form which would best express its ideology.

-- the spectre of the centre of the world. the palace of culture and science in warsaw / zbigniew benedyktowicz
The myth of the Palace of Culture and Science is mul-tidimensional. On the one hand, it was regarded as the soaring, sky-reaching centre of the world (of Warsaw and the whole socialist Poland) or as a quasi-religious monument, which combined many, apparently incom-patible, cultural elements. On the other, it was called an artificial growth on the tissue of the city. What do these two perspectives have in common? The author finds an answer in cultural anthropology.

-- in the service of the future. silesia's park of culture in chorzów / sebastian cichocki
An area of 620 hectares between the cities of Katowice and Chorzow, it was built in the early 1950s on the site of slag heaps and rubbish dumps, which were covered with a 25-centimetre-thick layer of soil formed into hillocks, valleys and ponds. Planted with trees, it features a plane-tarium, an amusement park, a zoological garden, a bathing area, restaurants, a water sports centre, an open air folk art museum, a rose garden, a narrow-gauge train, a sculpture park. Now partly deserted, it still serves its function and remains a monument of an unrealized utopia.

-- building domination. poland's dreams of power in the interwar period / michal wisniewski
In the interwar period supporters of two leading Polish politicians, Pitsudski and Dmowski, were engaged in a dispute over their visions of Poland, yet both camps shared the belief in Poland as a power able to shape regional politics. Furthered by state propaganda, colonial ideology was also conspicuous in architecture.

-- the town hall in sosnowiec. between nazifying modernism and the 'clerical style' / pawel jaworski
Anyone wishing to trace the influence of politics on architecture should visit Sosnowiec. Once located in the Russian-occupied part of Poland, it was captured by Germans during World War I, then heavily rebuilt in the interwar period, and after 1945 the city was gradually adjusted to the changing tenets of the socialist state. What traces of these political turmoils can be found in Sosnowiec today?

-- message from the authorities. platz der republic in berlin / jaroslaw trybus
After the reunification of Germany, Berlin commissioned outstanding architects to rebuilt the capital of the state.
The Parliament and the Chancellery were designed based on the new philosophy of authorities which should not isolate themselves from citizens. But was it a successful attempt at reaching the objectives of a democratic republic? What is the real message from the authorities"?

-- permanence of a monument. monarchy and republic in the louvre's history / dorota jedruch
The Louvre has been in existence for over 200 years. It has survived monarchy, revolution, Napoleon, wars and countless changes. Often rebuilt, extended and supplemented it combines the republican idea of presenting the most outstanding works of art to the general public with the monarchist need to display the splendour of the ruling class. It has proved more permanent than the changing political systems and ambitions of various rulers.

-- 'divine providence acts through the hand of princes wittelsbach'. the art of bavarian jesuits / piotr krasny
If we discuss art, including architecture, as an expression of the ideology of the people in power, we cannot fail to forget about the times that they joined forces with the Church. An example is a 16th and 17th century alliance between Bavarian monarchs and the Jesuit Order.

-- the influence of hills. prague and its acropolis / vladimir czumalo
The search for an ideal space for the authorities must take their character into account. Aristotle believed that a towering acropolis is inherently monarchist (as opposed to a democratic plain). The history of the Prague acropolis dates back to the early 9th century and to a stronghold raised on its top. Vladimir Czumalo writes about the transformations of the royal residence on the Vysehrad hill.

-- czechoslovakian akropolis. the hradczani of masaryk and plecnik / lukasz galusek
When Czechoslovakia came into being in 1918, its first president decided to turn the Hradczani Castle into the heart and symbol of the nascent state. Within over ten years beginning from 1920, its area was redeveloped and the interior was redesigned. The project was headed by Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik.

-- rasa. a disappearing city / agata gabis
Or, to be more exact, one which has already disappeared.
Founded seventy years ago on Mussolini's orders as a city for the fascist man of the new times', it was settled by miners from the nearby coal mine. After the war, on Tito's orders, it became the pride of socialism. Finally, on somebody else's orders, the coal mines were shut down. The city died. Now only the architecture remains.

-- cricket in chandigarh / bartosz haduch
Indian Chandigarh is a rare example of a city designed and built from scratch. The vision of the giants of European architecture, Albert Mayer, Macie Nowicki and Le Corbusier, has been supplemented by decades of the city's growth.

-- the power of space. about psychosociology and proxemics / audrey higelin-fusté
One of the many ways of interpreting a work of architecture is the relatively new perspective called the psychosociology of space. This science focuses on the effect of space on the human being and the mechanisms which enable people to become familiar with it. We follow through the postulates and conclusions of this method of interpretation using the example of the problem of overpopulation (eg. in prisons)

-- the peking myth. the capital which did not exist / stefano cammelli
For six centuries no foreigners could enter Peking. In the 14" century the city shut its gates to strangers, and those who nevertheless reached it could not leave it. No wonder that it gave rise to the Peking myth in Europe, and to fantastic stories about the riches behind the gates. European colonisers eventually conquered the capital of China at the end of the 19 century. What did they see?