Architecture, City, People, and Structure

Architecture and structure are the basis for working, living, and resting for almost every human being. Quality of life depends on features of the built environment. Thus, the scientific discussion presented in the Buildings Special Issue, “Architecture, City, People, and Structure”, cannot be more necessary than it is today. In particular, in consideration of the New European Bauhaus initiative, which aims at the complex renewal of the built environment. The motto of this movement consists of the three words: “beautiful, sustainable, and together”, and represents well the goals of this Special Issues’ Academic Editors. We focused on exchanging experiences and knowledge on how to design urban and architectural environments that solve the challenges of today. We found a number of valuable remarks and proposals that fit diverse European scenarios.

The publication summarises considerations from The International Scientific Online Video-Conference, “ACPS 2021: Architecture, City, People, Structure”, held 21–22 May, 2021, at the Faculty of Architecture, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology. This Polish public institution’s mission is to conduct activities that serve to educate and prepare students, equipping them with knowledge and skills, so that they are full of creativity and the ability to function professionally in spatial and architectural aspects of civilization. At the faculty, there is a wide range of scientific topics. Studies range from visual arts to ergonomics and from the history of architecture and archaeology to parametric design. This Special Issue, “Architecture, City, People, and Structure” reflects on novel findings by our international guest as well as our own research.

Our authors address all four title aspects, on all scales, from city to micro-apartment. In terms of architecture, we recommend the article of Cisek and Jaglarz, entitled “Architectural Education in the Current of Deep Ecology and Sustainability” [1]. The authors present educational methods for young adepts of architecture, focused on sustainable and environmentally friendly designs. They list feasible criteria and explain complex aspects, such as deep ecology. This work is practical and can positively affect the environment designed by future professionals. An investigation concerning living conditions is presented by Gronostajska and Szczegielniak in their article “Inside a Microapartment: Design Solutions to Support Future Sustainable Lifestyles”. The authors determine methods of arranging micro-living places, saving on usable space, and deepening interior solutions. The study is based on a detailed analysis of many cases, and shows new tendencies in the residential architecture of contemporary Europe [2]. Quality of life depends on work conditions, and as Eurostat states, around 39% of work takes place in a sitting position. We can assume that a substantial portion of employees work in offices; therefore, we find the article of Grzegorzewska and Kirschke extremely important. “The Impact of Certification Systems for Architectural Solutions in Green Office Buildings in the Perspective of Occupant Well-Being” discusses types of certification and applications, using selected cases from Poland. The authors consider aspects of health and well-being, highlighting the human factor [3].

Architecture is an inseparable part of a city, and both interact. To build a sustainable urban environment—many factors must come together. We wish to turn the reader’s attention to the article of Nowysz, titled “Modernist Projects of Community-Based Urban Farms in Residential Areas—A Review of Agrarian Cooperatives in the Context of Contemporary Urban Development”. Rooted in modern development, the author shows several urban farming systems in the context of city fibre and connects them to the present. Such an approach makes this work a valuable part of the present discourse on urban development and climate change [4]. Nowysz continues the topic with two co-authors, Grochulska-Salak and Tofiluk, in the article “Sustainable Urban Agriculture as Functional Hybrid Unit—Issues of Urban Resilience” [5]. We also recommend the publication of Andrzejewska—“Challenges of Spatial Planning in Poland in the Context of Global Climate Change—Selected Issues”, which focuses on the disadvantageous impact prevention of transformations in the atmosphere and weather that Poland is now facing [6]. Regarding the topic of city fibre, architectural recycling and upcycling are some solutions for the mentioned unwanted changes. This field covers publications regarding post-industrial heritage, such as that by Pieczka and Wowrzeczka [7]. The researchers focused on buildings in Poland, showing detailed quantitative data. They also highlighted quality in the context of adaptations of industrial architecture for a new purpose, namely art exposition. The substance of residential and industrial buildings is no less important than commercial buildings. Szumilas and Pach reflect on the matter in their article “Commercial Buildings in Town. The Influence of Discount Shops on the Trade Structure of a Small Town”. As they indicate: “The research conducted as part of this work constitutes the documentation and summary of thirty years of the capitalist system in Poland, from the perspective of the commercial structure of a small town.” (p. 16, [8]). This work gives a great perspective on issues that contemporary European towns need to deal with nowadays.

Although relationship with people is revealed in each article in the Buildings Special Issue “Architecture, City, People, and Structure”, Brzezicki addresses it specifically in “An Evaluation of Useful Daylight Illuminance in an Office Room with a Light Shelf and Translucent Ceiling at 51° N”. The author presents detailed procedures, based on computer simulations, regarding illuminance and luminance values from reflected and scattered daylight. He uses a modelled office test room [9]. Two articles from our Special Issue address the subject of structure. One, by Kirschke and Sietko, reflects on prefabrication in the housing industry. The work entitled “The Function and Potential of Innovative Reinforced Concrete Prefabrication Technologies in Achieving Residential Construction Goals in Germany and Poland” gives insights into novel systems and solutions [10]. The second article, “Learning Statics by Visualizing Forces on the Example of a Physical Model of a Truss”, by Sadowski and Jankowski, focuses on didactics [11].

All Authors kept a high quality of the built environment in mind, regardless of whether they considered the urban or architectural scale. Scientific discussion about this topic is ongoing, due to the challenges we face today and as an effect of the dynamic development of city and building technologies. With interdisciplinary research, a safer and more humane future can occur.