Kierunek „awangarda” – koncepcje odbudowy miast historycznych po II wojnie światowej na Dolnym Śląsku. Casus Legnicy i Lwówka Śląskiego

Abstract

Direction: “avant-garde” — concepts of reconstruction of historical cities after the Second World War in Lower Silesia. The case of Legnica and Lwówek Śląski

When analyzing the architectural and urban activities undertaken in Lower Silesia after 1945, it can be concluded that the spatial and architectural aesthetics of most cities was dominated by modernism (recently referred to as socmodernism). This phenomenon is even more interesting, as here we can see examples of transfiguration unique in Europe. The said uniqueness stems from the disintegration of cultural communities and the replacement of historic urban spaces, not destroyed during the war (or reconstructable), with ahistorical forms. Currently in Europe, attempts are being made to restore the integrity and improve the visual values of historic cities (Hildesheim, Frankfurt on the Main, Dresden, Elbląg). This process deserves a deeper analysis, especially with regard to the resolutions adopted by ICOMOS General Assembly in 1987 in Washington, in the International Protection Bill of Historic Cities, with a major focus on the protection of monumental character of cities along with their material and non-material elements. Unfortunately, old-town centres located in Lower Silesia are subject to further degradation – also because of the mistakenly understood “aestheticisation”. The fundamental problems are chaotic architectural “fillings” and thermal modernisation works, which entirely destroy the original concepts of 1960s’ “modernists” and introduce controversial and hard to accept colouring into the urban space.