Cardboard as a construction material for temporary architecture: a case study

The topic of this article is cardboard as a construction material for temporary architecture: a case study of the Zbigniew Herbert Exhibition Pavilion. The Pavilion was designed and built by a group of 18 students at the course ProtoLAB at the Faculty of Architecture at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in July 2018. The project focused on constructing Pavilion components out of paper tubes and corrugated cardboard, which have been proven to be a promising building material. Wood-based materials also were used to strengthen the construction. The design of the Pavilion aimed to use the geometry of the components to minimize the amount of metal used to connect elements. The article focuses on the problems of paper’s strength, stability, connections, impregnation, and the way they have been solved during the building process. It also discusses the topic of the possibility of using the unimpregnated cardboard in outdoor constructions. The structure was then evaluated after 5 months of being used and exposed to diverse weather conditions. Damages in the Pavilion elements are mentioned in the paper and the probable reasons why they have appeared are explained. Conclusions from this article may be useful when designing similar objects in the future.

The rate of release of macronutrients from new organic-mineral fertilizers

The rate of release of macronutrients from new granulated organic-mineral fertilizers formed from spent mushroom substrate was investigated in the conditions of a microplot experiment in the laboratory. Nitrate(V) and ammonium were estimated using a colorimetric method using a flow auto-analyzer after extraction in 1% solution K2SO4 and in 0.01 mol · dm - 3 CaCl2, pH-value – by potentiometric method after extraction with 1 mol·dm - 3 KCl, available P and K by the Egner-Riehm method. New granulated organic-mineral fertilizers formed from spent mushroom substrate had an impact on the pH-value seven days after application. This tendency was intensified in the following weeks. New granulated organic-mineral fertilizers were a source of available form of nitrogen (nitrate(V), ammonium), potassium and phosphorus.

Role of citizen participation in the formation of city

Hailed as one of the best examples of collaborative urban management practices between the local government and informal traders. In a postapartheid South Africa, there was a national desire to transform the old systems of governance, which in Warwick translated to city government institutions making an effort to include informal traders in the policy making and management processes. The main aim was to promote inclusive urban planning and design.

Co-housing as the way to achieve a good density in the cities – Warsaw case study

Constant population growth in urban areas is one of the main global problems, and its importance grows with the depletion of non-renewable resources. The efficient, effective and responsible use of land is supposed to be an aim, the achievement of which will profit cities. The crucial question is, how cities can achieve this aim. The author of this article intends to discuss the individual problems which prevent achieving an appropriate density in Warsaw, and find ways of solving or reducing these problems. A proposed main hypothesis is, that the introduction of an alternative type of housing, namely co-housing can become a way to obtain a good density in the cities. Confirmation of this hypothesis is derived on the basis of the analysis of residential estates created following the rules of co-housing developed in Germany, in relation to similar problems. The purpose of the article was also to remind that Warsaw has a rich tradition in creating social efforts developments. The main social ideas was presented on the basic of the project of Polish housing estate designed in the Rakowiec district in Warsaw by H. and Sz. Syrkus, which was established in 1934-1938 The research part of the article was conducted through a comparison of spatial elements of Warsaw, employing the same criteria, which were adopted based on the several, selected characteristics of good density published in the ULI report, such as: mixed use of land, planned, cohesive, liveable, spacious, flexibility, design, green. The conducted comparison demonstrates, that Warsaw has a lot of different problems with obtaining a good density. These are: mono-functional areas in the suburbs, social disparity, the housing market dominated by developers, lack of enough, well-arranged public spaces combined with residential areas, lack of identity neighborhoods, insufficient attention to the local context in the process of designing new buildings, insufficient attention to the environment in terms of creation of buildings, too little green spaces and gardens in the inner city. The presented analyses show that the introducing concept of co-housing can help Warsaw with obtaining a good density. In order to obtain a high quality of the urban space, decisions regarding it should therefore be made simultaneously on three scales: spatial planning, urban planning and architectural planning. Architecture must cooperate with the existing urban fabric. All users of urban life should participate in its creation: development companies, municipal authorities that are responsible for spatial order, architects and residents.

Industrial object – analysis of problems during adaptation processes on examples of Warsaw Vodka Factory ‘Koneser’

The aim of this article is to analyzed views on design process from a perspective of historical objects adaptation to new functions. Based on the example review - the Warsaw Vodka Factory ‘Koneser’ – highlighted were the problems and impediments of designing in the historical fabric. The paper focuses on the following issues: adaptation of monument, facing the problems of designing process in historical buildings.

The condition of participatory planning in Serbia and how it can be improved

Participatory planning theory, as a system of planning which is sensitive to the aspirations of citizens and protects public interest and values, is present in Serbian planning practice for more than a decade. It has legal basis and methodology modeled on global experience, but it is still very much reactionary model - thus it failed to fulfil its primary purpose, which is to include the citizens in the planning process from the very beginning. This article will address the current overview of the planning process in Serbia. It will briefly explain the legislative framework of public participation in spatial development, the steps in plan drafting process in which citizens are included and the political background of this process. It is important to mention the existing models of informing citizens and show why they work so poorly. It will also give a brief overview on the structure and work of the committee for approval of the plans. This summarizing of the current situation will show the problem of indifference of citizens to engage in the planning process as a coherent group with problems, visions and goals about their city. It will also address inadequate models of informing the citizens and almost non-existing models of active participation of citizens in the planning process. Besides the review of the current state, this article will feature a description of participation techniques from a literature review on the subject of participatory planning that can be applied in Serbia. Shifting the scale from national to municipality level, this article will also depict the opportunities and administrative constraints when it comes to drafting a spatial plan on a local scale, on the example of municipality of Požega. This is one of the rare examples of good practice when it comes to the communication of municipality and its inhabitants involved in the planning process.

Consultations with the hares – problem of public participation in the spatial planning process at the Warsaw suburban zone

The inclusion of various stakeholders in the cities transformation process is currently one of the most important and the most difficult aspects of spatial planning. Planning practice, however, shows that there is much to be done to ensure that the participation is fair, just and useful for making optimal spatial decisions. The article draws attention to the fact that the organization of public participation process in planning procedures requires appropriate selection of participants and adequate methods. Inclusion of the local community in spatial planning, based only on the fulfillment of their demands, expressed in the comments to the draft documents, does not lead to rational solutions in spatial planning. Expectations of different parties to participation processes are often divergent. Particularly controversial is social participation in the planning of agricultural land conversion, changing the status of farmland from agricultural to residential, in the suburban zones. It is difficult to select participants and land owners are not interested in any proposals that would improve the spatial structure of the transformed areas (for example in the process of land consolidation and division). These problems will be presented on the example of public consultations conducted by the author in the planning procedures for the communes of Jabłonna and Wólka Mlądzka in Otwock, located in the agglomeration of Warsaw.

Analysis of applicability of porous concrete containing recycled ceramic aggregates for communication pedestrian routes forming surface rainwater drainage

This work is a continuation of the authors' research conducted to develop innovative concrete mixtures containing recycled ceramic aggregates formed after crushing of waste ceramic sanitary elements. The article presents the problem of utilization of ceramic waste, there are listed factors of waste generating and the main characteristics of the waste material. Based on available literature, there are presented the results of research work on successfully using ceramic waste aggregates in the production of concrete composites. The main aim of this work was to design innovative concrete containing sanitary waste which would be permeable to water. The composite presented in the work showed total water permeability. The tested strength parameters allowed us to propose using it for the communication substrates carrying the load from pedestrian traffic. In this type of communication substrates the authors see a remedy for the problem of utilizing rainwater. Especially in urban areas where is no rain water sewer system this solution would have a legitimate benefit. Totally permeable communication routes could directly transfer water to the substrate under their surface which would effectively increase the chance of natural rainwater absorption.

Application of the three dimensional models for the public participation in urban design and spatial planning

This paper describes an application of three-dimensional (also “3D”) models respectively to selected types of citizen participation. Detailed descriptions of those types are in the beginning of paper, because they are a starting points to consider using 3D models in public participation in urban design and spatial planning. In this paper, the selected software, that supports urban planners in preparing, carrying out and evaluate of participation process, has been discussed. The aim of this paper is to present the application of various tools, which allow generation of 3D models, suitable to selected methods of participation.

Public participation in planning in the Egyptian context

Public participation is a critical aspect in the planning, also spatial planning. Its role is changing dramatically as it is present not only in social development but also tackles issues connected with cultural, educational. The most important element in participation is the will to do it – to engage in the process of planning the of life, of new urban communities, and how it is taking place in the planning process at different levels/ scales. There is a need to strengthen the public participation in the Egyptian context. Consequently, there are many cases in public participation related to the different levels (metropolitan, city, action area), connected to urban issues, besides, the sectoral issues related to economic development and societal needs. Thus, there is still a gap between existing national policies and their implementation at local level. The important question is how to achieve the local needs with strategies prepared on upper-level agencies. The main problem, in addition to the environmental issues is the regional disparities, poverty illustrated by low human development index. The research aim is to determine general framework and rules of citizen participation in Egypt by illustrating many cases from Egyptian context, and to examine the process and assess their effectiveness and the paper will end with the policy changes.