DISSONANT HERITAGE OF COLD WAR MODERNISM OR EUROPEAN HERITAGE OF MODERNIST ARCHITECTURE: CASE STUDY OF RESIDENTIAL HOUSES OF KATOWICE

The architectural heritage of the former Eastern Bloc (behind the Iron Curtin), including Poland, was until recently treated as a „dissonant" heritage of Communism. Increasing time distance allows an objective look at the indisputable values of this architecture and to reject of the political connotations. Conservatory protection of this architectural heritage is very difficult and complex, particularly referring to individual residential houses of those times. Currently, such sites, remaining in the hands of private owners, undergo uncontrollable transformations leading to their irreversible deformations. The objective of the presented project was to develop the methodology of their conservation on a precisely selected example of a building located in Katowice, Upper Silesia. The obtained results may be used as the basis for creation of a model procedure related to the studied individual residential houses and for preparing a package of conservation guidelines and recommendations for their upgrades and adaptation to modern standards.