The subject of this paper is the study of a public utility building, a shopping centre in Warsaw/Targówek, carried out as part of the programme of “Research for obtaining high air quality in architecture. The purpose of the study of the building is to utilise a new technology which will lead to reductions in electrical and heat energy consumption and cuts in CO2 emissions in the modernised Shopping Centre Public Utility Building in Warsaw. The building is equipped with systems for obtaining heat and cold from groundwater and is adapted to a low electrical energy consumption level with the lowest primary energy ratio in Poland. It is located in Warsaw and, in addition to the energy sourcing system, features a highly modern control system (BMS). The objective of the study is to demonstrate operating costs for a building with low exterior wall and roof insulation parameters. In addition, the building uses a heating system based solely on electrical heating due to its lack of access to gas and district heating. The conducted studies and analyses allowed a comparison of the operating costs of old buildings following modernisation with those of new buildings.

Bridges and viaducts are not only engineering solutions, ensuring the possibility to overcome obstacles and communication – they are also a spatial elements, visible in the city landscape. For centuries, it was attempted to give the bridges an interesting shape; they were sometimes specific gates to the cities, too – the example here can be the famous bridge in Avignon. Also today they are the expression of styles and trends in architecture, often designed by renowned artists. Additionally, bridges increasingly often become the spatial dominants, constructions clearly silhouetted against the greenery or urban tissue, the contemporary symbols of the cities. Santiago Calatrava, one of the leading Spanish architects and designer of, among others, the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, is the creator of not only enclosed structures. His works also include numerous bridges, viaducts and walkways, among others: “Puente De La Mujer” in Buenos Aires, the “Sundial” bridge in Redding and the “Katehaki Bridge” footbridge in Athens. He creates sculptural works in reinforced concrete, combining the sublime sense of aesthetics with sophisticated engineering. Light, openwork, white constructionsare both practical and extraordinarily appealing.

This article discusses the value and integration role of a node-based architecture – the „node of the city”2. These buildings can be divided into two types: new buildings (constructed in the last decades) and historic ones – existing in historical nodes for years. These are, for the most part, public utility facilities, often hosting cultural institutions – philharmonic, opera, art institute. In addition to the basic function of the program, they play an integrating role – both spatially and socially. Many of them are dominant in their surroundings, and are often the showpieces of their cities. The article discusses both types mentioned above: contemporary and historical. Selected examples of particularly interesting new cultural facilities located in the nodes of Oslo, Hamburg and Amsterdam, whose infl uence on the city was positive and clear. In the fi eld of historic buildings special attention was paid to the Potocki Palace – the most important node of the town Radzyń Podlaski, which by way of revitalization regains its integrating function.

The article provides a few new and innovative system solutions a realized extension of the DB&A of Lublin University of Technology called Eastern Innovation Centre of Architecture. The object is “an integrating zone of practical education.” The form of the spatial sculpture of object was achieved via significant overhanging of the assembly hall accommodating 200, supported by the slanted wall, coming from the line of the facade and three cubic elements firmly in the construction of the building. The interior patio emphasizes “the unity of the aims of open education” and also provides additional light for the exhibition space. The mobility of the interior divisions allows “flexible shaping of functional divisions”. The external shutters being electronically controlled, in particular sections on the facade allow for “interactive participation” of the users in the aesthetic creation of the facade. In case of strong winds the external shutters are shut automatically.