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This paper examines the potential for media architecture and interactive art installations to stimulate human involvement and activities in public spaces. On the basis of theoretical approaches, case studies and interdisciplinary surveys, the paper provides insight into how screens projecting media and interactive installations in city spaces can inspire people to become active on many levels. The research is focused, both on temporary and permanent art installations, that support new technologies to encourage people to interact with art objects and become actors in an urban performance. Media and interactive art can positively contribute to the urban landscape, foster public involvement, increase intensity of public life, and effectively enhance the identity of urban communities. The paper shows that, despite this potential for media architecture and interactive art projects, specific pre-conditions are needed for their success in urban environments. The paper focuses on the convergence of scale between the intervention itself and the assumed urban strategy, as well as on the time allowed for individual perception and active participation of people in the particular urban art scenario. As the research shows, the promotion of art pieces, through guided tours of the city, tends to reduce the perception of the installations themselves and almost excludes social interactions. Thus, while not so spectacular in scale, image, or number of visits, modest interventions that involve locals and allow time for relationship building between people, could be most effective in reaching urban renewal objectives. UDC Classification: 7.07, DOI: http://dx

Contemporary climate challenges are changing the architect’s awareness, which results in a broader spectrum of interest. The available software enables the design of vegetation, but it is often very limited and requires specialist knowledge. The available software allows the creation of individual solutions based on visual algorithms or writing scripts; however, they are still not common methods used in architecture and urban planning. The study proposes a new complex digital method of selection and design of greenery based on a new parameter spreadsheet. The proposition is supported by the review and investigation of the software used by designers identifying a range of tools for the design of greenery. The study proposes a theoretical model for automated plant selection and variations of possible greenery scenarios that could be integrated into the design process at the early stages of concept development.

Urban structure is an important factor that shapes the process of urban ventilation and pollution dispersion. With proper planning of the urban spatial layout, city breathability can be effectively regulated, contributing to urban air quality improvement. This paper investigates the development and current management of urban systems of green and open spaces in four Polish cities: Gdańsk, Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław, with a particular focus on the planning aspects of urban ventilation and air quality management. The initial GIS-based comparison of historical plans and the current spatial layouts of the cities show that these systems, consciously shaped at the beginning of the twentieth century, remain clearly identifiable. However, in some locations, the continuance of these systems was interrupted by later investments. The next step was to develop GIS procedures to effectively map the spatial distribution of selected urban form indicators that are related to urban ventilation, especially the frontal area index. The results made it possible to determine the main features of the current ventilation systems and to identify some of the local problem areas. The last phase of the study was to conduct a local-scale analysis of these problem areas. With this study, the applicability of various analysis and simulation tools for the purpose of improving city breathability by appropriate integrated planning and design decisions was demonstrated. The presented approach, taking into account the city- and micro-scale interactions, should be used in current planning practice to preserve the historically developed ventilation systems.

Abstract. The paper gives an evidence that building a large sports facility can generate beneficial urban space transformation and a significant improvement in the dilapidated urban areas. On the basis of theoretical investigations and case studies it can be proved that sports facilities introduced to urban brownfields could be considered one of the best known large scale revitalization methods. Large urban spaces surrounding sport facilities such as stadiums and other sports arenas create excellent conditions for designing additional recreational function, such as parks and other green areas. Since sports venues are very often located on brownfields and post-industrial spaces, there are usually well related with canals, rivers and other water routes or reservoirs. Such spaces become attractors for large groups of people. This, in effect initiate the process of introducing housing estates to the area and gradually the development of multifunctional urban structure. As research shows such process of favourable urban transformation could be based on implementing several important preconditions. One of the most significant one is the formation of the new communication infrastructure, which links newly formed territories with the well-structured urban core. Well planned program of the new sports facilities is also a very important factor. As research shows multifunctional large sports venues may function in the city as a new kind of public space that stimulates new genres of social relations, offers entertainment and free time activities, not necessarily related with sport. This finally leads to the creation of new jobs and more general improvement of a widely understood image of the district, growing appreciation for the emerging new location and consequently new investments in the neighbouring areas. The research gives new evidence to the ongoing discussion on the drawbacks and benefits of placing stadiums and sports arenas in the urban core.