Practices of Built Heritage Post-Disaster Reconstruction for Resilient Cities

Abstract

The concept of resilience has become increasingly important to our understanding of sustainable planning. Post-disaster urban and architectural reconstruction might be treated as a strategy for resilient cities, helping them to reinvent themselves after possible destruction. The purpose of this study is to analyse several cases of nearly total reconstruction of historical urban complexes. Specifically, it explores how urban heritage conservation and recreation could contribute to the resilience agenda, giving traumatised societies a sense of continuity and localness. It analyses the changes in the conservation doctrine, highlighting the growing acceptance of architectural reconstructions. Drawing on historical examples, mainly derived from the Polish School of Conservation practice, this paper argues that the methods and processes attempted to regain identity for the thoroughly rebuilt structures proved effective in recreating the identity of such cities as Kalisz, Warsaw, Gdańsk, and Wrocław. The article argues that while processes at the governmental level emphasised the strengthening of national identity, the experiences of the reconstructed townscapes eventually involved forms of more diverse municipal identities. The article highlights that the strategy of recreating traditional images of cities after their mutilation in disastrous events might be a key to becoming a more resilient city and the formation of the post-disaster citizenry.

Spatial Chaos as a Result of War Damage and Post-War Transformations. Example of the Small Town of Węgorzewo

“…The nature and directions of reconstruction of the most valuable fragments of destroyed cities and towns in Poland, such as old-town complexes, clearly evolved in the post-war period [133]. In the first stage, the process of more or less accurate reproduction of the historical form and function of urban development (e.g., Warsaw, Wrocław, and Olsztyn) prevailed.…”

Polish Intelligentsia Totems in Elites’ Struggles for Legitimization: The Case of Jerzy Giedroyc and Poland’s Eastern Policy

“…24 The significance of giedroyc as "the custodian" of Polish culture may be exemplified by the fact that one of the first publications issued by Niezależna Oficyna Wydawnicza NOWa (the first and most important independent publishing house in communist Poland) in the 1970s was a collection of essays from Kultura. 25 another dimension in which Jerzy giedroyc related to the homeland elite was the support he showed to opposition-minded dissidents, which should be seen in the context of the overarching aim of gaining political influence in his home country. The interpretation that giedroyc treated his journal as a tool for political action aimed at changing the political situation in Poland is frequently cited in the literature.…”

Medieval Bourgeois Tenement Houses as an Archetype for Contemporary Architectural and Construction Solutions: The Example of Historic Downtown Gdańsk

“…The tenement house appears not only as a testimony to the magnificence of European culture, but through its contemporary architectural interpretations, it gives the inhabitants of European cities an opportunity to preserve their identity, cultural continuity and specific local character. Especially in cities such as Gdańsk, where cultural continuity was broken [58] not only by the destruction of the material substance but also by the exchange of society, where customs could not be passed from generation to generation and there was no natural inheritance of tradition, signs such as the urban tenement, inscribed in the city landscape, have become carriers of local tradition, bridging the gap between generations of old and new inhabitants [59].…”