New scopes of facades’ design as a result of the application of optical filter technologies

Modern facades, whether made of glass or including transparent, translucent or reflective elements, let through a particular light spectrum or change its intensity in many different ways. “Filtering facades” may change the image seen through them or change the colour of passing light according to specific circumstances: the angle of observation or temperature. These indicated properties of facades acting as “filters” were made possible due to the great technological development observed in the last two to three decades, though the general characteristic of this phenomenon of optical filters had already been explored since the XVII century by Newton, and later on by Fresnel, Fraunhofer, Maxwell and Planck. Thanks to material engineering today it is possible to create unique glass facades with great functional properties, yet architects, engineers and artists do not stop at this point. The experiments undertaken in these fields explore transparency, reflection, refraction and diffusion and lead to fascinating effects that are worth examination

Miejsce monumentalnego dzieła sztuki w podlegających transformacjom stolicach kultury na przykładzie spuścizny Eduardo Palozziego w Edynburgu i Londynie

Urban space dedicated to cultural life, entertainment or business is currently exposed to dynamic urbanistic transformations. Monumental works of art within the boundaries of cities, for years embedded in the urban landscape and awareness of viewers, are moved to other places or even destroyed. Decisions about a change of their location and context, which are fundamental aspects for the impression made by a given work of art, cause anxiety among the general public and give rise to discussions among experts as well as artists. Examples of the translocation of sculptures by the contemporary Scottish artist E. Paolozzi ‘The Mauscript of Monte Cassino’ in Edinburgh and ‘Mosaic’ from Tottenham Court Road tube station in London demonstrate the inevitability of the above process while making us more sensitive to the risk of losing valuable artifacts in the literal and cultural sense.Przestrzenie miejskie dedykowane życiu kulturalnemu, rozrywce, czy biznesowi poddawane są dziś dynamicznym transformacjom. Monumentalne dzieła sztuki znajdujące się w ich granicach, od lat utrwalone w miejskim pejzażu oraz świadomości odbiorców, bywają przenoszone w inne miejsca, a nawet likwidowane. Przykład translokacji dzieł współczesnego szkockiego rzeźbiarza E. Paolozziego ‘Manuskryptu z Monte Cassino’ w Edynburgu oraz ‘Mozaiki’ z londyńskiego metra pokazuje nieuchronność wyżej wspomnianego zjawiska i uwrażliwia na ryzyko utraty wartościowych dzieł w dosłownym, jak i kulturowym znaczeniu