The book in Polish only
It is often said that architecture is an image of the civilisation that created it. Therefore, in order to understand architecture - public buildings, residential buildings, open space creations and other works - it is worth to know the context in which it is created. Łukasz Wojciechowski’s book is as much about modernity (understood as an epoch after the industrial revolution) as it is about its physical emanation in the form of completed buildings - and those that remain only on paper. - Piotr Lewicki, Kazimierz Łatak
Architecture of a rational Europe is an essay which has not yet been published in the Polish literature on architectural issues. It shows the development of this art in the context of social, historical, political and, consequently, civilization changes from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s. Drawing a map of the most important historical events of that period, Łukasz Wojciechowski carefully examines the physical and permanent emanations of changing ideologies, these manifestations of the embodiment of various ideas that emerged in the form of buildings, estates or entire cities.
Like every essay, Architecture of a rational Europe touches upon seemingly very specialized and niche issues, especially since it is the author’s vision of the development of architecture in the period in question and brings the reflection on it to the level of humanistic reflection. However, thanks to the accessible form that the author has given to his thoughts and research, the book will also appeal to those readers who have not yet realized that architecture, which is always in our field of view - unlike other arts - cannot be omitted. Both when we look at individual buildings and when we see their co-existence and interdependence, when we see the “architectural sum”, which is one of the most profound manifestations of human creative activity.
