Flights of fantasy

 The use of steel in architecture may have been taken for granted in the western world for most of the twentieth century, but in Poland it is only relatively recently that this material has been available in the quantities and to the quality needed for modern buildings. Romuald Loegler, a prominent architect based in Kraków, describes the situation in the country before the political and economic transformation: “20 years ago it was difficult to get hold of steel in Poland. Most of what was available was allocated to the shipyards. It was very unusual to find it being used in public buildings. The quality of the steel, which was manufactured using Russian technology, was also very poor. It was not possible to use what steel we had in buildings or to fireproof it.”

 Free at last – to design

More generally speaking, what are the problems and advantages of employing steel in construction? For Romuald Loegler, the main problem is the cost: “Steel is a very expensive material to use compared to concrete or aluminium – and the cost of fire–proofing the material is also very high.”

But as Mr Loegler admits, one of the main advantages for architects is the ability to design buildings with much wider spaces. Steel ‘cellular beams’, for instance, allow unsupported spaces as wide as

 The old vs. the new

Perhaps as interesting for architects as the structural properties of steel are the aesthetic possibilities of the material. Steel profiles in foyers can be used to illustrate the interesting structural features of a building by displaying its design elements. There are also a number of effects that can be achieved on facades and roofing, such as using stainless steel for a mirror effect or gold–coated steel.

Romuald Loegler believes that once steel has become more established as a material for use in the residential sector, then “the architecture of housing is also going to improve as a consequence of the possibilities that steel provides” – in the same way as it has already done for office and other developments, which is something that can be seen in the transformation of Warsaw’s skyline in the last few years. In the words of Romuald Loegler: “Steel creates free architectural styles according to a client’s particular fantasy.”

           Nathan North