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 designMore 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 expensiv