Katowice, Kościuszki 94 St
Project: 1995 – 1997
Built: 1997

A sophisticated, unique technical solution in Poland is the construction of the glass facade of the showroom, in which self-supporting glass panes fixed without the use of bars are held vertically by two tense steel ropes with a system of clever stabilizing struts. The facade was reduced in this way to the form of an almost invisible membrane - to the extent that it became necessary to separate it from the outside and from the inside with barriers, protecting distracted customers from entering with a new car into the glass wall.

However, in the solutions of individual details, designers adapt the ideas developed by advanced construction technologies of countries richer in resources and technical culture - such as self-supporting glass walls, systems of sophisticated steel constructions, or ideas of architectural transparency in a very individual way. They also clearly do not refuse to use common materials and economically dosed finishing elements. Perhaps these are the beginnings of nomadic architecture - light, beautiful, useful for ten years, not too expensive, quick to build and easy to demolish and utilize.

Grzegorz Stiasny
ARCHITEKTURA 12/1996