Keywords
small towns
hybrid cultural space
cultural centre
urban heritage
Krosno
Poland
How to Cite
Abstract
This article addresses the problem of urban revitalisation in small and medium-sized towns. that group accounts for the overwhelming majority of urban centres in Poland yet remains marginal in both the funding and the professional discourse of urban renewal. The study asks whether a single, carefully located public building with a cultural function can act as a catalyst for the wider spatial, social and economic renewal of such a town. The question is examined through the case of Krosno in Subcarpathia, a medium-sized town of medieval provenance whose historic urban layout has been preserved to a remarkable degree, and which is simultaneously affected by depopulation and by the erosion of its central public spaces. The research combines a literature review, an analysis of Polish and international revitalisation projects and of hybrid cultural spaces, a case study of Krosno based on archival, planning and field research, and a set of urban analyses leading to an architectural concept. The result is a design proposal for a hybrid cultural centre on Bursaki Street, integrating workshop, performance, exhibition, library-mediatheque and catering functions, and mediating between the riverside green corridor of the Wisłok and the urbanised fabric of the town. The paper offers guidelines for the programming and siting of cultural facilities intended to initiate revitalisation processes in small towns.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Joanna Owsiak, Anna Martyka