Nie tylko technika – ekspresja konstrukcji jako estetyczny walor dzieła architektonicznego

The article raises the problem of aesthetic role of construction in the architectural object. The building’s structure can fulfill its task not only as a technical element – bearing particular load – but it can also be an expressive value of work and, ipso facto, may affect the aesthetics of the building. Construction can be analyzed analogously to parsing the work of abstract art. In the first part of the article theories serving as a base of analysis are presented, such as Heinrich Wölfflin’s theory of formal analysis of work of art, Wassily Kandinsky’s theory respecting aesthetical influence of geometric forms, as well as theories of psychology of perception, developmental psychology and psychological perception of physical strengths acting in the structure. In the second part of the article the author presents examples of architectural objects analyzed in the view of the expression of construction, including various types of construction, among others: Crystal Palace in London, Eiffel Tower in Paris, Centennial Hall in Wrocław and Palazzo del Lavoro in Turin.