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Silesia from the backside Przemo Łukasik – architect, (Medusa Group). Designer of the Bolko Loft (right), a critically-acclaimed house in an adapted lamp room of a former coal mine in Bytom, where he lives with his family. Silesia is an area that can be read in various ways. I recommend approaching it from the backside, not via the obvious direction. Take a train ride, for example from Chorzów, through Ruda Śląska, to Bytom and Katowice, and examine the face Silesia presents to the railroad tracks. It’s a face that’s not rouged or powdered, with vulgar
Katowice & Silesia
graffiti by football fans, grills in tiny backyards, and people who make no pretences about who they are. Outside the window are familoki, (ABOVE) brick housing for workers at plants along the coal route. It’s particularly fascinating for those who associate sightseeing with framing and cropping. You can snap intriguing photos every few metres. Silesian ‘Alternatif turistik’ is a term that appeared a few years ago when the Kronika Centre for Contemporary Art in Bytom published Marcin Doś and Radek Ćwieląg’s guide to post-industrial areas. Buildings that until recently couldn’t even be photographed become (unofficially) accessible to visitors. I often explore these sites with a group that bands together on Internet forums. We move from one old factory to another on bicycles (opposite page top), play turbo golf (opposite page bottom) there, and admire the beauty of the structures. One
such building is the Szombierki Power Plant in Bytom, a fascinating structure with the same architectural and historical potential as the Silesian Museum at the disused Katowice coal mine. Like the rest of Silesia, it is still seeking a new scenario for itself. Perhaps it could be repurposed as a popular science exploratorium? •