The first and last letter: Alpha and Omega are a biblical symbol of control over the beginning and the end. But this is a divine attribute. It is not available to us. The element of letters complicating everything, wild, disobedient has been floating all around us. But that’s what architects are for. 15 years ago we’ve invited Rob Krier to Lodz to help us ‘stitch together’ our badly ragged city centre. Krier: “People are not a mass, they are individuals. Why hasn’t the New Centre become a vibrant district of Lodz despite that kind of money? These are not mutually exclusive agendas. All the surrounding individuals, all the usually shunned from each other areas, fashions, groups, subcultures, fan clubs can meet in the “salvaged middle”. This does not mean they must do it, but they can. There is an awareness that there’s such a possibility, such a place. This awareness is probably a factor in building society. It is, it can be a factor that restrains complete freedom, extreme individualism, makes you wonder if who you are and what you do will be accepted, noticed, understood by others. Unlike other available spaces or Internet forums, the space of the center of the city imposes a certain necessary dose of responsibility for one’s own actions. You can’t appear on the Town Square completely anonymously. Just like one can hardly appear completely anonymously in culture. The cult of individuality, which has been accumulating since at least Late Middle Ages, causes that the point of participating in culture is to mark your personality, your rights to it, to emphasise your uniqueness. Therefore, a city centre built around culture (art) seemed like a good idea to unite the aspirations for individuality with the principle of responsibility towards others. This combination could be the foundation of European city. Of course, it can always end up as a labyrinth. Then those who go to look first, quickly get lost themselves. Just like those at the end. When there is nothing left to find.

The world had much of Lynch.
And the world had a lot of him. For a moment, so crotchety, Łódź had him too. It had a wonderful master.





















































































































































































































