Transformations of the Cultural Space of Podhale

The landscape, coverage and climate have a major impact on the architecture of the mountain lands. This architecture can be considered in multiple layers. In terms of culture, the area of Sub-Tatra Mountains is an ethnically coherent area with similar conditions. The development of architecture in the mountain areas can be seen in the XIX century, when the resorts have developed massively in the Carpathians. Leisure in the mountains in the resort towns has popularised many European towns. This was mainly related to the presence of mineral waters. Also in Poland, the spas were created in the form of Alpine, Swiss and Tyrolean resorts. The type of Podhale buildings has changed over time, especially since the 80s of the XIX century, when the Alpine-style villas began to appear in Zakopane. On the wave of the growing interest in leisure associated with health care, the popularity of Zakopane increased. Stanislaw Witkiewicz was the creator and precursor of the style based on the folk architecture of the highlanders from Podhale. The affirmation of the Zakopane style opened the way for the search for a universal architectural form corresponding to the national style. Many variations about it were created over the centuries, which were not always accurate. In addition, the architectural and building regulations providing a rigid framework to the principles of shaping the solids, did not correspond and social needs. The ongoing pressure of the tourist traffic in Podhale and the "fashion for Zakopane" were intensifying by forcing more homes for the holiday-makers. The shape of the present architecture of Podhale is a resultant of the adaptation to the urban conditions and the attempts to push the maximum number of rooms in the facility. The whole area of Podhale (not only Zakopane) has been used in recent years for offering tourist attractions (lifts, spas, aqua parks, etc.), which greatly transforms the space and structure of the buildings. The areas with the highest spatial, landscape and cultural values are most often exposed to the enormous pressure of tourism. It makes the specificity of the area, delicate settlement structures, authenticity of the cultural space disappear. Unfortunately, many years of mass tourism in Podhale have made an irreversible devastation of the landscape, both of the "Pearl of Podhale", which is Zakopane in the eyes of the tourists, but also the whole functional area associated with it.