Krótka historia komina
A Brief History of the Chimney

Summary/Abstract: Although chimneys usually remain unnoticed in the city landscape, they are extremely important since they clean the indoor atmosphere from used air and toxic smoke. From ancient times the smoke from fireplaces in houses was collected into a structural form and this made the chimney a symbol of the hearth and home. For centuries, “the smoke coming from chimneys has led travellers to their destinations”. Piotr Marciniak notices that architects tend to be conservative in their approach to chimneys and treat them as “a good old friend who you cannot present in society”. There are, however, certain exceptions which make the chimney an important element of 20th century art. In his Casa Mila apartment house in Barcelona Antonio Gaudi expressed unlimited creativity. His chimneys “resemble a forest of dancing figures and guard the building”, whilst the chimney on Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitation in Marseilles seems like a “huge statue of liberty” located on the roof between a kindergarten with a swimming pool and a running track. Even the chimney of a waste disposal plant can be decorative. This was demonstrated by the Austrian architect Hundertwasser in Vienna. Chimneys may also have a hidden construction as in the Berlin Reichstag designed by Norman Foster. The conclusion is obvious: this architectural detail can become a distinctive and artistic element of a building.

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