In 2020, the local government of Krakow, Poland, took a bold step towards organizing public space by adopting a resolution aimed at limiting the number of outdoor advertising media. The resolution, known as the "landscape resolution," was designed to regulate large-format advertising and restore a semblance of order to the city's outdoor spaces.
Since July 1, 2020, the regulations have been in effect, with a two-year protective period to allow for the adaptation of advertising media to the newly introduced guidelines. However, during this period, there were no signs of attempts to comply with the new regulations.
The expeditious process of liquidation of advertisements, which were no longer legal, only began after the expiration of the protective period. In many cases, liquidation involved dismantling entire advertising structures and abandoning their elements, leaving behind a landscape dominated by huge, contentless carriers that resembled military radar constructions. Traces of advertising boards that were not dismantled, even during renovations, can be also seen on building facades.
The process of liquidation created a contrast in space, which, in fact, had been there for a long time but took on a different form, unnoticed by the majority of society. The boards with flashy announcements turned into artifacts, remnants of a bygone era. The transformation process continues, with some residues being removed, and others are legalized in accordance with the new regulations. The city is transforming, but it is not yet complete.
The landscape resolution was a necessary step towards redefining the city's identity and reclaiming its public spaces. The chaotic nature of the outdoor advertising media had, for a long time, shaped the city's visual culture and, by extension, its identity. By regulating large-format advertising, the resolution was an attempt to restore the city's identity, to remind the inhabitants of the city of its rich cultural heritage.
At the same time, paradoxically, the abolition of advertisements created a certain sense of emptiness in the city landscape, a space once dominated by flashy advertisements, today devoid of content. The remains of the past in the form of artifacts remind us of the transformation process that is still going on, but as if it stopped halfway.
April 2023
