The paper approaches the biggest constructional catastrophe in Polish history. Article focuses on conditions and causes of crises. Conditions refer to: biophysical factors, natural and technical ones, different institutional rules acting in variable spheres of life, as well as various characteristics of community. All of them create context of actions of human beings. Those conditions combined with intentional, rationally bounded and opportunistic individual, transform into causes of social events (positive and negative). Catastrophe in Chorzo´w-Katowice was a result of all of those elements mentioned above. New institutional approach used in this paper seems to be the most productive to explain and understand different social crises.