Sgraffito on the building of the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machines, Gdańsk University of Technology

Technique: mixed, sgraffito and fresco

Dimensions –

Object: The composition was made on the façades of the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machines building of the Gdańsk University of Technology using a mixed technique, sgraffito and fresco. The concept was authored and implemented by Kazimierz “Kachu” Ostrowski, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. The decoration is an example of abstract art in the artist’s typical painting style, inspired to a certain extent by the paintings of Fernand Léger. It was renovated in 2006, when the original colour palette was changed. On the auditorium façade, the decoration is in pastel colours, against a grey-blue background. The back decoration features a contrasting palette, with the background’s dark brown as the dominant colour.

Place: The sgraffito are located on three sides of the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machine’s auditorium’ façade, as well as on the building’s back wall. This modernist building was designed by the architect Bogdan Wciorka.

About the author: Kazimierz Ostrowski (born in 1917 in Berlin, died in 1999 in Gdynia) moved to Gdynia in 1934. Together with his brother Zygmunt, they painted signs and ship names (incl. “Kościuszko”, “Batory”). After the war ended in 1945, he reported together with his father and two brothers to the City Hall in Gdynia, where they received the task of changing street names and signs on the buildings of offices and institutions. In 1946, he began studying painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Sopot in the studio of Prof. Artur Nacht-Samborski and Prof. Jacek Żuławski (receiving his diploma in 1952). In 1949, he received a scholarship from the French government to study in Paris and became an apprentice to the famous French painter Fernand Léger. In 1950, he returned to Gdynia and married Halina Krywald, with whom he had two children. In the 1964–87 period he lectured at the easel painting studio of the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk. He was awarded the title of associate professor in October 1981. Between 1981 and 1984 he held the position of the deputy dean of the Faculty of Painting and Graphic Arts. His paintings have been presented at 60 individual and collective exhibitions. He developed his own abstract painting style. He is the author of the mosaic at the Musical Theatre in Gdynia, he worked on the decorations of tenement houses during the reconstruction of Gdańsk and was the author of interior designs for public spaces, e.g. the famous Gdańsk Delicatessen. Students adored him and he gained the status of a legendary figure of the Gdańsk art scene.

Condition of the object: renovated

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk University of Technology

Author of the entry: Kora Kowalska