Façade decoration at 80 Szeroka St.

Material/technique: ceramic, naked raku

Object:

One of the two historicist façades covering a block of flats built as part of the post-war reconstruction of Gdańsk. In 2014, the façade underwent a major refurbishment under the ‘Gdańskie Fasady OdNowa’ project. Its aim was to improve the quality of public spaces in Główne Miasto by adding architectural decoration to existing buildings that were omitted during Gdańsk’s reconstruction.

The eastern triaxial façade was decorated with ceramic window cornices on the second, third and fourth storeys (eight in all) using the naked-raku technique, which creates a black and white crackle effect on the surface of the ceramic top and is additionally glazed in turquoise.

Place:

The building is located in an area designated as a heritage site. It forms part of the historic urban layout of Gdańsk. Szeroka Street was destroyed in 1945 during World War II. Most of the tenement houses were rebuilt without respecting the historical layout. Historic remnants can only be seen in the distinction of the separate façades with gables and in the ridge layout perpendicular to the street. The height and width of the buildings were standardised, and consequently, the historic parcelling was not maintained. Retail and service units were located in the ground floor. Szeroka Street acts as a boundary between the historicising reconstruction and modern development: a place where the two ways of post-war reconstruction intertwine.

Notes about the authors:

Alicja Buławka-Fankidejska graduated from the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. She presented her graduation work in 2010 in Professor Sławoj Ostrowski’s studio. She currently works an assistant in the Artistic Ceramics Studio at the Department of Sculpture and Intermedia. She has taken part in group exhibitions, national and international competitions.

Dmitry Buławka-Fankidejski graduated from the Department of Sculpture and Intermedia of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He presented his graduation work in 2016 in Professor Mariusz Białecki’s studio, for which he received the Academy of Fine Arts Rectors’ Award. He has taken part in group exhibitions in Poland.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Admista Stawska

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush