Façade decoration at 119 Ogarna Street

Object: The façade covers a residential block constructed as part of Gdańsk’s post-war reconstruction. In 2013, it underwent a complete renovation as part of the ‘Gdańskie Fasady OdNowa’ project, aimed at improving the quality of public spaces in the Main Town by adding architectural decorations to buildings that had been overlooked during Gdańsk’s reconstruction.

The four-bay façade of the building at 119 Ogarna Street features a decoration consisting of painted geometric forms based on illusory cuboids. The entire composition, through the optical illusion created by the use of closely related shades of blue and grey, evokes the impression of a rising labyrinth. Darker sections are complemented by faintly marked inscriptions, referencing the details once found on the streets of pre-war Gdańsk.

Location: The buildings are in an area designated as a heritage site. They form part of the historic urban layout of the city of Gdańsk. Ogarna Street was destroyed in 1945 during the war. It was rebuilt on the basis of the so-called Zachwatowicz plan that envisaged the reconstruction of historical forms, which was only feasible in the form of a workers’ housing estate. The erected block of flats was covered by a historicist façade screen. The buildings thus created were the result of combining two houses into a complex with a common staircase, an entrance from the courtyard and an even top line of windows emphasising the block-like nature of the premise. The elevations were not completed with architectural decoration.

Information about the author: Daniel ‘Chazme’ Kaliński graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Warsaw University of Technology. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. He works with illustration, painting and graphic design. He collaborates with Michal Wręga, with whom he forms the duo Sepe/Chazme.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: ‘Attyka’ real estate management

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush