Façade decoration at 3/5 Ławnicza Street

Object: The façades cover a residential block constructed as part of Gdańsk’s post-war reconstruction. In 2013, they 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 façade complex at 3/5 Ławnicza Street features a decoration based on a stencilled composition that highlights the texture of the plaster with drips of paint flowing down from the gables. Between the fourth, third, and second storeys, the drips transition seamlessly into figurative representations with port and industrial themes, before returning to drip-like forms at the ground level. The side elevation, visible from Długa Street, stands out with a diagonal composition achieved through tonal variation. When viewed from a distance, the darker colour appears to be flooding the lighter part of the side elevation.

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: Mariusz ‘M-city’ Waras is a graduate of the Faculty of Graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, where he earned his degree in 2004. In 2013, he completed his doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Painting at the same institution. Between 2008 and 2014, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (assistant in the painting studio of Prof. Jerzy Ostrogórski, 2008–2014) and led the graphic design studio at the Faculty of Sculpture in the Department of Intermedia (2010–2013). Since 2014, he has been an assistant in the studio of Prof. Henryk Cześniak. Since 2015, he has taught as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Painting and New Media, Academy of Art in Szczecin. Waras has been involved in street art for many years. Through his ‘M-city’ project, he has created hundreds of murals around the world. He works in the stencil technique. Waras is a painter, graphic artist, illustrator, author of installations and the curator of the 238 x 504 billboard gallery in Gdynia. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian:

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush