Façade decoration at 6 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 two-bay façade of the building at 6 Ogarna Street was adorned with a decoration referencing the popular technique used during the historic rebuilding of the Main Town – sgraffito. The area of artistic intervention surrounds the windows, from the ground floor to the fourth storey. The ornament consists of repeated squares filled with triangles in red and beige, bordered at the top and bottom by a light plaster band. On the second floor, in the space between the windows, there are depictions of lions facing each other frontally but with their heads turned away. This evokes associations with the supporters of the Gdańsk coat of arms, although the symbolism is ambiguous, as the depicted faces also suggest solar iconography. The interwindow space between the third and fourth storeys features repeated arrow motifs converging in the central part of the panel. The background for the entire design is a violet-coloured façade.

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: Wojciech “Otecki” Kołacz is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław. He completed his diploma under the supervision of Professors Eugeniusz Get-Stankiewicz and Przemysław Tyszkiewicz. Currently, he works as an assistant in the Digital Printing and Experimental Techniques Studio led by Professor Aleksandra Janik. He has been actively involved in public art for years, creating numerous murals in cities such as Dresden, Lyon, and Warsaw. Kołacz has participated in street art festivals, including the Creature Festival, FortyForty, and OutOfSth. He has also taken part in many group and solo exhibitions both in Poland and internationally.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: ‘Attyka’ real estate management

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush