Façade decoration at 79 Szeroka St.

Technique: concrete casting

Object:

One of three 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 western, triaxial façade gained a decoration in the form of sculptural representations of two landing pigeons placed in niches flanking the fourth-storey windows.

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.

Information about the author:

Mariusz Burdek (b. 1985) graduated from the legendary Antoni Kenar Visual Arts School in Zakopane in 2005, and in 2010, he presented his graduation work in Professor Sławoj Ostrowski’s studio at the Faculty of Sculpture of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. He currently works as an assistant in Professor Mariusz Białecki’s graduate studio. He took part in numerous sculpture exhibitions and plein-air workshops.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Admista Stawska

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush