Façade decoration at 84 Szeroka St.

Object type: installation

Object:

One of the 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, which aimed to improve the quality of public spaces in Główne Miasto by adding architectural decoration to existing buildings that were omitted during Gdańsk’s reconstruction.

Thanks to the artistic intervention, the biaxial eastern façade gained a decoration referring to the awnings present in the pre-war Gdańsk’s urban space. They were distributed over the windows of the second, third and fourth floors.

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:

Paweł Mrozek graduated in Urban Design and Regional Planning from the Gdańsk University of Technology. He presented his graduation work in 2004. Mrozek is one of the co-founders of the Gdańsk Agglomeration Development Forum Association. He is interested in the socialisation of urban design and regeneration processes.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: M3 Property Management

Author of the entry: Noemi Etush