Mosaic on the façade of the Faculty of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology of the Gdańsk University of Technology

Technique: ceramic mosaic

Dimensions: approx. 10 m × 8 m

Object: a two-part, large-format ceramic mosaic designed by Academy of Fine Arts professors Jerzy Zabłocki and Bolesław Petrycki, who were also responsible for the interior design of the Institute. The artists Andrzej Trzaska and Henryk Mądrawski executed the mosaic in 1974. It is composed of square ceramic tiles in shades of green and blue, arranged in an abstract, Pop-Art inspired geometric pattern.

Place: The mosaic is on the façade of a building constructed in the 1970s for what was then the Shipbuilding Institute of the Gdańsk University of Technology. Two similar, but not identical mosaics were placed on the façades of the two auditoriums protruding from the main structure of the reinforced concrete building. The building was designed in a modernist style infused with elements of brutalism.

Information about the author: Jerzy Zabłocki (born 9 June 1927 in Łódź, died 20 January 1993 in Ankara, Turkey). Between 1948 and 1954, he studied painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk, where he presented his diploma in the studio of Prof. Juliusz Studnicki. He also worked on the reconstruction of Gdańsk tenement houses. In 1953, he started working at his alma mater and continued until 1990. He was a pedagogue, painter, graphic artist, designer, author of numerous public space exhibitions and projects: the interior design and art in the Ship Institute of the Gdańsk University of Technology (with co-author Bolesław Petrycki), the design and creation of the curtain for the NOT entertainment hall in Gdańsk, interior designs for the “Stefan Batory” ship, stage designs for the Drama Theatre in Gdynia.

Bolesław Petrycki (born 13 June 1929 in Bydgoszcz, died 12 April 1990 in Gdańsk). Designer and professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, who worked on interior and furniture design. In the 1947–1952 period, he studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Gdańsk University of Technology. In 1952 he moved to the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP) and received his diploma at the Faculty of Architecture in 1955. From 1956 to 1990 he worked at the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP). As a professor, he headed, among others, the Department of Interior Design at the Faculty of Architecture and Design.

Condition of the object: good

Owner/guardian: Gdańsk University of Technology

Author of the entry: Kora Kowalska