Sgraffito on the Przymorze Cultural Centre

Technique: sgraffito

Dimensions: approx. 8 m × 6 m

Object: The sgraffito can be found on the eastern and western façade of the Community House building, currently housing the General Cultural Centre of the Przymorze Housing Cooperative and the Czardasz restaurant. The dominant colour palette is bright, with mostly whites and blues. A sunset over the sea, with sailboats in front, is presented in a synthetic, geometric manner. The lower right corner of the composition features a wind rose, with an image of a flounder below, at the level of the roofed entrance to the building. Sea motifs have been incorporated here with a strong geometric abstraction inspiration. On the back facade of the building, on the eastern side, a sgraffito composition is visible – it is a strip of repeating geometric pattern composed of rhombuses.

Ryszard Stryjc is not confirmed as the author, but it is very likely that he made this work. This fact requires verification. The sgraffito underwent renovation after 2015, during which the colours were changed.

Place: The building with the sgraffito was constructed in the 1960s as a cultural and commercial centre for local residents of a new housing estate of the General Housing Cooperative (Powszechna Spółdzielnia Mieszkaniowa) called Przymorze Małe. The estate and the building were designed by Wiesław Anders, Jerzy Kołodziejski and Czesław Swędrzyński.

About the author: Ryszard Stryjec (born in 1932 in Lipniszki, died in 1997 in Gdańsk). In 1950–52, he studied at the Secondary School of Art Techniques in Gdynia-Orłowo, then, until 1958 he studied painting under Stanisław Teisseyre and Krystyna Łada-Studnicka, and graphic arts under Zygmunt Karolak at the State Academy of Fine Arts (PWSSP) in Gdańsk (Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk). In the 1950s, he collaborated with the “Kadyny” ceramic group under the direction of Hanna Żuławska, and in the 1960s he held the position of graphics editor of the Gdańsk monthly “Litery” (Letters), collaborated with the magazine of the “Pomerania” Kashubian-Pomeranian Association, as well as the Morskie Publishing House. He mainly worked on drawings and prints, occasionally ceramics and painting, also large format ones. The sgraffito on the House of Crafts building in Wrzeszcz at ul. Klonowa is of his authorship.

Condition of the object: renovated

Owner/guardian: city of Gdańsk

Author of the entry: Kora Kowalska