Student participiants:
Jan Kwaśnik, Kaludia Basiak, Maciej Chowan, Kryštof Bouřil, Maria Henning, Olivér Tóth, Zsófia Jámbor, Kristof Kurmai, Rebeka Markovicsova, Anita Kaczmarczyk, Bartłomiej Listosz
Barbara Dondajewska
Lake Malta, known also as the Maltański Reservoir, is an artificial lake in Poznań. It was formed in 1952 as a result of the damming of the Cybina River. It is about 2.2 km long (with the circuit of 5,6 km), which makes the lake the biggest man-made lake of the city. The water is 3.1 m deep on average with a maximum about 5 m. There are a number of recreational attractions along the edge of the lake including: an artificial ski slope, an artificial ice rink, a zoological garden, Kolejka Parkowa Maltanka – a narrow railway, the Mound of Freedom, seasonal bikes rental – MaltaBike
The lake also has one of the oldest man-made rowing venues in Europe – The Malta Regatta Course. This dates back to 1952 and has held a number of Rowing World Cup events.
The lake also gives its name to the Malta theatre festival, held in Poznań annually in June, with some of the shows taking place next to the lake.
The beach at Malta Lake is located on the southern shore of the lake near the picnic area. There is a designated bathing area at the beach – a marked section of the lake used by bathers. The swimming area is usually open during the summer season from 15 June to 31 August from 10am to 6pm.
The site now offers a grassy beach and a specially designated part of the lake for children to play and swim, which are separated by concrete piers. There are refreshment stands available, a beach football pitch and beach volleyball court, a street workout area and walking paths.
The current water-sport area includes jetties with lifeguard towers and a 2330.0m2 pool, intended for swimmers and a swimming pool with a surface area of 800.8m2 for those unable to swim with a children’s paddling pool. The width of the bathing area along the shore is 100 m.
-adapted to the terrain and fit well into the space (e.g. visually open to a body of water, using the slope of the land towards the water),
-adapted to different ages and levels of fitness (e.g. different heights of seats, footrests to make it easier for older people to stand up, the possibility to set up a pram or put down sticks, etc.),
-allowing you to relax both sitting and lying down,
-of a varied nature – some elements can also be used for support groups during competitions, one of the elements can also be used as a platform in the water
allowing poles to be placed in the vicinity of benches (many senior citizens use Nordic walking poles),
-it is advisable to use shading elements,
-it is also worth considering the possibility of providing information on the rules of cheering during kayaking or rowing competitions (e.g. by posting QRcode),
the participants, supported by Poznan architects Iwo Borkowicz of JEJU studio and Jacek Kolasiñski, decided to place their furniture piece on one of the concrete bathing platforms – which was lacking a mast. The project called „Man-Made Bench” is seemingly a furniture manifesto, whose form is a composition of seats and platforms composed of paraphrased iconic buildings: Washington’s Pentagon, the Paris Opera Garnier, the Parthenon, the Apple store and New York’s Chrysler Building skyscraper – all of which, the workshop participants felt, symbolise some kind of power. This juxtaposition of different forms and architectural styles relates in a light-hearted, even playful way to tenets of postmodernism – playing with it and its ideas. The interesting form of the furniture has aroused great interest, especially from the youngest users, as they happily climb the successive „storeys of buildings” while their parents indulge in various forms of relaxation and lake observation.
Jan Kwaśnik, Kaludia Basiak, Maciej Chowan, Kryštof Bouřil, Maria Henning, Olivér Tóth, Zsófia Jámbor, Kristof Kurmai, Rebeka Markovicsova, Anita Kaczmarczyk, Bartłomiej Listosz
Barbara Dondajewska
Architects from Poland