Student participiants:
Zuzanna Trzcińska, Marcelina Piskozub, Alicja William, Clarissa Bechmann, Marco Ripa di Meana, Matthieu Kaiser, Jan Szeląg, Konrad Zaborski, Krzysztof Przybyło, Ben Liberwirth
support: Maria Dondajewska
Location: Szeląg Garden
The Szeląg Garden is a recreational complex, located in the vicinity of the Szelągowski Park and the Ugory Social Welfare Home. The complex is located on a slope at the intersection of Ugory street with a pedestrian and bicycle path. It includes a sandy beach, with a lounge area with hammocks, kayak rentals and a fenced part of the green wedge called the Szeląg Garden. In the Garden there is a food court with a cafe, pavilion, meadow and the Social Garden. The garden is a place of many artistic and social events. The idea of the Szeląg Garden as a place of culture and social activities is developing in an evolutionary manner. The foundations for the activity of this place were developed over the course of the activities of several independent entities of the Stare Winogrady estate council, the Wilczak Mobile Cultural House Association, the Inspirator Foundation, and the Kontener Art Foundation. Thanks to the revitalisation of Szeląg carried out since 2010 and the „We have a river” initiative, these entities managed to encourage the local residents to develop a habit of spending time by the river.
The KontenerArt Mobile Cultural Centre was responsible for the implementation of the project and the arrangement of the Garden’s space and the concept of its development. As a result, a designer recreational space was created.The Szeląg Garden is divided into several spaces, each of them has different utility functions while creating a well-thought-out whole. Trees and greenery define the informal boundaries between each zone. The mission of the Garden is to support social and artistic initiatives. The Szeląg Garden does not have a status of a legal entity. Funds for cultural activities are obtained by foundations and associations which cooperate with the operator of the Garden to a varying degree. In the years 2018-2019, the Szeląg Garden functioned as the Centre for Local Initiatives and was aimed at stimulating the local community. At that time, many social and cultural events were organised. Thanks to the subsidies from Centre for Local Initiatives, the residents actively joined the activities within the institution, sharing their interests and passions with others. During the season, out of the initiative of the local community, many workshops were organised, including wicker, culinary, art, fabric dyeing, and ceramics workshops, herbal walks and yoga in the park.
NEEDS
hanks to the ongoing monitoring of the needs of the community, Szelag visitors and workshop participants, it was possible to identify the needs and outline the profile of the Garden’s activities. Workshops conducted as part of the Local Initiatives Centre showed a lot of interest in artistic crafts such as wicker, dyeing fabrics, ceramics as well as gardening and healthy eating. Due to the fact that not all of these activities can be carried out in the enclosed space of the pavilion, the operator wants to create a comfortable zone for workshop activities in the garden space. For this purpose, it was considered to create a skeleton structure similar to those on the beach in Szeląg. When necessary, these could be covered with, for example, a banner cloth, and could have sliding openwork walls, which would protect against unfavourable weather conditions. Openwork walls could simultaneously serve as shelves and as a gallery space. The object should be mobile, functional and aesthetically cohesive with other objects in the Garden. The idea of creating a ceramics pavilion is related to the history of Szeląg. It is here that archaeologists have found the oldest traces of Stone Age man’s presence in Poznań, including the Corded Ware ceramic cultures.
FINAL RESULTS
The idea of creating a ceramics pavilion is related to the history of the place. It is here that archaeologists have found the old- est traces of Stone Age man’s presence in Poznań, including the Corded Ware ceramic cultures.
Group designed simple structure which doesn’t interfere with the surrounding nature, encompassing an existing tree, leaving it untouched. The usage of the natural color of the wood and of the natural materials makes the design genuine.The pavilion is divided into four modules, two of them open and two under the roof. Connected to the module we created a suited place to organize various forms of artistic expressions that could be used by ceramic enjoyers. This space can also constitute for drying finished sculptures/objects after firing and glazing, and presenting them to the visitors. The plan of the structure is not suggesting any kind of usage, leaving it to the creativity and imagination of the future users. Modularity and simpleness of the form allow to freely express any artistic need. The pavilion constitutes an open situation, allowing for further development, such as a floor, roofing, curtains.
Tutor: wiercinski-studio/ Adam Wierciński
Architect from Poland
wierciński- studio is a Poznan design studio run by architect Adam Wierciński. The studio implements projects of various scale, from public buildings to interior design and furniture design. In their designs, the architects try to avoid repetitive, ready-made solutions, creating not only space and functionality, but also individual series of equipment such as furniture, lighting and details which result in a unique and individual character of a place.