MigawkaA creative approach on Łódź

October 2015#1

Paula Dominiak

UstawkaHistoria o dwóch sportowych klubach w Łodzi. “Jan Trzeci Sobieski” anoni-mowy mieszkaniec Łodzi zdegusto-wany bluźnierstwami i wyzwiskami wypisywanymi na murach miejskich budynków, postanowił zaproponować kibicom alternatywę. Wyszedł pod osłoną nocy na łódzkie ulice i na zde-wastowanych, przeznaczonych do roz-biórki budynkach zaczął pisać zabawne “wrzuty” na ŁKS (Łódzkie Klub Spor-towy) i RTS (Robotnicze Towarzystwo Sportowe - Widzew). Mieszkańcy mia-sta szybko załapali zajawkę i w Łodzi pojawiło się dużo podobnych sentencji. Zabawa ta trwa od 2012 roku.

This is a funny story about two sports club in Lodz. “Jan Trzeci Sobiecki” anonymous resident of Lodz disgusted with profanity and insults on the walls wrtted out on urban buildings, decided to offer fans an alternative. He went out under cover of night to Lodz streets and began to write funny “wrzuty” on the devastated, intended to demolish the buildings, on LKS (Lodz Sports Club) and RTS (Workers’ Sports Asso-ciation - Widzew). Residents of the city quickly catching teaser and Lodz ap-peared much like the ruling. This fun lasts from 2012.

Ustawka / Football fight

ŁKS zakłada czepek na siłownie

A ŁKS nosi sandały

ŁKS ubiera się nieadekwatnie

do pogody

ŁKS łże i ma pypcie

WIDZEW NOSI CZAPKĘ Z DUPKI OD

CHLEBA

WIDZEW NOSI BUTY NA

RZEPY

RTS SZYJE NA MASZYNIE DO

PISANIA

RTS

NIE OBIERA ANANASA

ZE SKÓRKI

Paula Dominiak

Ustawka / Football fight

ŁKS trzyma szynkę w sejfie

Miejski wzór

Francesca Muratore

When I arrived in this city I was completely impressed from the appearance of Lodz. It seemed to me to be arrived in a creepy reality, where the building were hiding many mysteries. With the passing of time, walking in the streets every day, I started to be fascinating from all the details, patterns and colours of the walls, and they became a daily source of inspiration. My work is based on details from buildings. Repetition of doors, window and walls can give birth to infinite solutions. Here I am presenting some patterns created with these beautiful elements and by this honouring its rich industrial textile history.

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Miejski wzór / Urban patternsFrancesca Muratore

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Francesca Muratore

Francesca Muratore Miejski wzór / Urban patterns

Maciej Tyjan

Plac Henryka Dąbrowskiego znajdujący się przed Teatrem Wielkim w Łodzi tętnił życiem od momentu swojego powstania. Pierwotnie pełnił funkcje targowiska miejskiego. Po drugiej wojnie światowej w jego północnej części rozpoczęto budowę okazałego gmachu Teatru Wielkiego, a południową część placu przekształcono w plac, na którym znajdowały się fontanny oraz dużo zieleni i ławek. Szybko zyskał popularność wśród łodzian. Ze względu na brak przeprow-adzanych remontów jego stan zaczął się stopniowo pogarszać, jednak w jego przestrzeni nadal funkcjonowały ogródki letnie, gdzie w upalne dni

można było wypić napój lub zjeść niewielką przekąskę. Kiedy w 2009 r. dokonano kosztownej przebudowy placu. Razem z usuniętymi drzewami usunięto istniejące tam życie. Dominantą przestrzeni stała się nowoczesna fontanna, a drzewa zastąpiono niską roślinnością w donicach. Dawniej łodzianie spędzali tam godzinami wolny czas – obecnie 45-60 sekund czyli dokładnie tyle, ile zajmuje przejście przez jego teren.

Co zrobić aby życie powróciło na Plac Dąbrowskiego? Uruchomić fantazję i… DZIAŁAĆ!

Smacznie przypra- wiony Plac

Smacznie przyprawiony Plac / Tasty seasoned Square

Henryk Dąbrowski’s Square which is placed in front of Grand Theatre of Łódź was always alive since it was founded. Firstly its main function was a market place. After the second world war in the northern part started the construction of the Grand Theatre and the southern was changed into representative square with fountain, trees and benches. It be-came very popular for citizens of Łódź. No renovations caused that its condition went slowly down however it was still visited by people. During the holidays there were some summer gardens where people could have a drink or a quick snack.

In 2009 there was made an expensive reconstruction of the square. When the trees were cut down all public life died. In the central point was placed modern fountain and the trees were replaced by short bushes growing in the bowls. Before the reconstruction citizens of Łódź were spending there hours during their free time. Now they spend only 45-60 s so exactly that much that you need to cross its space.

What can we do to bring Dąbrowski’s Square back to life? Use your imagination and… ACTION!

Maciej Tyjan

Smacznie przyprawiony Plac / Square seasoned with spices

162 M2 / > 40 PEOPLE 162 M2 / 9 PEOPLE IN CARS

Maja Baranowska

Marnowanie Przestrzeni

You are the cause of traffic jams. Yes, you!

8 out of 10 cars on streets have just one person inside. Can you imagine how much space does that take? It’s about 9m2 for one person. ‘ On a space of 162m2 just 9 cars fit, only occupied by 9 people. What a waste of space! If you want to eliminate traffic get out of your car, or convince other people to get out of theirs so you can have all the roads to yourself. Or just stay bored and lonely on your 4 wheels. Use public transport, ride your bike or just simply walk for a change...

162 M2 / 9 PEOPLE ENJOYING FREE SPACE 162 M2 / 2 BUSES, > 100 PEOPLE

Marnowanie Przestrzeni / Waste of space

Natalia Bartczak

PominięteWe pass them everyday, and hardly notice their existance. They have been here for years and years, overlooking the changing streets of Łódź, but somehow resisting to change itself. Old corner shops. Each one of a kind and with its own history. Here are a few of the not so many.

Pominięte / Unnoticed

Mackerels, herrings and... sushi This fish shop was founded in 1973 by Mrs Irena who has run the business ever since. The owner says that most of their clients are children or even grandchildren of the customers, who used to come here from the beginning. As she says: ‘the worst times for small shops where those, when the huge supermarkets where introduced.

Now people, how-ever more in a hurry than, start-ed to appreciate the good quality again, and they like to have the shops nerby their homes’. Al-though the place may look exactly like in the70s, you will find there a lot of mod-ern products, like ingredients for sushi. Piotrkowska 196

Piotrkowska 196

The eldest Founded in 1945, this possibly is the longest continuosly functioning shop in the city. It sells mainly fruits & vegetables, but also other groceries and seasonal products, all of the best quality and from reliable suppliers. The shop survived through the hard times of communism and all the sub- sequent changes and crises, and seems to be working quite well, serving its loyal customers. Can you guess the name of the founder? Yep, Leonard it was.

Zachodnia 67

Natalia Bartczak

Zachodnia 67

Lamps, lamps and even more lamps.. This really unique place, run by mother and daughter, sells lamps of their own production since 1981. Sadly, theowners say that customers rarely come by nowadays, choosing much cheaper mass produced goods. Yet they stillwant to continue with the business as longas it’s possible, because as they say: ‘what would we do with all those chan-delieres otherwise?’. No wonder, there are hundreds if not thousands of lamps inside.

Franciszkańska 18

Grocerie shop?

When was it founded? No one knows for sure. Judging by the shape, this little kiosque may be thirty or fourty. Overthe years it housed a greengrocer, gambling place, a pub of a not so good

Pominięte / Unnoticed

reputation, and something else possi-bly. Don’t be decieved by the signboard - although it says ‘grocery goods’ you would rather get some housholdchemistry here.

Wojska Polskiego 120

Woj

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Franciszkańska 18

During the Łódź Design Festival 2015 participants explored their city from different perspectives for four days. The students developed themes and concepts referring to their city, based on social issues, personal experiences and its visual language. Design thinking and design skills were used as an approach and method to explore, analyze, visualize and re(act) on the city life and its inhabitants.

The students, sensitized to their social and cultural context, were encouraged to take an active and responsible role towards a complex urban environment. The outcome of this week’s project is a vivid and dynamic interpretation of contemporary urban life. Next to the magazine the participants presented and discussed the results with a local audience.

Łódź is the third-largest city in Poland, located in the central part of the country. In the 19th century it experienced a golden age with the beginning of the industrial revolution. It was famous for its production of textile with many factories throughout the whole city. After the break down of the Warsaw Pact in the late eighties the industrial city lost its power and significance. Nowadays the city is redefining itself successfully inside its postindustrial heritage.

The publication is the outcome of a workshop conducted by andrews:degen (www.andrewsdegen.com), a graphic design studio based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Find more information and cities on www.mappingthecity.com.