Venue: GGM2, ul. Powroźnicza 13/15
Date: 27.10.2023 – 21.01.2024
Opening: 27.10.2023, 6 PM
Curator: Klaudiusz Grabowski
Visual identification: Ania Witkowska
When they began to be built, they aroused great interest – they were considered the pride of Gdańsk’s buildings. Next to the Crane and Oliwa Cathedral, the Falowce were a mandatory point of tours in every guidebook. Over time, Falowce began to have a bad reputation. Just like other “block housing complexes”, and indeed the entire Polish society, they were affected by the economic crisis, which intensified in the 1980s and 1990s. However, a lot has changed since then, the buildings are being renovated and the apartments therein have become a desirable address. Falowce are located in a well-connected district, and their unique advantage is the proximity of a sandy beach and the sea.
The intriguing form of the bent Falowce makes it impossible to ignore them. The building has been portrayed, or has become an inspiration for artists and creators of various disciplines. The Falowce also inspire young people who use the building as an intriguing background on social media. As writer and artist Salcia Hałas wrote about Falowiec:
“…I believe it is beautiful, just not in a very subtle way. And staggeringly vast. Like a gothic cathedral, but across”.
The exhibition will allow to understand the fascination with unusual residential buildings by indicating their genesis and reception among contemporary artists and creators. It is worth remembering that they might not have been built at all – their place could have been taken by a row of skyscrapers. The chief designer managed to maintain the assumptions of the original concept, but had to make concessions (the first two versions of the buildings were rejected). The first one assumed the construction of a building with very diversified shape and varying heights – from two to twelve floors. The second version was designed – it included covered, suspended galleries, but this idea was also forfeited as it was too expensive. Thus, the Falowce that we admire today are the third of the proposed variants.
