Published: 11 February 2024
Remember about gardens
In 2021 and 2022, there were two exhibitions of works by the students of School of Form, designed under the supervision of Megi Malinowska in cooperation with Ola Andrzejewska and Rozkwit Urban Activity Association. The event was part of “Forwards, Allotments” programme, carried out by Rozkwit for the Greenery Council of the Capital City of Warsaw. The event involved students from different groups and years.
Experience the garden with all your senses
The background and context for the projects were Warsaw allotment gardens and urban green areas. Students analysed the complex nature and culture of allotments, explored their human and non-human users, studied the spontaneously emerging architecture of allotment sheds and the details of garden design.
The research allowed creating a map of sensual experiences, and then developing spatial forms which strengthen or enrich this sensory landscape, as well as – or maybe most of all – make it more attractive to blind and visually impaired people. Another group worked on abstract yet functional forms intended for non-human users. They built them using metal sheets with the help of Kuka robotic arm. Some projects were made without any imposed technology, leaving the selection of materials to the students.
The works prepared by the students reflect the changeable and rich nature of the garden, make gardening activities easier, take advantage of atmospheric phenomena as sources of sound, or help unwind and celebrate the taste of allotment crops,
See students projects
Exhibitions in Warsaw
The works were presented in Warsaw: at the “Defenders of Peace” Home Allotment Gardens, Rotational Cultural Centre in Jazdów District, and Kamień Pavilion at the bank of the Vistula River.
Ola Andrzejewska
Curator and Coordinator, SAM Rozkwit
Curator and co-founder of SAM Rozkwit, a non-governmental organization established in 2017 with the aim of contributing to the sustainable development of green spaces in Warsaw, with a special focus on allotments. She is interested in many disciplines: philosophy, art, ecology, architecture and activism, and in creating cross-border collaborations between them. Ola Andrzejewska is also the secretary of the Centre for Psychoanalytic Thought (IFIS PAN, Warsaw). Together with the Rozkwit team she is leading the Naprzód Działki project with the aim of protecting allotment gardens in Warsaw, increasing public access to them and facilitating dialogue between allotment garden owners and local communities. The project is being developed in cooperation with experts from the Municipal Greenery Board in Warsaw (Zarząd Zieleni m.st. Warszawy). Ola holds master's degrees in Architecture and Urbanism (Gdansk University of Technology) and in Culture, Media and Society (GSSR, PAN Warsaw).