Exhibition: “Modern Interior. Wrocław Interior Architecture in the Era of the Political Thaw”
The exhibition “Modern Interior. Wrocław Interior Architecture in the Era of the Political Thaw” at the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław brings together exhibits and photographic documentation of the now-defunct interiors of Wrocław’s clubs, shops, cafés and public venues from the turn of the 1950s and 1960s.
At a meeting in December, the exhibition’s curator, Dr Tomasz Mikołajczak, provided insight into the circumstances surrounding the creation of the objects on display and presented their historical context, highlighting the meeting of two approaches to design thinking, the interweaving of tradition and modernity, and the relationship between art and the events of the era.
The post-war years were an exceptionally interesting period in Wrocław’s history. The city, devastated by wartime hostilities, was rising anew while simultaneously seeking its identity following the change of borders. In January 1946, by decision of the Minister of Culture and Art, Eugeniusz Geppert was sent to Wrocław to establish the Higher School of Fine Arts. Initially, students trained in painting, drawing and sculpture studios, but ceramics and glass workshops were soon established in response to the ministry’s recommendation to focus on educating designers for the resurgent industry. Władysław Wincze joined the teaching staff—a furniture and interior designer and member of the “Ład” Artists’ Cooperative—and opened the Department of Wood and Metal. It was in this studio that many of the prototypes presented in the exhibition were created, while Wincze himself and his graduates ushered in a period of change in Wrocław and established new visual directions in design.
Returning to the exhibition “Modern Interior”, it is effectively opened by an asymmetrical shell armchair known colloquially as the “Zebra”, designed by Waldemar Kałużny. Its form and upholstery pattern bring to mind the designs of the American couple Charles and Ray Eames and reference the then highly desirable “New Look” style. The armchair premiered as early as 1958 at the “Furniture – Ceramics – Glass” exhibition at CBWA, and is in a sense a symbol of the direction followed at the time by young students fascinated by modernity and asymmetrical forms, and working with synthetic materials, metal, textiles and glass. The young designers learned about Western achievements and trends from behind the Iron Curtain thanks to Wincze, who brought foreign magazines such as the Swedish “Form” and Italian “Domus” from Warsaw’s Institute of Industrial Design.
Moving further into the exhibition, we can immerse ourselves in the history of post-war Wrocław design presented on display panels complemented by photographs of the interiors of Wrocław’s shops, clubs and cafés. The exhibition also includes photographs of furniture prototypes which, having been made as one-off pieces, have not survived to the present day. Among the objects on display are ceramics, utility glassware and paintings, including the geometric abstractions of Joanna Giers-Żemojtel, which reference twentieth-century modernist movements, as well as ceramics by Krystyna Cybińska, an outstanding Polish ceramic artist who worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wrocław for nearly fifty years, becoming a full professor in 1993, and who remains professionally active. We can also see wrought-iron candleholders by Jan Kowalczyk, who later succeeded Wincze as dean of the Faculty of Interior Architecture and Design. The focal point of the end wall is a composition consisting of six paintings on glass that combine geometric forms with plant motifs.
Another important feature of the exhibition is the furniture by Tadeusz Forowicz, a student of Wincze and later his assistant and rector of PWSSP in the 1970s. Forowicz remained faithful to his professor’s design principles, precisely combining upholstery with a wooden structure rich in subtle details, as seen, among other things, in the contoured, rounded backrest of the armchair and the slender armrests with gently raised ends.
On the opposite side of the room is an armchair by Józef Chierowski. The only object presented in the exhibition to go into industrial production after subtle modifications, it became the famous “Type 366” armchair. Interestingly, Józef Chierowski, Tadeusz Forowicz and Jan Kowalczyk were among the first cohort of students at Wrocław’s PWSSP and, in later years, remained associated with their alma mater. Chierowski, meanwhile, graduated with diploma number one.
At the “Modern Interior” exhibition, the chairs designed by Władysław Wincze attract particular attention. Their exceptional form and finesse make them some of the most distinctive exhibits. Backrests made from gently curved vertical strips of plywood create an openwork, three-dimensional form. Slender, turned legs contrast harmoniously with the technical precision of bent plywood, creating a structure that is both light and sturdy. One of the panels also presents Wincze’s hand-drawn, colourful designs for plastic chairs, which is a kind of curiosity, as this designer is primarily associated with the use of bent plywood and wood.
The “Modern Interior” exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore the history of post-war Wrocław design and the work of the artists who shaped the development of Polish design. The exhibition is open until 16 March 2025.
