Sculpture for people and nature - an interspecies life nest purifying the air
We have developed a project of an active sculpture, which, by improving the aesthetic quality of the space, also serves as a place to rest while implementing several pro-ecological activities. Sculpture placed in urban green areas will be a place where residents can relax, plants bloom, and in winter, when people don't use the benches, it will be a shelter for hedgehogs. The sculpture will be made of "green" concrete, which fights smog by breaking down dangerous nitrogen compounds from the air.
Local
Poland
{Empty}
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Piotr Last name: Sobiesiak Gender: Male Age: 28 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Kościuszki 11 Town: Pruszków Postal code: 05-800 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 512 380 044 E-mail:p.m.sobiesiak@gmail.com Website:https://www.sobiesiak.com/
First name: Zuzanna Last name: Gajewska Gender: Female Age: 16 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Plac Rembowskiego 9/5 Town: Warszawa Postal code: 02-915 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 664 925 972 E-mail:zuzannagajewska7@gmail.com
First name: Oliwia Last name: Gutowska Gender: Female Age: 16 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Zaciszna 2 Town: Warszawa Postal code: 02-912 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 537 778 275 E-mail:oliwia.gutowskaog@gmail.com
First name: Igor Last name: Kasprzak Gender: Male Age: 18 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Wysockiego 28 Town: Milanówek Postal code: 05-822 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 787 354 359 E-mail:igor.kasprzak2@gmail.com
First name: Jakub Last name: Dziewulski Gender: Male Age: 18 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Poland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Chorzowska 53/51/4 Town: Warszawa Postal code: 04-903 Country: Poland Direct Tel:+48 782 248 777 E-mail:japukdziewulski@gmail.com
We are a team of young visual artists, founded by the head of the sculpture studio at the Warsaw State High School of Art, which consists of a teacher and four of his students. We want to use our talent, knowledge, and energy to improve the environment. To meet the needs that we have noticed in our community, and which are universal, we have created a project of a unique ecological sculpture, which, while serving as a recreational area, also performs several ecological activities. The target material for the work is "green" concrete, an innovative substance that contributes to reducing the amount of smog. The sculpture will be an object where the residents will be able to relax, we have designed a usable part for sitting or lying; which assumes a significant change in perspective. We have reduced the standard distance at which the seat is placed and thus brought the user closer to the level of the lawn. On the upper part, there is a basin with a drainage system, in which a flower meadow will be sown. The left part has been adapted to the needs of the ivy- the textures on the sculpture will make it easier for him to climb around the object. In the lower part, we designed a system of niches adapted for hedgehogs. The object thanks to the location of the person resting in it, the materials from which it was made, and the shape, becomes a place of contemplation, a place of tranquility, a shelter, and a nest at the same time. The solid itself, through its organic shape referring to the forms found in nature, is naturally able to fit into any green urban space, increasing its aesthetic quality. This biomorphism makes it a universal addition to the space of parks, an addition combining aesthetic and functional values for people and the environment in an unprecedented way. Our project will activate areas for people, plants, and hedgehogs as well as many of the microorganisms living in nature.
art
sculpture
interspecies
purifying
enriching
The project takes into account a number of different ways to protect the environment, both through chemical processes - the use of an innovative material that 'cleans' the air, and through specially designed surfaces that make the sculpture overgrown by plants, thanks to which it becomes a combined object and recovered by nature. It also significantly affects the building and development of ecological awareness among its recipients, by creating a place where people will be able to stay directly in the bosom of nature, a bond is built with their local nature and a sense of belonging to it.
Our project is a unique proposal to solve the problem of creating a place using an object, creating an inclusive place, inviting all people to experience nature, to stay in it, an object that will not only be characterized by well-solved functionality but will be a real work of art. The sculpture itself, in addition to its aesthetic and functional values, also becomes a frame for framing reality with its shape, placed in the spaces of parks, it will create constantly changing images of nature. The usable part has been designed in a way that physically brings people closer to nature, and shortens the distance to the lawn, being in a sculpture, we are surrounded by plants, both those around us and those growing on the object. Through the development of the form, the specific layout, and the materials used, our sculpture brings people back to their senses. In the form of the block itself, you can find a kind of quote and references to the work of one of the greatest European sculptors of the 20th century, Henry Moore, because the shape of our work fits in with his formal considerations, not being an imitation but a continuation of a certain idea. Thanks to this, our sculpture not only becomes an interestingly composed and solved block but also fits into the dialogue with European cultural heritage.
The project at the recipient level is publicly available and free of charge, no fees related to operation or use are expected, and everyone will be able to use our facility without any obstacles, both directly interacting with it and only functioning in its surroundings. Thanks to a specially adapted design and the materials used to make it, it will not generate conservation costs. The entire body of our sculpture has been designed in such a way as to prevent the accumulation of water on the surface. On the other hand, the use of “green” concrete will reduce the need to clean the surface because this material has photocatalytic properties that make it self-cleaning due to the ongoing oxidation processes. In terms of implementation and production, after the sculpture is made and the negative is removed from it - a form that allows the creation of many copies, the costs will be limited only to the price of the material, which will allow for the creation of many sculptures at a relatively low price and their placement in different locations. Thanks to this, our idea of a "nest of life" will be able to function in all conditions and will be easily accessible to those interested.
The whole of our project assumes its participatory character. It is the viewer who completes the sculpture with his presence, only with him does it become complete. The same happens with space, our object 'grows' into the surrounding landscape, becoming its integral part at the same time. Due to its characteristic shape, it becomes an easily recognizable place, without disturbing the spatial arrangement, but corresponding to it. The sculpture also has a processual character, by creating a space for plants that will overgrow it over time, it will unite with the greenery in which it will function.
Our project focuses on the problem of building a strong positive relationship between man and nature, mainly in the context of city dwellers, for whom this contact is often difficult. In most green places in the city, there are no spaces that allow free and comfortable rest, places that are not just aggressive inserts in a given area, but places that harmoniously fit into their character, because only such places have the ability to allow people to feel fully connected with nature, not separated from it. Our sculpture will make them experience functioning in nature anew, and rediscover it. With many senses. The flower meadow located in the upper part of the facility and its smell will contribute to stress reduction and can help fight many civilization diseases such as depression (aromatherapy and contact with nature have been proven in the fight against it).
While working on our sculpture, both in the conceptual layer and at the model creation stage, we conducted several consultations with specialists in various fields who helped us improve our project and find the best and most appropriate technological solutions, as well as representatives of ecological organizations and representatives of institutions and managing offices green areas where our facility would eventually be built, both at the local and national level. At each stage and with each subsequent voice, our idea evolved and developed until we managed to create a project that summed up all these experiences, opinions, and comments.
Our entire team consists of artists gathered around the Warsaw School of Art sculpture studio. We combine the youthful enthusiasm and freshness of students' ideas with the experience and competence of the professor. We worked on the project "Sculptures for people and nature" for dozens of hours over several months. It all started with a deep inner need to change and react to environmental threats. We are focused on the state of nature and the role of man in shaping reality. From our observations, later supported by research work, we concluded that the best way to serve the environment is to create an art project that meets the needs of the community. To meet these problems and use our competencies and predispositions, we have created a sculpture where people can find shelter and rest. The nest of life. Then we consulted our project with biologists and environmental organizations, thanks to which it gained multidimensionality and opened up to interspecies thinking. In cooperation with experts, we designed a special system of niches that will meet the needs of hedgehogs and structures on the surface of the sculpture that is favorable for creeping plants. It was then that the idea of a flower meadow on the upper part of the building and a special drainage system to maintain proper humidity in it was born. Meadows, in addition to expanding biodiversity, will also affect people with the smell it emits. We also consulted our work with a team of engineers who suggested "green" concrete as a material, containing titanium oxide (TiO2), which helps to reduce nitrogen compounds in the air. Thanks to such extensive consultations and research, we managed to create a sculpture project that will complement a number of pro-ecological activities.
Our project on many levels is an innovative and unprecedented undertaking, although it was born from the common need to commune with nature, the solutions that we propose, both through their complementarity and form, are unique. Although the very problem of creating places and objects for people to stay in the bosom of nature is universal, there are no proposals that respond to it in such a thoughtful way. It is adapted both for people, at the level of functionality and use, but also to satisfy the natural need for communing with beauty for each of us. It is also environmentally friendly, both through the shape that allows plants to overgrow it and through the use of an innovative material such as "green" concrete. It is a concrete containing titanium oxide (TiO2) in its structure. Dangerous nitrogen compounds, which are part of smog, under the influence of UV radiation, the source of which is the sun combined with titanium oxides, break down and become harmless to the environment. The effects of decay are washed away by rain. The photocatalytic properties of concrete make it self-cleaning due to the ongoing oxidation processes. The project also assumes seasonality, because in winter the climate in Europe does not allow the use of outdoor space in most places (especially in eastern Europe from the perspective of our project is made), while urban spaces lack places for many animals seeking shelter, including hedgehogs. For hedgehogs, in our project, we have provided a system of niches near the ground where they will be able to find shelter in winter.
Our sculpture, through its organic form, becomes a universal addition to the space of parks or city squares, an addition that combines aesthetic and functional values for people and the environment. Activating a given area for people, plants, and hedgehogs as well as several microorganisms living in nature. This universal shape referring to the world of plants means that the sculpture can function in many spaces each fulfilling its task equally well. The facility itself responds to the common need for beauty and spending time in the bosom of nature, therefore, due to the universality of both the problem and our solution, it can exist in many places in Europe.
“Sculpture for people and nature” responds to a number of global problems by making real changes on a local scale. The first is to restore the sense of belonging to nature, an issue that is at the heart of building environmental awareness and changing the way of thinking of the community. Especially in urban areas where people, due to the overwhelming architecture and intense lifestyle, do not have a common opportunity to be in nature. Creating a place where they can contemplate it in peace is extremely important and will have a real impact on their quality of life. The second problem we are constantly struggling with is polluted air, especially in cities, our sculpture will constantly improve its quality, taking care of the health of residents. Another is to create with many species in mind, not forgetting that we operate in a complex ecosystem in which each action affects a number of organisms, in our sculpture we tried to think in this way, creating art that is friendly to both people and plants and animals.
