Curator of the Gydnia Design Days exhibition, Agnieszka Jacobson-Cielecka, invited young designers from Poland and beyond to respond to the seaside city of Gydnia, creating work that would appeal to specific groups of residents.
The Sea Cult by Kosmos Project was inspired by Sea Days, national holidays celebrated across Poland in relation to the reclaiming of Gdynia from the Baltic Sea, which was very much tied in with Poland’s search for national identity at the time. The screen is the banner of Gosk, the god of sea depths, the armchair references fishing boats, faded from the sun and salt, and the dishes were made in the last remaining Kashubian pottery factory with the traditional blue decorative finish.
Tabanda designed “A bench to keep feet in the Baltic” – a steel and plywood bench with an oak veneer, that enables people to sit and dangle their feet into the sea. “It is a project for the city and understanding the city,” said the designers. “At the same time, it directly addresses regular people, no matter how old they are. It is a bridge between the human and the sea.”
Seaglass is a project by Jan Lutyk and Agata Matlak-Lutyk inspired by the pieces of sea-smooth glass you often find washed up on beaches. “The surface of glass washed out by the sea, the coldness and smell of wet sand – sensational memories, locked up us a usable form that may be on your table every day,” said the designers.
Additions by Eindhoven-based Izabela Boloz is a modular furniture system designed for public spaces. Outlines of geometric shapes lock together to form multi-purpose furniture.
The designer designed the colorful Additions modules to enable the user to decide how to use them – suggesting that they might want to meet and talk, sit and rest or climb and play.
The Gdynia Armchair by Jan Kocjanski is designed to provide a quiet shelter on a busy beach, marking out the user’s space and providing privacy in a crowded environment.
The City-Sea-Forest Bags by Natural Born Design are a collection of three bags that can be transformed into seats for the city, seaside or forest. They are made from water-resistant and thermal materials and available is three sizes colors.
