{tag:studenci} combines architectural design with activism. As part of his post-graduate studies at the University of Michigan under the mentorship of Emily Kutil, he created a project that commemorates Klub Pogłos in Warsaw.
Klub Pogłos was an important venue for niche concerts and queer community meetings in Warsaw, but was demolished in 2022. A development by private developers will be built in its place. Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington's project is a combination of research along with a design model to commemorate the club and draw attention to the lack of safe and independent places like Klub Pogłos in Poland.
model
proj.: Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington
My work responds to the need for documentation of queer spaces in Poland. Using participatory methods of spatial storytelling, such as illustrative models, narrative drawings and directed social gatherings, I want to give a spatial dimension to the experience and lived experience of queerness
- explains the author.
safe space for queer community
Even before creating the start of his thesis activities, Lucjan Rostkwski-Coington conducted research to locate queer community spaces in Warsaw. He also organized interviews with the owners of the spaces and observations of the atmosphere in them.
A map of queer spaces in Warsaw
proj.: Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington
A survey of queer people was then conducted to identify places where queer people feel safe, their architectural and social mechanisms. The survey found that one of the physical elements that support a sense of security is the use of bars on windows. An important aspect on a social level is training the staff of such spaces on equality and inclusivity. The author stresses that his project does not have a final, completed form and his research is still ongoing.
In 2023, Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington conducted another study, this time in a collective form on site in Warsaw. During a structured workshop, participants had the opportunity to share their individual memories of the Reverberation Club using sticky notes placed on a collective board, donate photos and create collages.
stories from Klub Pogłos
proj. Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington
silent disco instead of a building
As part of the project, the author also plans to hold a silent disco at the site of the former Club Pogłos. Organizing the event was already intended to be as inexpensive as possible, so to create a suitable space, including a stage, it was planned to use second-hand materials such as scrap metal, wooden pallets, plastic crates or PVC pipes. The event, as a performative element of the project, aims to demonstrate the slogan "you can destroy our buildings, but you won't destroy our culture."
sourcing materials
proj.: Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington
A graphic representation of the research along with the design of the event space could be seen at an exhibition at the Design Institute in Kielce. Its opening was attended not only by the local queer community, but also by the architectural community and the mayor of the city. The exhibition provided another opportunity to explore preferred safe spaces for the queer community.
Work is currently underway to move the exhibition to the Queer Museum in Warsaw.
exhibition opening
photo by Aga Serwicka
Queer spaces save and revitalize - both people and the city. At the same time, their existence is particularly threatened by systemic problems such as gentrification, queerphobia and discriminatory laws
- adds the author of the work.
Lucjan Rostkowski-Coington's project is an innovative work in its form and subject matter, addressing the social impact aspect of architecture. He has already conducted research on safe architecture in other Polish cities: in Poznan, Torun, Bialystok, Lublin, Kielce, Tarnow and Krakow. Their results have been published in the form of a report available online in English.
