There has been a lot of good talk about Lodz lately. The new project of the Old Market Square in Lodz (designed by Polska Inżynieria) or the Monopolis complex (designed by Grupa 5 Architekci), among others, are garnering praise; we have also recently devoted an entire issue of A&B to the city (see A&B 6/2021). Thinking about the contemporary changes in Lodz's landscape, it is impossible to omit the part of the city transforming under the watchful eye of medusa group architects, a new, albeit created on a partially preserved, post-industrial site - Fusion.
Lodz Fusion, bird's eye view
© medusa group
On the site of the historic Karol Scheibler textile mills, so far fenced off by a wall and closed to residents, architects from the medusa group studio are creating an open, accessible space where apartments will mix with offices, service functions with entertainment and culture, andall this surrounded by objects telling the history of this city and place, often full of - as the authors of the project write - "architectural scars", collected over the years of transformation and layering, which is precisely in such an authentic and legible form that will be preserved.
Too bold? Not at all. We are not afraid of bold measures, as long as they serve to preserve the authenticity of the place and substance. We act in the spirit of conservation, revealing the story of the place's history to the public," explains Przemo Lukasik of the medusa group. - To disturb the tissue as little as possible, and what is there - to protect and expose, to glue, but not to replenish. The tooth of time has bitten into this substance, let's show it. We don't want to smooth out or remove the attributes of communist architecture," he adds.
Anne's Gardens
© medusa group
One of the parts of Łódź Fusion is Anna's Gardens, a publicly accessible open space in front of the historic Art Nouveau power plant planned as a contemporary interpretation of an urban courtyard surrounded by historic buildings. Pedestrians will play the first fiddle on the square, cars will be hidden in underground garages.
We want residents - looking for access to various functions in the Fusion area - to be able to find the fastest way to their destination. This is not another urban lawn, whose paths are trodden by the residents themselves, as if to spite the sidewalk designers. It will be possible to sit under the trees, watch children playing, and even play boules," adds Przemo Lukasik.
© Fusion Łódź
Anna's gardens are divided into two zones - full of natural greenery (mainly shrubs and birch trees, which are not yet large, have been planted), which will give shade and hold rainwater, and a mineral one - strewn with light broken ballast, which will allow rainwater to seep through and the soil to breathe.
We will make this space available to seniors, as well as children and young people. We will provide a shade zone and allow for relaxation. We are freeing the square from the classic flooring, creating instead a surface through which nature breaks through," says Justyna Siwińska-Pszoniak, project manager. - From our experience, it is precisely such spaces that are a clear social need today, to which we are responding with our project, the architect adds.
A total of four hectares of communal spaces have been planned for the Fusion site, including the just-opened Anna Gardens, whose name commemorates Karol Scheibler's wife and gardening enthusiast Anna Scheibler, who oversaw the textile empire for more than forty years after her husband's death.
She was a strong, dynamic woman, a philanthropist who knew how to share the wealth she earned with others. She also had a tremendous sense and passion for plants," Hanna Zdanowska, the mayor of Lodz, told Gazeta Wyborcza in Lodz. - This year we celebrate the centennial of her death. By naming this space after her, we are symbolically commemorating her," she added.
pictured: mayor of Lodz Hanna Zdanowska, representatives of the medusa group studio and the investor, Echo Investment company
© medusa group
