We publish more student works selected in the pre-selection in the competition for press reportage on architecture. We invite you to read Joanna Spychała's text entitled "O(d)fences".
Joanna Sp ychała - a third-year student of Architecture at the Poznan University of Technology. She also studied in Madrid at ETSAM at Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. She loves getting lost in different corners of the city and the world, and recording the spaces she finds in sketches, photography and words.
O(d)fences
Sunday strolls along less frequented streets and observing the changes in neighbors' gardens are age-old rural rituals. No wonder, then, that we stop in surprise when, instead of lightweight, communist-era fences, our gaze encounters a barrier of concrete fences. Lost in this situation, we look around in search of another focal point, and even such controversial garden ornaments as tire swans or garden gnomes seem friendlier than a mass of concrete. We can reciprocate their smiles as they stare at us between the rungs of the fence from the thoughtful plantand plaster compositions in front of the building. It begs the question: why do some people co-create the public space of the street, while others fence themselves off with a tall, thick fence? Is it a desire to hide something, or perhaps a matter of defense? Security for fear of thieves or neighbors? What is the motivation for putting up a wall around one's home?
There are countless combinations of fences, intermediate variations between the craftsmanship of blacksmithing and the most ordinary mesh. It is impossible to describe them all. However, I would like to group them on the basis of certain tendencies and consider what they result from. I will base my reflections on fencing (and sometimes even fencing off) on examples taken from a small town of three thousand inhabitants near Poznań, which is currently experiencing rapid development as a "bedroom" of this large city. However, I think they are adequate in the context of the whole country.
Photo: Karol Klimanek
stylish zero waste
The hand-welded fences mentioned earlier were an illustration of the versatility of the communistman, his ingenuity and resourcefulness caused by the lack of raw materials and products on the market. In her book "Products" Olga Drenda describes not only the types, but also how fences were made in the difficult 1960s. Fences took the shape that the wealth or cleverness of the owner allowed. Materials were obtained by various (not always legal) means from metal workshops and construction sites. Strips of metal from a milling machine interspersed with curly rebar or a gate in the form of a mosaic made from used tools were just a drop in the ocean of ingenuity of DIYers of the time. Geometric patterns sometimes lost out to fancy ornaments.
Photo: Joanna Spychała
There were no bad solutions if they fulfilled their function. The front of the house was the pride and showcase of its owners, and there was often informal rivalry between the nearest neighbors. Therefore, efforts were made to dress this functionality in a nice and original design. It is difficult to find two fences from the communistera that are the same, especially since a variety of fantastic decorations shine through from behind each one. Ornaments made of plaster (dwarves, flamingos, dogs, frogs) and tires (swans, cranes, flowerbeds), which, colored with a not-so-precise and professional brush, proudly guarded the houses. Sometimes they created mushrooming scenes or other compositions visible behind the green-yellowrungs of fences.
Photo: Joanna Spychała
Popular in the small-town landscape, self-builds alternate with mesh-type fences. At times they were probably meant to be a temporary solution until adequate funds could be raised in the household budget. Over time, they were either covered up by more important matters, or blended into the landscape forgotten by their owners. Nets overgrown with vines or pierced by hedge branches in such a way that there is no question of their removal, have become an integral part of it. One could also write at length about the foundations. They were made of whatever was at hand: from stones from the field, to old bricks, poured concrete, all at once. Did it work?
black halberds
At one time powder-coated metal fences, usually black, placed on a brick or stone foundation became very fashionable. It was a period of exchanging relics of the past and entering a new, more prosperous era. The sharply pointed ornaments add a sense of security and are a tad reminiscent of gates chained deep into the towers of medieval cities. Browsing through catalogs, it's not hard to get dizzy, as swirls, as well as simple designs, are in the thousands. This is a continuation of the previous trend in a more Western European edition, prefabricated on a large scale.
Photo: Joanna Spychała
Nowadays, there are further evolutions of fences on the market, which are moving towards not so much fencing, but even cordoning off the private space of the plot. The density and width of the already simpler but more massive muntins do not allow a passerby to look freely into the plot. Sometimes, instead of narrow gaps between vertical or horizontal elements, holes are simply cut in the flat sheeting, or they are dispensed with altogether by overlapping slats. Add to the set concrete panels and voilà, the recipe for a fashionable fence from the collection "mojadzkamojasprawa" is ready. If you still do not feel at ease, even if only on the only plot in the middle of the field, you can add a row of tall tules, surrounding yourself tightly with it.
Photo: Joanna Spychała
concrete
This is where the river topic begins - concrete fences. It would be hard to find a more relevant example than Robert Konieczny's Safe House, cited repeatedly in architectural circles. The widely-awarded architect, for the sake of making the space as safe as possible, used mobile concrete elements in this project. The client cared so much that it was decided to enclose not only the plot area, but also the building itself. Far from being light and openwork, however, during the day the Safe House opens up with large glazing to the surrounding greenery. An outsider then has access only to the square, fenced off on all sides with concrete. The strong contrast between the creation of a cozy private space and a heavily austere front is apparent.
© Robert Konieczny - KWK Promes
It's hard not to notice the analogy to apartment blocks. Living in the city, one is accustomed to successive rows and columns of apartments. Each of these "boxes" creates its own enclosed private zone with the occasional neighborhood minimum of saying "good morning" to each other on the staircase.
During an interview conducted as part of the ArchImpact research circle project of architecture students at Poznan University of Technology with writer Wit Szostak, we touched on the topic of urban habitation. Szostak noted that in a block of flats, social relations extend linearly. One knows (if only by sight) one's neighbors one to two stories above and below one's own apartment, but people from further floors are a kind of abstraction. We know they exist, though they don't have specific faces. In the city, one is more anonymous, people get the names of "the gentleman from under four," and relationships are based on not disturbing each other. The way up the stairs is traversed as quickly as possible, to breathe a sigh of relief of freedom after closing the door of one's own apartment.
Transferring this way of thinking to a rural space, we get huge "boxes" of plots surrounded by a concrete fence. Robert Konieczny created a design of fully integrated fences and building, but this is rare. Usually we encounter one-sided carved, massive segments, which often differ in pattern and color within a single plot.
Photo: Joanna Spychała
Until recently, this type of fence was used only in the rear part of the property, not on the street side, which was always representative, so also more open. Nowadays, however, plots of land are so small that the boundary between the private garden and the front one has disappeared, welding the two into a small, green space, where you need to fit all the necessary functions. An openwork fence does not give a sense of intimacy when you want to sunbathe on a summer afternoon or put up a children's pool. For this reason, instead of, for example, hedges that have been growing for years, which would give us some privacy in a less austere form, we put up concretefences. Or we may be tempted to go for their more refined, palatial version with a fine, airy form in front of the entrance to the house.
