Work submitted for the competition
"Best Diploma Architecture".
The object of the work was to prepare aconcept for the development of Port Island, a strategic point on the map of Gdansk ,taking into account the dichotomous functions of industry and nature, which was realized using the theory of composition.
Thewestern part of the Port Island, for centuries strongly associated with industry, contrasts functionally and spatially with the eastern valuable natural green areas. Theclose proximity and efficient public transportation make theIsland easily accessible from the Main City. Lying to the north are the dunes and beaches, with a peculiar view of the harbor cranes, which are thehallmark of Gdansk, encouraging recreation in nature.
landscape-composition analysis
© Magdalena Opania
The complexity of the Port Island issue is illustrated by its notation in the form of a psychogeographic map. This scheme contains a graphic representation of the abstract image of thoughts and impressions formed after visiting a place. We remember points - monuments, places, elements, between which we move linearly - on foot, by means of transport, and during the movement some elements merge into planes - wholes consisting of parts similar to each other.
psychogeographic record of Harbor Island
© Magdalena Opania
Defining the design challenges made it possible to distinguish thematic issues. Thecomposition, perception and mental image of space, the problem of shaping water and its role in the city, theimportance and manner of shaping the natural environment, the transformation of the landscape, with particular attention to urban wasteland, and the process of creating strategies were identified as thedominant ones. Thedichotomy of cultural and natural heritage and a thriving and developing industry is what makesPort Island unique . Ensuring their harmonious coexistence requires identifying a strategic backbone of development that takes into account theexisting potential and uses it for future functional and spatial solutions .
development strategy - composition
© Magdalena Opania
Such activities can take the form of anotation using the elementary components of a painting work determined by Vasily Kandinsky - point, line and plane. The proposed directions of development written on a blank sheet of paper constitute an independent composition, but translated into a map they become a graphic record of specific interventions. In this way, a catalog of solutions is created, the framework of which is described by a graphic symbol. Among the point solutions, we can distinguish land art points or observation towers, among the linear ones - a pedestrian and bicycle landscape axis, and the plane ones - hydroparks, which are also floodprotection .
development strategy - components
© Magdalena Opania
The area around the Wisloujscie Fortress, whose compositional record is characterized by the presence of amoat outline, was resolved in an analogous way. A seemingly dead spot on the map of Gdansk can become an active development area , taking into account the past and tradition of the area - the fishing settlement and the New Hel estate - and at the same time oriented towards technical and artistic innovations, taking advantage of the close proximity of the shipyard. An important element is a wedge of greenery as a continuation of theNatura 2000area , and a viewing tower that takes advantage of and emphasizes the identity of the site.
Wisłoujście - psychogeography
© Magdalena Opania
Compositional solutions can also be applied in the process of creating acultural zone in the Przeróbka area, where freely shaped lines are to correspond to the location of freely shaped greenery. Giving anew character, using the post-industrial type of space, can help change the connotation of the place and make it an area of socio-economic activation forresidents. At the same time, the introduction of high culture functions is intended to increase therecognition and attractiveness of the sites among Gdansk residents and tourists. In addition, an attempt was made to combine conflicting functions and landscapes, taking into account the principles of biophilic design. The result is a proposal to adapt a post-industrial site into aphytoremediationhall , a covered botanical garden created to clean the soil, which is also the beginning of future transformations.
green phytoremediation hall
© Magdalena Opania
An important scoring activity are the scenic viewing and mapping towers distributed around the island . Thedesign of the structural base of each is to be entrusted tolocal artists, and their common denominator is a colorful panoramic platform and a mapping lantern . Thecircular platform, placed at a certain height above the ground, is to provide a view of the surrounding landscape. Glazing it with glass tinted in thecolors defined by Kandinsky as primary colors-yellow, green, red and blue-is meant to point to specific valuable view shots, which after dark will be determined by appropriately positioned Fresnellenses located in the mapping lantern.
color mapping towers
© Magdalena Opania
Amazing in its diversity, the landscapes of Harbor Island served in the project both as a canvas for the painter, providing a backdrop for developmental changes, and as elementary parts of the work, in the form of an appropriate record of their direction.
Magdalena OPANIA
Illustrations: © Author
