The 260-square-meter mural was created on the wall of a building at 39 Stalowa Street in Warsaw. It is meant to be a remembrance of the famous pre-war tenements and streets, and above all of the former marketplace - the Pachulski and Domanski bazaar, which operated between Stalowa and Strzelecka streets until around 1970.
For many years the square along Czynszowa Street, stretching between Stalowa and Strzelecka Streets, was empty. It is now being closed by the Stalowa 39 project being developed by Bouygues Immobilier Polska. It includes two seven-story residential buildings designed by architects from Decorum Architekci / AZT Architekci studio.
A mural by street art, illustration, painting and graphic design artist Daniel "Chazme" Kalinski was created on one of the gable walls of the residential building under construction on Stalowa Street.
Although 20 meters high and 13 wide, the mural is a geometric abstraction, the bazaar motif is clearly discernible. It was inspired by an old photograph showing trading stands from a bird's eye view.
The bazaar is the main axis of the narrative here, it appears in the form of a direct postcard framed in my style," says the author of the mural, Daniel "Chazme" Kalinski. - Bazaar forms in different scales are mixed here so as to give a geometric composition associated with the bazaar, which was an expressive place in colorful and somewhat chaotic Prague, he adds.
Photo: Maciej Krüger
Thanks to its geometric abstraction, the mural leaves the viewers room for subjective interpretation.
As a result, the mural becomes multi-level and affects everyone differently. It tells viewers the history of the area and is a visual decoration, but for everyone a bit different," according to Kalinski.
Through its balanced colors and form, the mural is meant to blend in with the surroundings of pre-war tenements, as well as match the architecture of the new building on whose wall it was created. As the author emphasizes, the work is a kind of bridge between two architectural eras.
Stalowa 39 is a modern building, which with its form, height and facade finish refers to the unique historical buildings of the surrounding Prague tenements, says architect Zbigniew Tomaszczyk of the Warsaw-based Decorum Architekci / AZT Architekci studio, which designed the building on Stalowa Street.
© Bouygues Immobilier
A nod to the neighboring tenements is the white brick on the facades, the hue of which matches that of its older neighbors, as well as the extension of cornices and windows in a vertical strip pattern.
The commercial premises in the first floors allude to craftsmen's establishments, and the tiles in the stairwells to the ceramic decorative elements used on the outside and inside of rental tenements, adds architect Irena Lipiec of Decorum Architekci / AZT Architekci studio.
In addition to the mural, the Stalowa 39 development also included memorial plaques dedicated to the former owners of the bazaar (Wladyslaw Pachulski and Andrzej Domanski) and drawings recreating the outline of the stalls on the stone floor of the courtyard.
