Karolina Jankowska designed the New School of Arts and Crafts, whose students will create in the spirit of upcycling and collaborate with creative industries. She chose the complex of buildings of the Teddy Bear Bastion in the Lower Town in Gdansk as the site for the project. The project is a thesis carried out at the Gdansk University of Technology under the direction of Dr. Agnieszka Blazko.
Referring to the idea of upcycling, Karolina Jankowska, decided to designate as a school of arts and crafts, five buildings built in the mid-19th century, located on the territory of the Teddy Bear Bastion in Gdansk. When choosing the subject of the work, the author was guided by the desire to create architecture that has the least possible interference with the existing urban space, while significantly improving its functioning.
upcycling and architecture
the school is located in a former factory building
© Karolina Jankowska
According to Karolina Jankowska:
The deteriorating condition of the planet makes us reflect on the stance that an artist-architect should take in times of climate crisis. One way to reduce the negative impact of humans on the environment is to promote, forgotten today, the values that characterize craft products. This can contribute to reducing the production of waste created through the ill-considered purchase of mass-produced goods.
school auditorium
© Karolina Jankowska
In line with the school's idea, students will use used everyday objects in the workshops, giving them a second life instead of using new raw materials for their work. In addition to the pro-environmental dimension of the work, the author attempted to draw attention to the problem of the low share of practical classes in relation to theoretical classes in art and architecture faculties. To this end, in the adapted building, she decided to combine the school function with an office function for the creative industries, providing opportunities for cooperation and collaboration between students and those actively working in the profession. When designing the functional solutions in the building, Karolina Jankowska was directly inspired by the assumptions and solutions of the Bauhaus School in Dessau.
The new life of the Teddy Bear Bastion
The project aims to improve the functioning of the Lower Town district
© Karolina Jankowska
The adapted buildings of the Teddy Bear Bastion have been divided into functions. The largest of them - the old factory building - has been allocated for a school and coworking spaces for the creative industry. The entire building, in line with the idea of functionalism, was divided into wings for intellectual work, manual work, common spaces and spaces for rent. The remaining brick buildings on the plot were used by the architect for the following functions: catering, an exhibition hall, a kindergarten, a cafe with a bicycle service, and a "Po-distribution room," which is a sorting room for used materials and a space for exchanging used items.
The author adapted five buildings of the bastion
© Karolina Jankowska
