2024
video

The architects of Niedźwiednik designed some of the estate’s blocks to allow residents on the uppermost floors to enjoy spectacular sea views. One such apartment – at the top of the tower block at 29 Leśna Góra Street – was occupied by the estate’s main designer right after the building’s completion. From his balcony, Szczepan Baum could not only admire his architectural achievement but also observe the landscape and atmospheric phenomena. His family archive holds a series of albums filled with photographs of the sky, which Baum took regularly at various times of day and night. Fascinated by meteorological occurrences, he documented billowing cumulus and wispy cirrus clouds, luminous mists, sunrises, and sunsets.

Baum led a rich spiritual life and sought a spatial sacrum in his designs. Among his unique sacral buildings are the church in Władysławowo, the papal altar in Elbląg, and the sanctuary in neighbouring Matemblewo. However, his unique sensitivity to nature is best embodied in his design of the Niedźwiednik residential estate. The layout and architecture of Niedźwiednik honour the contour of the moraine hills, reflecting human humility before nature.

Jan Domicz created a video work inspired by Baum’s cloud photographs. The LED screen displaying the images is positioned to face the windows of the building’s lower-floor apartments, acting as a periscope that brings the privileged view, enjoyed daily by the upper-floor residents, down to ground level.

JAN DOMICZ (b. 1990) is a visual artist, creator of video works, objects, and exhibitions. He graduated from Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main and the University of the Arts Poznań. In his works, he employs the narrative potential of space and its socio-political implications. Domicz lectures at SWPS University and the Academy of Photography in Warsaw, has given guest lectures at UAP and conducted workshops for OSSA architecture students. Since 2017, he has also led a quasi-curatorial project, the Office for Narrated Spaces, alongside his artistic practice.