The aim of the event is to popularise issues related to architectural detail, treated as broadly as possible – from decorations on buildings, through symbolism, to materials and technology of their production.
The third edition of the DetalFest Festival is held under the "non-cities" slogan.
My intention is to draw attention to the architecture and art in public space present in the countryside, as well as to the environmental heritage, understood as nature accompanying human activity
- says director of the Festival, Maria Nowakowska.
We often see the countryside through the prism of stereotypes or images. It's high time to take a look at how this space really functions.
Events accompanying #detalfest, which will be held at the University of Lodz:
"Homeless houses" – an exhibition of photos by Dorota Brauntsch
An exhibition about the disappearing brick architecture in the Upper Silesian countryside, a story about passing away of, not only local architecture, but also of a specific correlation of rural construction with nature, when only natural materials such as: clay, stone, wood or straw were used to build houses. Today, mostly abandoned and devastated, overgrown with trees and bushes, brick buildings slowly blend in and disappear into the surrounding nature. The author of the photos: Dorota Brauntsch (born in 1980), a graduate of political science and journalism at the University of Wrocław and the Danish School of Media and Journalism in Aarhus. In 2017, she received a scholarship of the Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship in the field of culture for a photography and reportage project about architecture in the countryside. The photo exhibition and the report "Homeless houses", published by the publishing house "Dowody na Istnienie" (Warsaw 2019) constitute the culmination of the three-year work. Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2020).
Place: Stróżówka Gallery of the University of Lodz, ul. Skłodowskiej-Curie 11
Opening: Sunday, 12 September 2021 at 2 p.m.
Duration: 12-17 September, 2021, 9.00-15.00
"City to eat" workshops
A workshop on recognizing and processing wild edible plants. The first part of the workshop will focus on learning how to recognize plant species that can be used as ingredients in dishes. The second part of the workshop will be typically culinary – participants of the workshop will learn how to process wild edible plants. Lecturer: Monika Stasiak.
Date and place: Sunday, 12 September 2021 (1st group from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m., 2nd group from 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.), UL, ul. Skłodowskiej-Curie 11
Registration for the workshops
Among the speakers of the Festival there are both academics as well as people dealing with the popularisation of architecture outside the walls of the University. The thematic scope is wide – from unusual construction materials to designing for animals.
Maria Nowakowska adds:
We divided the programme into three blocks. “Non-cities” is the main one – in this part there will be 10 presentations dealing in various ways with architecture and art created outside large centres. We deal with a wide range of topics – from symbolism rooted in folk believes, through fire stations and baroque arcaded houses, to buildings made of exotic materials from our point of view, such as braid, coal or animal bones. Two smaller blocks are dedicated to small towns and designing for animals. In the course of work on the event programme, we realized that showing the countryside without the context of nature and without reference to the old provincial cities would distort the picture.
Apart from the presentations, the organisers have prepared a number of accompanying attractions. There will be free craft workshops for adults, art workshops for children, discussions, exhibitions, and walks, showing both environmental and anthropogenic heritage.
The main festival events will take place on the premises of the event's partner – the Museum of the City of Lodz, i.e., in the Izrael Poznański Palace near Manufaktura.
The DetalFest festival is organised by Detal w Mieście in cooperation with the 2035 Foundation.
The event has been co-financed by the City of Lodz, the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, and the National Institute of Cultural Heritage.
The DetalFest Festival is organised under the honorary patronage of the President of the City of Lodz, the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Provincial Office of Monument Preservation, Rector of the University of Lodz, the Museum of Architecture, the Institute of Architecture and the Architecture Centre.
Source: Maria Nowakowska, director of the DetalFest Festival
Edit: Promotion Centre, UL
