Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

[WI-Tom]

Not much to look at from the street. A mix of pre-Communist German architecture (Wrocław used to be Breslau, a German city) and Communist-era starkly plain blocks of flats. But step off the streets and into the central courtyards of the flat blocks and it starts to get a little more interesting around here:

mural 1a.jpg

OK, neat mural. This one's in the tunnel leading from the street to the courtyard, I think. He's a pro football (sorry, Americans--that's "soccer" to you) from Wrocław.

Once into the courtyard, it gets better:

mural 2a.jpg

I have no idea who painted/paints these. My wife found them on a walk around the neighborhood, and dragged me out to see them on a drizzly day when I wasn't feeling well. A nice walk.

Mondrian, anyone?

mural 3a.jpg

Mondrian... with dogs?

mural 4a.jpg

Welcome to Nadodrze: nah-DODE-zha, or "near the Oder" (river), which is a moderately decrepit north-of-the-river section of town that is undergoing a bit of gentrification/hipsterizing lately.

[LeeG]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

thx!

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

The art just keeps going:

mural 5a.jpg

I'm sure there are plenty of art-world allusions and references that I don't get. Feel free to point them out! Here, for instance, is (I think) Lascaux:

mural 6.1a.jpg

And:

mural 6.2a.jpg

[David G]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

More, please...

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Ancient Egypt makes an appearance:

mural 6.3a.jpg

Not just the buildings--some nice paintings and reliefs on a garden wall as well:

mural 6.4a.jpg

And:

mural 6.5a.jpg

[Peerie Maa]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Love it, especially the cave art

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

And there's more:

mural 6.6a.jpg

And more:

mural 6.7a.jpg

And more:

mural 6.8a.jpg

This whole little world of hidden art that you can't see from the street--pretty cool! (And there's lots more; I'll post some later on). A neat little neighborhood. When the school admin assistant dropped me off at my apartment when I first arrived, she was a bit afraid because Nadodrze is "the inner city."

Apparently she's never seen a real inner city. Perfectly safe around here as far as I can tell. But what do I know? In Polish, I can say "Good day" and "Please" and "Thank you" and "Thank you very much" and "Very tasty!" and "Bon Appetit!" and, crucially, "I have lost my key. Have you seen a key here?" and "I do not understand" and "I speak Polish poorly. Very poorly." and "Please, do you speak English?" and "Two baguettes, please."

That seems to suffice for now.

Tom

[AndyG]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

It's just like Belfast!

...But much better.

Glasgow's got some great ones...

dsc_0051-2.jpg

Andy

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

It's just like Belfast!

...But much better.

Glasgow's got some great ones...

[ATTACH=CONFIG]130739[/ATTACH]

Andy

Oh, I like that one! Here's maybe my favorite Wrocław one so far (not in the same area as the ones above, but still in my neighborhood):

mural dino.jpg

Tom

[WszystekPoTrochu]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

and Communist-era starkly plain blocks of flats.

Excuse me

they were creative, too, aesthetically

And technically

If you know where to look

[Peerie Maa]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Yep, one can work wonders with shuttering ply, a heavy hammer, and poured concrete.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Excuse me

they were creative, too, aesthetically

And technically

If you know where to look

My comment was NOT meant as a value judgment. (Sorry, the "not" got left out when I first posted this!) But the difference between the earlier German architecture (say, around the Stare Miasto and the Rynek, and the University)--much more ornate--and the later Communist-era buildings is very evident. It's a very different aesthetic. I think "starkly plain" is not completely off base as a description of the style overall, is it?

Actually, I walk past the building in your first link practically every day. It's right across the street from Sky Tower.

Tom

[Breakaway]

Lovely, Tom!

Thanks for posting.

Kevin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Osborne Russell]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Top one in #3 looks like Alfonse Mucha

[WszystekPoTrochu]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

I don't mean to blow up the thread, but is France, Germany, England or Greece really that different?

Buildings, but also furniture, clothing, and lot of other things started to simplify already after WW1, due to the math behind machines making the ratio of labour to material cost standing on its head. WW2 only sped things up with both former war sustaining factories looking for new niches and and with people getting significantly poorer on this side of the pond. Is the difference stark? Yes. Is it commies' fault? Only partly. Are they starkly plain? No, they're plainly plain. Wrocław was one of few cities that had the courage to go above minimum and have fun with form. And when they no longer could, then have fun with details and street layout. As opposed to smaller cities, where 'starkly plain' would not raise my eyebrows