NAWA
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NAWA is the crowning piece of celebrating European Capital of Culture – Wrocław 2016. The inspiration for use of arc construction was inspired by the nearby Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, Market Hall, The Ossolineum and its library. The form of bionic arch goes along with the shape of the very island and corresponds with surrounding architecture.
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Once inhabited. Later forgotten. Today is reborn.
NAWA is a part of revitalization programme for Daliowa Island – the smallest of over a dozen islands in downtown Wrocław. Aim of the programme was to turn neglected and forgotten space into an area open to meetings, concerts and artistic events, thus a reclamation to city inhabitants.
Beauty, durability, timelessness
This architectural, public sculpture consists of 35 bionic steel arches referring in form to the shape of the island and most of all to construction of nearby historic architecture of Ostrów Tumski originally established in XI century. The arches together create an ultralight, durable construction, its mirror-polished surface reflects the surroundings and gives the effect of a naturally growing sculpture that changes throughout the day and seasons.
Designed shape of the object was divided into individual pieces with original algorithm and in specialist software for parametric design. It allowed to adjust the force arrow and to optimize production, transport and endurance on the basis of real time (FEM Simulation). Because of location and size of sculpture, individual arches were executed in old dockyard, north-east of the city, and delivered riverine on barges directly to Daliowa Island.
Aesthetics, science, design
The sculpture was made with original FiDU technology (free inner pressure forming) which allows to create tailored, adjusted to force arrow, ultralight construction elements in sheet metal. Bionic arches were cut out and welded along the edges and then inflated with compressed air. It allows to change flat 2D objects into durable and light 3D forms.
Slightly wavy surface of mirror-polished stainless steel resembles the surface of the water which reflects everything around and changes throughout the day and seasons. NAWA is the first object made with FiDU technology for such a large scale and also its manifesto. The initially controversial project became a popular spot for meetings, photo shots and artistic events.
Operating on the intersections of art, design and science, Oskar Zięta reaches beyond the traditional definition of an artist. During his sculpting process, the form is created with the use of digital manipulations. The initial vision of the construction of the sculpture was translated to digital language, which allowed to count the durability of its elements.
Since unveiling in June 2017, the sculpture has been gaining recognition in architectural space, attracting the attention of critics and the most influential portals from around the world. During the finals of the competition organized by the Architektura-Murator magazine, she was chosen as the most innovative Polish architectural project of 2017.
In December 2018, the sculpture was nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2019 - one of the most important and prestigious architectural awards in the world. A few days later, it was announced one of the ten best architectural pavilions of 2018 in the prestigious Dezeen portal ranking.
In December 2018, NAWA was announced as one of Dezeen’s top 10 architectural pavilions in 2018 and was nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2019 - one of the most important and prestigious architectural awards in the world.
