Four new neon signs in Poznań. A return to the tradition of the 1970s!

Four new neon signs in Poznań are to illuminate the city centre. This will be possible thanks to the “Neon Centre of Poznań” competition, as part of which the city aims to revive a tradition from the 1970s. At that time, Poznan’s downtown glowed with the splendour of dozens of neon signs, of which there are few today. New ones may appear on the streets of the Greater Poland capital later this year! The jury gave the highest marks to the ‘Barber’ neon sign by Zawieja Studio.

The competition “Neon Centre of Poznań” was announced by the city in May. It was meant to allow a return to the tradition of the 1970s, when Poznań’s downtown was lit up after dark by dozens of neon signs. In order to take part in the competition, one had to submit an application to the city hall together with a design of a neon sign and a consent of the owner of the property on which it was to be hung

The competition committee selected the winners from among the submitted entries. It was made up of representatives of city agencies (Office for Coordination of Urban Design and Revitalisation, Office of the City Conservator of Monuments, Department of Urban Planning and Architecture and Municipal Roads Management), as well as the Stare Miasto Housing Estate Council and the Św. Marcin Coalition

Six neon signs were submitted for the competition. Two of them did not meet the formal requirements. The competition committee therefore evaluated the remaining works. As a result, four neon signs will be realised: “Barber” (at Św. Marcin Street 29), “Good Day” (pl. Wolności 5), “Barak Kultury” (al. Marcinkowskiego 21) and “Cappadocia” (Św. Marcin Street 25)

– We are very pleased with the interest of property owners and entrepreneurs in the competition,” says Katarzyna Parysek-Kasprzyk, deputy director of the Office for Coordination of Projects and City Revitalisation, chairwoman of the competition committee. – The submitted projects are graphically interesting. The authors assume the creation of neon signs using traditional technology, which guarantees due quality and a good visual effect. The submitted works also fit perfectly into the competition’s guidelines. In subsequent years, we want to expand the spatial scope of the project and bring back the tradition of decorating Poznań’s downtown with neon signs, which was abandoned in our city in the 1990s

The winning neon signs will be made according to the designed and selected project. Presentation of the completed constructions, as prizes, will take place by the end of this year

source: UM Poznań / www.poznan.pl

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