The Nova Shopping Centre in Puławy was built in 2012 to a design by Vertigo Architekci. Today, this rather large building appears completely nondescript and characterless, and its aesthetics are no different from other venues of this type across the country. Almost every inch of the structure is covered in garish banners, which have also been used to ‘decorate’ the balustrades and cover the windows, and the arcade has likely been enclosed as well. Just typical Polish visual clutter. However, when you look at photos from the time the development was completed, you might be seriously surprised. Beneath this mass of chaotic advertising lies elegant neo-modernism from the second decade of the 21st century.
Nova Shopping Centre in Puławy
Galeria Nova in Puławy was built on the site of a former military base, in the vicinity of the larger shopping centres on Zielona and Fieldorfa “Nila” streets. Originally, plans were in place to construct a similar development here, but ultimately a smaller, three-storey building on a much more intimate scale was chosen. The property houses over a dozen retail and service units. The largely glazed ground floor attracts the main flow of customers, whilst the upper floors are occupied by smaller service outlets and catering establishments. The gallery’s appearance was influenced by the specific topography of the site. The architects integrated it into the slope, which allowed for the design of two entrances on different levels. The building therefore operates simultaneously from both sides, without the need to construct a long corridor in the middle. The contractor for the project was Pin-Bud from Janowiec.
Neo-modernism of the second decade of the 21st century
The gallery’s structure features a horizontal layout and consists of fairly simple, geometric segments. Of particular importance to the building’s character is the recessed top floor, which evokes the modernist concept of a roof terrace and visually reduces its scale from the street side. The façades are finished with a modest palette of materials and colours. White and grey dominate, combined with a warmer, wood-effect cladding. Large glazed areas open the interior up to the surroundings. The composition of the Nova gallery is based on a contrast of directions. Long, horizontal lines are juxtaposed with vertical divisions in the form of narrow slits and tall openings. The entrance, meanwhile, is accentuated by a deep arcade. Objectively speaking, this is not particularly outstanding architecture, yet compared to other retail developments springing up across the country, it looks very decent. Or rather, it used to.
Nova Shopping Centre and advertising chaos
Shortly after the building was opened, at the turn of 2012 and 2013, tenants began covering it with advertisements. As a result, the current state of the shopping centre can hardly be described as anything other than a degradation of the original concept. The banners show no respect for the façade’s divisions, ignoring proportions and the principles of composition. They overlap, aggressively compete for attention, and introduce random colours and typography. The effect is clear: the architecture has ceased to be legible, and the designers’ vision is lost in this uncontrolled chaos.
It should be noted that the issue is not the mere presence of advertisements, but their scale and the way they are displayed. The building serves as a shopping centre and it is obvious that the tenants of individual premises want to advertise themselves in some way. But could this not have been organised differently? Could all the banners have been placed in one spot, without creating a screen-like layer? These days, there is a great deal of grumbling about the quality of architecture, but the lion’s share of the problem lies in treating buildings as advertising hoardings. Our cities, towns and villages are currently a visual nightmare. Many of the billboards are hung illegally and break the law, yet officials do not treat this as a priority. Landscape regulations attempt to combat the ubiquitous advertising and tidy up the streetscape, but this is still not enough to rid the country of intrusive banners.
Photos: Google Maps
Read also:Metamorphosis | Architecture in Poland | Interesting facts | Modernism | Minimalism
