Is it worth giving up consumption for the common good

Jakub Szczęsny
July 2, 2023 till June 2, 2024
at Gdynia City Museum

Opening: July 1, 2023, 4 pm

The Gdynia City Museum has chosen Jakub Szczęsny as the protagonist of the latest exhibition in the Polish Projects Polish Designer series.

We had no doubt that his eclectic work would allow us to delve deeper into the theme we chose to focus on this year – design and society.

In the exhibition we show how architecture and design are intertwined and what interesting things can arise at the interface between them. We take a closer look at micro homes that are particularly popular during the pandemic. We ask ourselves whether we as a society really need more and more space. Or is it perhaps worth saying “no” to excessive consumption for the common good?

We juxtapose the unique Keret House and repetitive (albeit adaptable) modular micro houses to address the theme of minimalism and limitation as societally important values. We create an interesting tension between architecture and design – Jakub Szczęsny’s installations in public space, intended as architecture in action, as a kind of performance. All this to draw attention to the social dimension of design.

Curator: Anna Śliwa

Jakub Szczęsny at the Gdynia City Museum in the series “Polish Design Polish Designers”.

“The Gdynia City Museum has been presenting the Polish Design Polish Designers exhibition series for many years. It is our way of promoting Polish design, inspiring people and encouraging creativity and innovation. Our premise was that the series should feature local designers of all generations, to make the picture of Polish design as complete as possible. […]

For the ninth edition of the Polish Designs Polish Designers series in 2023, we have invited Jakub Szczęsny, a renowned architect and installation artist. This look at his work shows how fascinating things at the intersection of architecture and design can be. The Keret House, world-renowned and part of the permanent collection at New York’s MoMA, is currently on the Iconic Houses list alongside designs by Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Alvar Aalto; it will serve as a starting point for exploring minimalism, simplicity, and constraint as essential values in both society and design. The exhibition will also inspire us to discuss design in urban space, focusing on participatory actions and interactions, on building a collaboration with its inhabitants.” – Gdynia City Museum