Work submitted for the competition
"Best Interior Diploma 2020/2022".
The project involvesthe transformation of the space of Building No. 1 on Tamka Island in Wroclaw into a Jazz and Swing Center. The design premise for the Babossa was to create a place where the mannerism and lifestyle of the 1920s and 1930s and the art déco style, broken by a slightly pink and green color scheme, would engage in a dialogue with modern man and his 24/7 lifestyle.
"Babossa" Jazz and Swing Center project, concert stage
© Alicja Pieczykolan
The main part of the project includes an evening meeting space, a cocktailbar, a seating area and a concert stage, where people can enjoy coffee with live music during the day. The focal point of the design floor is the palm house along with the swing school's dance hall, which transforms into a public dance floor for Babossa's guests in the evenings.
The main part of the project includes an evening meeting space,
cocktailbar, seating area and concert stage
© Alicja Pieczykolan
The idea to create such a place came from a love of the interpersonal understanding without words that arose in the 1920s, namely the nascent jazz and swing. The multilingual community in New Orleans found its own way of communicating that brought people together - music and dance. Without rules and restrictions, creating a mosaic of cultures, hidden emotions and artistic elements that give respite from everyday life.
the main part of the project includes a space for evening meetings
© Alicja Pieczykolan
Today's times have forgotten to cultivate and promote this wonderful tradition combining fun, meetings and shared conversations with live music and a dance floor full of dancing people. Babossa aims to be a place that exudes New Orleans energy from the very entrance; a space that reconnects and sustains the beauty of the eternal jam session, offering users a place to spend time in a multidimensional way.
upstairs is a palm house
© Alicja Pieczykolan
The already mentioned fondness for the 1920s and 1930s also applies to the art déco style that was prevalent at the time. Nowadays, at every turn, we encounter cheap mass-marketness without expression, with no regard for quality. The main idea of art déco was to focus on detail in interiors - this very premise became the primary goal of the Jazz and Swing Center project.
Precious natural stones of various species are broken
by the textural softness of fabrics or the warmth of veneers
© Alicja Pieczykolan
Babossa's spaces are meant to surprise. The rooms are finished with diverse materials, which together form a mosaic whole. Precious natural stones of various kinds are broken by the textural softness of fabrics or the warmth of veneers. Metals, on the other hand, which are reflective surfaces, contrast with the dullness and roughness of matte structural plasters.
Babossa's spaces are meant to surprise
© Alicja Pieczykolan
The glazing or openwork that appears allows a breather from the monolithic interior elements. The color scheme of the building's facade remains the same and is contained in a range of soft beiges and whites. In Babossa's design concept, this purity of color is also transferred to the entrance area, thus providing a clean slate for the subsequent richness of value seen in the building's interiors.
Alicja PIECZYKOLAN
Illustrations: © Author
