This year’s Salone del Mobile International Furniture Fair in Milan, Italy, featured several projects presented by students of the Department of Design and Architecture Fundamentals, Lviv Polytechnic. Among them there is the Home project, which was created specifically to participate in one of the exhibitions of Milan Design Week within the framework of cooperation between the Polytechnic University of Milan and our University.
The initiator of the cooperation was Andrii Pavliv, Doctor of Architecture, Associate Professor at the Department of Design and Architecture Fundamentals (DAF). The authors of the project are Anna Vlasiuk, Sofiia Kosenko, Anna Rudyk and Yuliia Yashchuk, students of the DAF Department, majoring in Environmental Design. Work on the project was carried out under the leadership of the Department’s assistant Marianna Dubova-Strashevska and senior lecturer Roksoliana Kvasnytsia.
«First of all, I want to emphasize that the installation is dedicated to all people who lost their homes and loved ones and were forced to seek shelter in different parts of the world. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, more than 14 million Ukrainians – a third of the country’s population – have left their homes. According to the data of the UN International Organization for Migration, more than 6.5 million of them are scattered around the world as refugees, and about 3.7 million remain displaced persons in Ukraine. However, as of February 22, 2024, despite the situation in the country, more than 4.5 million people have already returned home. We hope that in some time everyone will be able to return to our native land», says Anna Vlasiuk.
«The goal of our project is to create the installation of the idea of Ukrainians returning home, with the hope of rebuilding the cities destroyed by the Russian invasion. The main object is a chandelier made with swirling birds/swallows, symbolizing emigrants returning to their homeland and bringing hope for a new life. The chandelier is located above a model of clay houses and streets depicting a rebuilt Ukrainian city. Clay – a symbol of rebirth, which simultaneously means stability and strength – was chosen as the main material for the installation», says Sofiia Kosenko.
«We made an agreement with a Lviv sculptor and together with her we molded the required number of handmade birds and houses from fireclay clay at a master class. Birds, namely swallows, symbolize the return to the native land, rebirth after a long winter. It is believed that wherever a swallow settles, there will certainly be happiness. All birds have different sizes and individual shapes. Likewise, each house is unique – with a different number of windows and its own roof shape. This demonstrates the diversity of Ukrainian architecture. LED candles are placed inside some houses. They symbolize new life in the destroyed territories», says Yuliia Yashchuk.
«The wares were left with the craftswoman for baking at a temperature of 1200 degrees, so that the objects became strong. The final stage was the idea of how to attach the birds to the upper construction. The solution was metal knitting needles, which we also decorated with a cotton cord. In the middle of the bird there is a hole for a wire, for which the installation is suspended from the chandelier. Such projects help draw the attention of many people to the fact that this war destroys our peaceful life, seeks to limit free will and suppress national identity. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, a real genocide of the Ukrainian people is taking place, due to which people are forced to leave their native land. For the sake of life», adds Anna Rudyk.
