The recession came in the 80s along with economic and political crisis, it was then that the national industry liquidated most of design institutions. After the political change of 1989 Poland adopted the policy of a “free, self-regulating market”, according to which everyone was left to their own devices, and if someone could not cope this meant that his activity was not needed. In those circumstances, the majority of state enterprises purchased by initially relied exclusively on foreign designers. The Design Council which operated for several dozen years, was liquidated, institutions of higher education received minimal support from the government, and the existing designers were cooperating with a circle of conscious producers convinced that it is enough to “to one’s job” to change the situation of design in Poland. Yet time passed, and no changes were to be seen. It was becoming more and more obvious that without altering the consciousness of those in power as well as the clients of design, the place of design as well as the place of the Polish economy and material culture, will remain significantly inferior to that of other countries which are currently leading in those fields. Most of those countries relied on governmental programs and institutions responsible for promoting design and supporting its popularization in the field of industry, they also had an efficient educational system.

After the year 2000 a number of non-governmental initiatives were revived, which proved highly influential in advancing the situation of design in Poland. The empty space left by the liquidated magazine “Projekt” was filled by a group of Krakow-based designers who established the first professional design quarterly “2+3D”. Other independent groups of designers became involved in organizing exhibitions of Polish design both in Poland and abroad. Between 2003 and 2006 such presentations were organized in such places as Saint- Étienne, Frankfurt and Budapest. The Adam Mickiewicz Institute, responsible for promoting Polish culture abroad, has actively supported a number of undertakings involving design. The Institute co-organized two presentations at the Design Biennial in Saint-Étienne, was a partner institution of the comprehensive exhibition of Polish design “Design PL”, organized by the ProDesign foundation, as well as the conference („Wzornictwo – kultura i gospodarka”) (Warsaw, 2006). The conference helped to establish a dialogue between the society of designers and government representatives, an important role in this event was played by the Association of Industrial Designers. The year 2005 saw the opening of the Silesian Castle of Art and Enterprise in Cieszyn – Regional Design Centre established by the city authorities. In spite of different agenda and provincial location, the castle has actually served as the national centre of design for over two years. It was the place of important presentations of the latest achievements of the Polish design schools (7 Academy of Fine Arts, 1 Polytechnics as well as a number of private schools) which run exchange programs with important foreign companies such as: IKEA, NOKIA, Volkswagen or Hans Grohe. Students and graduates of Polish universities have won a number of awards at prestigious international contests such as: BraunPrize, Marksman Design Award as well as a number of contests in Japan.

With each year, more and more Polish companies successfully enter into competition in local and international markets. Furniture industry is a good example of this situation. It is rarely acknowledged that Poland is among the leading furniture producers in the world. A growing number of companies closely cooperate with designers, and some of them, such as Noti or Oggi, have based their company image on design. The most popular names among furniture designers are: Tomasz Augustyniak who works with Com 40, Mikomax and ProfiM companies; Piotr Kuchciński a designer for Balma and Noti, orTomasz Rygalik, Renata Kalarus and Mikołaj Wierszyłłowski whose designs are used i.a. by Iker.

In the course of the last three years Poland has also become an important manufacturer of transportation systems, such as trains, buses and trams. Designers working in that sector are: Tomasz Rudkiewicz – NC Art, Marek Adamczewski – Marad, as well as the Wrocław-based team with Włodzimierz Dolatowski, Agata Danielak-Kujda and Jan Kukuła. Polish producers of yachts and small airplanes have also earned a strong position in the branch. Other areas which provide good opportunities for Polish designers are, among others, bicycle industry, household equipment and mass produced professional equipment. An example of such products are measure instruments by Daniel Zieliński and machines designed by Andrzej Sobaś.

Foreign companies operating on the Polish market are looking forward to cooperate with Polish designers. Such equipment as Danfoss thermoregulators or Volvo bus elements are based on Polish design.

Some designers of the younger generation have decided to take the initiative and launched a production of products designed by themselves. Such is the case with the Puff-Buff group whose pneumatic lamps are sold in Europe and other parts of the world – the product has even reached New Zealand. Apart form designers working for the industry there are also individuals who work on the border between design, handicraft and art. Such is the case with individuals like Marek Cecuła who successfully combine the above-mentioned genres.

Young teams such as Beza, Gogo or Lapolka receive awards at contests and exhibit their original projects at influential events across the world, such as fairs in Frankfurt, Cologne or Stuttgart. The margins of design are occupied by Bartosz Mucha, whose virtual-real-internet shop “Poor Design” is an ironic commentary on the current market situation and consumerist civilization.

The events of the last years brought a friendly situation for Polish designers. The consciousness of the authorities changed, which was proven by notes on the role of design which appeared in governmental documents. The new directors of the Institute of Industrial Design in Warsaw give hope for the rebirth of the institution and its effective and tangible work. The exceptionally active model institution of Regional Design Centre in the Silesian Castle of Art and Enterprise in Cieszyn has set an example for other cities, such as Kielce or Wrocław, which are currently preparing themselves for launching similar institutions. Institutions of higher education take part in international exchange programs and are becoming more and more effective in obtaining grants for design. There is already a number of new ideas for local as well as international exhibitions of Polish design. Polish design seems to hold a great potential, and it looks like this potential will be used more and more efficiently.

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Written by: Michał Stefanowski
http://www.poland-israel.org