KONICZYNA

KONICZYNA, a sculpture designed by Oskar Zięta for the public space in Wrocław, Poland, is a light and modern structure that literally and metaphorically mirrors the bustling city. Its geometric three-leaf clover shape has been destined to complement the West Link office building’s architecture.

Echo Investment, while searching for a symbol of their development philosophy, got into cooperation with Oskar Zięta. The idea was to create a sculpture that merges the future, nature and technology, a sculpture that would bring added value and uniqueness to their new building investment. Oskar Zięta’s team was invited to design and develop the sculpture at the beginning of 2016 and worked on the project until 2018. KONICZYNA was installed on the site in February 2018 and since then has been one of the iconic urban objects in the city of Wrocław.

Sculpture as vital part of the urban space
The West Link is a modern, five-storey A-class office building located within the residential and service development, in the north-western part of Wrocław, next to another Globalworth office building – West Gate. West Link offers over 15,700 sqm of space and is entirely leased by recognized global brands – Nokia and Hilti. The location of the KONICZYNA sculpture in front of the building was predicted as part of the city’s urban politics and the local plan’s provision which stated that an artistic project must be part of the investment. Moreover, the sculpture’s experimental and technologically advanced form fits into the context of two brands known for developing progressive technologies.

Technology and nature as art
KONICZYNA (Polish: “clover”) is an ultralight construction made up of three FiDU steel arches composed by Zięta using parametric design. Put together they create an effect of naturally growing bionic structure – it resembles a tree and creates a shade underneath. At the same time, KONICZYNA’s polished surface constantly reflects the surroundings and generates an amazing spectacle of lights. As its appearance changes throughout the day, KONICZYNA is a sculpture that merges with its surroundings concurrently defining them in a subtle way.

Complex construction process
KONICZYNA is a fine example of biomimicry – beyond its aesthetic aspect, which makes clear reference to organic structures of plants, its construction is self-supporting. The six-metre FiDU profiles, weighing only 1,500 kg, were made of Venetian steel connected with 108 m of welding lines. The creation of an ultralight construction was possible thanks to the innovative technology invented and constantly developed by Oskar Zięta. It allows to distort the shapes of steel elements welded together. Thanks to “inflating” it with compressed air, the metal forms become durable and stable, maintaining its lightness at the same time.

The innovative and most challenging part of the project was to create a self-supporting construction of this height and to stabilize the composition based on profiles of interchanging directions. This seemingly simple form consists of elements twisting 90 degrees around their axis.
Something seemingly easy for nature to create was difficult to recreate in one piece using FiDU, not to mention it would be impossible in any other way. It was necessary to combine the work of automated production robots with human labor. As a result, a bionic form with a unique shape was created.

Cutting edge public art
Oskar Zięta operates on the intersections of art, design and science. In his work, he draws inspiration from nature and the forms it creates. Developed by evolution throughout thousands of years, nature has created many fantastic forms that are a perfect combination of aesthetics and design solutions. The KONICZYNA sculpture, a macro-scaled clover made in unique FiDU technology, is a manifestation of Zięta’s design philosophy and a great symbol of development, a showcase that changed the character of the building and created a cohesive space conducive to business.

Oskar Zięta

Structural Engineers: Nobo Solutions

Echo Investment | Globaln Worth