PALIMPSEST 2nd Residential Workshop in Łódź

May – our festival month – was also a period of intensive work within the PALIMPSEST project. In Łódź, our activities focused on urban climate challenges – primarily on the topic of water management and rainfall retention.

In early May, in cooperation with the Deer Garden. Naturalnie and Studio Magdalena Stecka, we organized the first experimental family workshop to develop prototypes of green solutions to support the city’s water cycle. Children and parents together created Meanders – green installations that help direct the flow of rainwater, protect green spaces and can support their irrigation in times of drought. The workshop also provided an opportunity to talk about ceramic forms at the intersection of art, design and nature-based solutions (NBS).

On May 24-28 we had the pleasure of hosting in Łódź – within the framework of the 2nd Residential Workshops – our partners from the PALIMPSEST project from the Polytechnic University of Milan, Aalborg University, the Karakorum Association and a member of the project’s Advisory Board. We presented the results of our work so far – meanderings. We then worked together on the first prototypes of ceramic water management solutions and considered their potential implementations. We created scenarios and concepts for landscape services based on low-cost, natural methods in urban spaces.

The partners also had the opportunity to learn about the Łódź context – we took research walks with Krzysztof Olkusz through areas related to rivers and the city’s planned blue-green infrastructure. We also met with the Department of Environmental Management of the City of Łódź, with whom we discussed the possibility of joint implementation of our solutions – including Meanders and Rain Flowers – ceramic containers for irrigation of green areas. In turn, during talks with the Department of Biology and Environmental Protection at the University of Lodz, we came up with ideas for testing prototypes, organizing future editions of activities, and widely involving the residents of Łódź in future stages of the project.

We encourage you to follow our activities – this is just the beginning!