On the building of the Gutschick I kindergarten and primary school, at 12 Scheideggstrasse, in the heart of the Gutschick district of Winterthur, is the aluminium relief 'Departing Swans' by the Polish sculptor and educator with ties to Switzerland, Maciej (Mathis) Piotrowski (1920-1978), 1963. Learn about the history of this unusual composition, which is linked to the implementation of radical modern construction and urban planning in large urban centres in Switzerland in the second half of the 20th century.

The building boom of the 1950s and 1960s.

The architecture and urban planning of the late 1950s and early 1960s are still visible in the landscape of Winterthur. The Gutschick district, where several of Piotrowski's realisations can be admired, including the 'Flying Swans' and the 'Acrobats', was created as a result of the post-war building boom. It was at that time that dynamic economic development enabled private developers to become more active in the field of construction and start planning large-scale developments. Many of these were supported by the central state budget. Housing estates were being built, education was expanding and there was investment in the arts in public spaces. Architects planned diverse developments blended into the green space, emphasising the uniqueness of individual buildings.

Gutschick I kindergarten and primary school building

Between 1959 and 1962, several hundred flats were realised in the vicinity of the Deutweg sports centre in Winterthur. In parallel, work was underway on the monumental nearby Gutschick housing estate, and the town was also planning other developments in the area. Naturally, this increased the demand for nursery school places. Hence, the construction of two new kindergartens in Scheideggstrasse, Gutschick I and Gutschick II, was planned from 1959. This investment was intended to replace the nearby Deutweg kindergarten, which had been in existence since 1879 and was unable to meet the new needs of the local community.

The Gutschick I building, on which the bas-relief is located, was built in 1963 as a kindergarten as part of the implementation of the local urban planning concept, which included the construction of a nearby prefabricated housing and school complex. The project was carried out by Bau AG Mattenbach according to an architectural concept by Heinrich Raschle. According to an agreement between the development company and the municipal authorities, once the building was in use, the city was to buy it back at completion costs. Such an arrangement was the norm in Switzerland at the time. On 21 January 1962, the construction of the building was approved.

Architecture

The kindergarten complex originally consisted of three classrooms with large glazed windows and utility rooms located on the ground floor, as well as a basement-shelter, intended for civil defence. The building was constructed, in accordance with functionalist principles, in concrete, the internal layout of the rooms being defined by brick walls. Work on the complex lasted from 1962 to 1963, and the kindergarten opened after a summer break in 1963.

From the 1970s onwards, the original educational offer of the pre-school was extended to include after-school care and, after the renovation and extension of the complex in 2006-2007, also to include a primary school. During the renovation, care was taken to ensure the energy efficiency of the building - windows were replaced and the outside was insulated, while the walls were repainted from grey to yellow-orange. This intervention disrupted the artist's original intention to capture the 'Flying Swans' (Schwäne) as they flee from the fox against a grey, misty sky.

"Departing swans" by Maciej Piotrowski

Piotrowski was invited to realise a bas-relief in an urban space commissioned by Bau AG Mattenbach in 1963. He was left free to choose his subject matter and material. This was another work in a series of sculptures that entered into dialogue with the infrastructure for children. Among other things, the artist had previously created the sculpture 'Polar Bear' for the garden of a kindergarten in Winterthur (1957).

Despite its monumental dimensions (1.5 m x 4 m), Piotrowski's relief gives the impression of lightness. Its forms are reminiscent of origami aesthetics and post-war design. The dynamic composition is in keeping with Piotrowski's interest in animalism, in capturing the animal silhouette in motion, which has been running through his work since the end of the Second World War. From the early 1960s, the sculptor often explored the theme of migratory birds, examining the arrangement of their bodies and their spatial relationships during flight. He associated such representations of nature with native wildlife and Polish folklore. "Departing Swans" also reflects Piotrowski's experience with metalwork, particularly working with aluminium, which began with a commission for a sculpture for a nearby housing estate in 1961.