On Kolejäki Square in Pozna, the History Clock was erected, a dominant 12-meter-high obelisk depicting the history of St. Collegiate Church. Mary Magdalene from its inception through subsequent extensions and destruction to the eventual demolition of the church. Construction work will continue until the end of the year, and next spring the space will be handed over to the residents.
Due to its dimensions and spatial constraints, the creation of the date clock was a complex logistical process that was carried out using specialized equipment. In addition, the prevailing weather conditions and prevailing high winds hindered.
The edifice is made of polished stainless steel, and its upper and lower parts symbolize the heyday of the church and the building disasters affecting the temple. The steel was polished to mirror level to reflect the blue of the sky and the clouds moving over it on sunny days.
The History Clock is located at the intersection of the visual and synthetic axes. On the one hand, it is the cornerstone that ties the space together, and on the other hand, it symbolically divides it into two parts: recreational with a fountain and long green spaces, and historical and educational with a gallery. The latter, in view of the existence and remnants of the Collegiate Church, appears to be the most important. The essence of the clock of history has been firmly integrated, reaching the kalka (the soil untouched by human activity, below the cultural layers), and through the glass installed around it you can see the elements of the architecture of the former collegiate church.
The author of the statue is an artist from Pozna Piotr Wołoak – sculptor and interior designer.
Multifunctional space
In the near future, many very important, challenging and amazing stages of investment will take place on Kolejiaki Square. In addition to assembling the History Clock, a glass-floored gallery was created presenting the history of the Collegiate Church and a fountain was built. At the beginning of the year, two “show lanes” will be set up.
The plaza space is multifunctional and a large part of the plaza will be occupied by the glass gallery of the relics of St. Mary Magdalene (under construction), a statue of the Hour of History (12-meter obelisk with glass at the base) and a fountain. There is also bench seating and gastronomic gardens on the square. Therefore, there is very little free space, and, according to assumptions, Kolejiaki Square, after the reconstruction, will also be a place for organizing small cultural events, occasional exhibitions and other social events.
Underground there are architectural monuments (category “0”) of the former collegiate church, which was a major cause of delay in the implementation of the investment. It was necessary to make several changes to the design. It is also an obstacle to planting trees. Under the arena there are underground rooms, where everything necessary for the operation of the arena will be located – a ventilation room for the exhibition rooms, a fountain control room, balancing cabinets for the fountain, electrical and communications cabinets as well as all fixtures and control systems. Planting trees in such a building is excluded. Due to the great saturation of the space under the surface of the square with architectural monuments, it was also impossible to install in this way and create a vegetative irrigation system using rainwater.
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