Lithuanian design studio Gyva Grafika transforms bathroom tiles into apartment block windows

2018-03-21T19:43:00-04:00

A couple of years ago, Lithuanian design studio Gyva Grafika was tasked with redecorating the bathroom of a local restaurant in the city of Kaunas, about 62 miles west of Vilnius. They came up with a uniquely nostalgic idea: bathroom tiles that make the stalls take on the appearance of the panel buildings that came to represent the whole of the Eastern Bloc (and spread to other Communist countries, like Cuba).

A sample tile design by Gyva Grafika

Without having to replace the pre-existing tiles, the firm created stickers that, placed on top of the tiles, would create the appearance of a Soviet-era public housing block. The design intervention was done for Galeria Urbana bar—a hipster hot-spot in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania—and carried out by Gyva Grafika, a local studio specializing in graphics and design. The project has been so successful that the studio has even begun selling them.

Poland to remove Soviet-era memorials

2016-04-05T12:34:00-04:00

The Polish government plans to demolish about 500 Soviet monuments throughout the country, head of the Institute of National Remembrance Lukasz Kaminsky said in an interview with online portal Onet.pl, the RBC news website reported Thursday. Kaminsky — whose institute is responsible for investigating crimes against the Polish nation — said that plans for the demolition of the monuments, would be sent to local authorities in the coming weeks.

According to the report, the monuments will be relocated to museums where they can serve as a "witness of hard times."

Many Soviet war memorial have been vandalized and demolished in Poland, whose population views the Soviet role in the Second World War "with ambiguity or outright hostility."

Russians have reacted strongly to these moves in Poland. In their view, the Red Army liberated Poland from the Nazis.

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Lithuanian design studio Gyva Grafika transforms bathroom tiles into apartment block windows

Poland to remove Soviet-era memorials