Ascent Sculpture in Nowa Huta

Ascent (Wzlot), also known as Rising (Wznoszenie) or Pipes (Piszczałki), is a sculpture from 1977 by Stanisław Małek, standing in Nowa Huta by the Nowa Huta Reservoir, at the crossing of Solidarności Avenue and Bulwarowa street.

What it is made of

The work is 7.5 m high and 4.7 m wide. It consists of 72 steel elements made at the Lenin Steelworks. They were originally to have a square cross-section, but this was changed to a round one, because the steelworks was producing just such rods, called pipes (piszczałki).

How it came about

The artist was then a student of the Theatre Set Design Studio at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. He gave the sculpture to the district in exchange for a studio on the Jagiellońskie estate. It was welded for almost a month and a half together with workers of the steelworks. The place was chosen deliberately: this was the route by which steelworkers returned from work every day and rested by the reservoir. Over time the sculpture lost its original red colour, which was restored during the renovation in 2017.

Practical information

• The sculpture stands in an open area by the Nowa Huta Reservoir, with no ticket needed.
• The whole district: Nowa Huta.