Climate Change Data Becomes Whimsical Totems

Clustered under MVRDV’s Baltyk Tower in Poznań, Poland are six sculptures in a vivid myriad of hues and hand-painted patterns. In varying geometric shapes, they’re a fun landmark, making for an ideal Instagram capture; and yet they carry so much more meaning. Developed by architect Iwo Borkowicz, who in sustainable development, and visual artist and designer Alicja Biala, these nearly 30-foot structures serve as data visualizations of climate change.

Entitled Totemy, each of the wooden towers represent a statistic about an environmental issue. The sculpture with a blue top communicates the history of every piece of plastic produced through history. Each of the swirls reflects all the plastic that has been tossed as waste. Multiple colors below show the fates of the remaining plastic—green means it’s still in use, red has been burnt, and the smallest section, a sliver of yellow, represents the plastic that has been recycled. Other individual sculptures mirror stats for air pollution, how much water is used for farming beef versus vegetables, exploited fisheries, wild animal populations, and the amount of annual global deforestation versus the total area of Poland (resulting in a totem with two sections of almost equal size).

According to Biala, bringing awareness to the subject is more important than ever, particularly in Poland where climate ignorance is often embraced by politicians and public figures. Biała and Borkowicz focused on statistics that would resonate specifically with a Polish audience. The idea is that people will be naturally drawn to the art, though the totems are designed to represent science. While art can be discussed, the facts cannot be argued. Explanations as well as links to sources for statistics can be viewed by scanning a QR code on each tower.

All sculptures were handmade by Biala, along with assistance from local woodworkers. In the process, she opened her workshop to the community and hosted discussions and show documentaries every Saturday.

Photography: Alicja Biała, Iwo Borkowicz and Dominik Pazdzior