Fairytale Cubes

Ján Šicko / 1983

The work is located in the Dúbrava pedestrian zone near Tesco Express (formerly Brestovka) and the health centre. It comprises irregularly stacked clusters of concrete cubes with colourful ceramic reliefs depicting fairytale and natural motifs (castle, princess, prince, horse, sun, clouds, flowers, butterflies … ). 

The structure serves as a children's climbing frame, an open artwork, and a landmark. Following a prolonged period of decay, it was cleaned and repaired in 2018 in cooperation with its author Ján Šicko, who restored the ceramic reliefs in keeping with his original design. The cubes were painted a shade of brown that same year, and then later beige, which detracts from the original textured concrete effect. In some places, the paint overlaps the glazed surface of the reliefs, degrading their appearance. 

In the immediate vicinity of the work, a park with seating and a drinking fountain was in 2021 revitalised according to a project by the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava. 

Research status as of 15.11.2022. 

ZD 


Authorship


Years

  • 1983 – implementation
  • 2018 – modification

Type

Material

concrete, fired clay, coloured glaze, concrete paint

Technique

shuttering, formwork, firing, glazing, painting

Dimensions

245 x 580 x 85 cm

Inscription

unidentified

Condition

  • preserved, maintained
  • secondary modifications
  • restored by the artist
Inappropriate coating on the architectural concrete

Registration

  • unidentified

Owner

  • unidentified

Administrator

  • unidentified

Address

between Bazovského and Schneidera-Trnavského streets

Location details

located in a pedestrian zone opposite the health centre

Plot number

2922

GPS

48.1824970, 17.0411010

Other works in the area

Meadow and Stream Climbing Structure

Jaroslava Šicková 1984

Mother With Child

Pavol Tóth 1980

Girl With a Book

Teodor Baník 1980

Dragon

Štefan Prokop 1981 – 1983