”London has Sherlock Holmes, Paris has Arsen Lupin, and we have Eberhard Mock,” says Barbara Radomska, Director of the Office of Mayor of Wroclaw. “In one of the tenement houses in the Old City, his apartment will be created in a contemporary style."
The idea of Eberhard Mock's apartment was originated by the creator of this character – the writer Marek Krajewski. The apartment should be ready in 2016, when Wroclaw is the European Capital of Culture. For the time being, preparations for renovation works are in progress, and then the designer Anna Morasiewicz will arrange the interiors.
”Mock’s apartment will not be a traditional museum," explains Barbara Radomska. “It has been invented by Marek Krajewski as a lively and surprising place that arouses interest and stirs imagination.”
A car from the 1930s and drawers with straps
Maybe the lamp in Mock's room will light up at night, a car from the 1930s will park in front of the house, and the smell of his cologne water and smoke from an unfinished cigarette will be felt in the apartment.
”It will be a standard middle-class apartment from the beginning of the previous century, and we want it to reflect the atmosphere and climate of the novel so that visitors have the impression that Mock may actually live there. When they look into his wardrobe, they will find drawers with straps, and when they open the linen cupboard, they will not come across bedclothes from Ikea,” tells Małgorzata Krajewska, wife and manager of Marek Krajewski.
Details of interior furnishing will be arranged by Anna Morasiewicz. „It won't be an easy task," says the designer. "I have to look at this apartment through its resident’s eyes and furnish it in accordance with his personality, preferences and liking. I'm still reading Marek Krajewski’s books and studying Mock’s character.
First, Anna Morasiewicz prepared a plan of building repair works. At the next stage, she will arrange the interiors. „I have prepared two concepts of Mock’s apartment,” she says. “The first one is an apartment arranged in the middle-class style of the end of the 19th century, whereas the second one is more modern. It is arranged in the style of the modernistic WuWa housing estate from the 1930s – art deco with individual accents referring to Mock's classical interests," she says. Eberhard Mock's favourite epoch was antiquity - he loved Latin language and was an avid reader of works by ancient authors, such as Cicero or Horace. "The modernistic version of the design was accepted by Marek Krajewski,” she reveals. Now she is facing the laborious task of arranging furniture, lamps and decorations. “Everything must be prepared with extreme attention to detail, as we cannot let down fans of Marek Krajewski’s novels.”
Mock’s apartment will be available to visitors, although it will differ from an ordinary museum. Literary workshops and meetings with writers will be organised there.
”At the time of opening Mock’s Apartment in 2016, a new surprising book will be published, but I can’t disclose any details yet,” states Małgorzata Krajewska.
Agnieszka Kołodyńska
