Ryszard Piotr Jurkowski (born 28 May 1945) is a Polish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

urban planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

. He is noted for his

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

and embracing

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

design of

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...

, educational, industrial and civic buildings, and for his fight against the monotonous and dreary architecture of the communist era. He is one of Poland’s most prolific architects.

Early life and career

Ryszard Jurkowski was born in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...

on 28 May 1945, where he also went to

Bolesław Prus Aleksander Głowacki (20 August 1847 – 19 May 1912), better known by his pen name Bolesław Prus (), was a Polish journalist, novelist, a leading figure in the history of Polish literature and philosophy, and a distinctive voice in world ...

Secondary School. In 1969 he graduated with a master's degree in architecture from Kraków University of Technology, subsequently obtaining the professional qualifications to practice under the title 'architect'. In 1969 he joined the Regional Municipal Building Company in Sosnowiec, but two years later began working for a large architectural firm Investprojekt in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. Since 1990 he has been a senior partner at AiR Jurkowscy Architekci, a practice he had established with his wife who also holds a degree in architecture. Between 1991 and 1996 Jurkowski was a senior lecturer at Kraków University of Technology and in the years 1992-1998 and 2003-2006 the chairman of the Regional Commission for Urban Planning and Architecture in Katowice He was also appointed a member of Poland’s General Commission for Urban Planning and Architecture in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

and he played a significant role in creating the Act of 15 December 2000 on professional self-governing bodies for architects. He was the chief coordinator of the professional architects' environments and in 2000 was elected the president of the

Association of Polish Architects The Association of Polish Architects () is a Polish professional architecture organisation. Since 1948 it has been a member of the International Union of Architects (UIA) and the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA). It also ...

, and held this position until 2006. Jurkowski is a sponsor and promoter of publishing architectural and

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

books and, in 2018 orchestrated the publishing of the first Polish edition of ''On Adam’s House in Paradise: The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History'' (Polish: ''O rajskim domu Adama: Idea pierwotnej chaty w historii architektury''), a literary work on the

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and philosophy of architecture written by the foremost historian and critic Professor

Joseph Rykwert Joseph Rykwert (5 April 1926 – 17 or 18 October 2024) was a British architectural historian and writer. He was the Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historia ...

, and published under the patronage of the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (NIAIU) and the

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage () is a ministry within Polish government led by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage responsible for national heritage preservation and Polish culture promotion. Ministry oversees state o ...

. He is also a member of the Polish Architecture Council, and one of the judges of the Collegium of Competition Judges SARP.

Honours and awards

Ryszard Jurkowski is the winner of the

SARP Honorary Award The SARP Honorary Award (Polish: ''Honorowa Nagroda SARP'') is one of the two most prominent and significant annual architectural prizes in Poland, and it's awarded by the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) in recognition of the outstandin ...

1999,

SARP Award of the Year The SARP Award of the Year () is a Polish architecture prize established in 1983. It is awarded by the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) to the designers of the most significant contemporary buildings, and it's carried out under the honourab ...

1987 and 2010 and of the 1st and 2nd degree Award of the Ministry of Construction (now the Ministry of Infrastructure). He is the recipient of the Honoris Gratia 2011 and the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit in recognition of his achievements. In 2013 he was nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award for the Home Army Museum in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. He is also the winner of Brick Award Polska 2013. In 2012 he received the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

from the President of Poland "for his outstanding contribution to Polish architecture".

Selected projects

Gallery

File:Zory1.jpg, City Museum, Żory File:Zory3.jpg, City Museum, Żory

References

External links

* Brick Award * Budimex * Honoris Gratia {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurkowski, Ryszard 1945 births Living people People from Katowice Polish urban planners 20th-century Polish architects 21st-century Polish architects Recipients of the Cross of Merit (Poland) Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Tadeusz Kościuszko University of Technology alumni