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, town ...

noted for his

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...

and embracing minimalism design of residential,

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

, educational,

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

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 in 1945, where he also went to Boleslaw Prus Secondary School. In 1969 he graduated with a master's degree in architecture from Krakow 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. 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 Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...

at Krakow 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 ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

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

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

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 (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

and

philosophy of architecture Philosophy of architecture is a branch of philosophy of art, dealing with aesthetic value of architecture, its semantics and relations with development of culture. History Early history Plato, whose influence on architecture is widely document ...

written by the foremost historian and critic Professor

Joseph Rykwert Joseph Rykwert CBE (born 1926) is Paul Philippe Cret Professor Emeritus of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the foremost architectural historians and critics of his generation. He has spent most of his working life in th ...

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

Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego) is a governmental administration office concerned with various aspects of Polish culture. It was formed on 31 October 20 ...

. 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 SARP Honorary Award 1999, SARP Award of the Year 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 of the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit in the 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 Krakow. He is also the winner of Brick Award Polska 2013. In 2012 he has received the Officer's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

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

Selected projects

Photo 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