Success Stories

Success Stories / Udane przedsięwzięcia
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art
Warsaw, 15 December 2016, 15.00
Chair: Piotr Sarzyński

The meeting summarises Udane przedsięwzięcia / Success Stories workshops that were organised by the ICC and Architektura-Murator monthly in summer this year. Workshops were supported by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The idea for the workshops was conceived by Ewa P. Porębska, the editor-in-chief of Architektura-Murator monthly. Her idea was to invite students of architecture to analyse together this year’s 15th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.

“This is what we would like people to come and see at the 15th International Architecture Exhibition: success stories worth to be told and exemplary cases worth to be shared(…)” stated Alejandro Aravena, curator of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice. The President of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta, added: “This time, we wish to investigate more explicitly whether and where there are any trends going in the other direction, towards renewal” and emphasised the role of the youngest generation of architects and the popular participation of students of architecture.

Developing this idea, the editors of Architektura-Muratormonthly magazine, together with the International Cultural Centre in Krakow, organised workshops that involved conducting surveys in all national pavilions and gathering information about architecture in each country. The workshop was run by: Maciej Siuda (School of Forms), Agata Twardoch (Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice), Beata Tylec (Architektura-Murator), and Michał Wiśniewski (ICC).

In June 2016, the competition committee selected 15 participants who represented architecture schools from all around Poland: Gdańsk (1 participant), Gliwice (2 participants), Kielce (1 participant), Krakow (2 participants), Łódź (1 participant), Poznań (1 participant), Szczecin (1 participant), Warsaw (4 participants), and Wrocław (2 participants).

Their first meeting took place in Warsaw in June, at the office of Architektura-Murator. The students’ task was to collect information on 62 states involved in this year’s Architecture Exhibition in Venice and their contemporary architecture production. During the workshop in Warsaw, participants developed a model survey about Success Stories in architecture of the states taking part in the Biennale. Participants then addressed the survey to curators of particular national pavilions.

From 12 to 16 September another workshop session took place in Venice. Thanks to the hospitality of Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, students had an opportunity to work in the Polish Pavilion. The information they collected through the analysis of architecture of particular countries, through the analysis of exhibitions in the national pavilions, as well as through the surveys was brought together in a special report that summarised success stories. The report was first presented in Venice on September 16. The report presentation and the following discussion took place with the participation of representatives of Rural Studio from the US and others. The recording of the first presentation and the following debate is available at the Facebook profile of the event.

On November 17, the report was inaugurated to the Polish audience. The International Cultural Centre hosted a full presentation of its findings, together with the discussion of the results of the workshops. Another occasion to examine the effects of the workshop programme will arise on December 15 in Warsaw, where Zachęta – National Gallery of Art will host the second presentation of the report and the launch of the publication about the initiative.

Udane przedsięwzięcia / Success Stories

Tutors:

• Ewa P. Porębska, Editor-in-chief of Architektura-Murator, Warsaw
• Beata Tylec, Architektura-Murator, Warsaw
• Dr. Agata Twardoch, Faculty of Architecture, Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice
• Maciej Siuda, School of Form, Warsaw
• Dr. Michał Wiśniewski, The ICC, Krakow

Participants:

• Agnieszka Chromiec (Gdańsk University of Technology)
• Magdalena Brzuska (Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice)
• Anna Gajowiec (Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice)
• Grzegorz Krzemień (Kielce University of Technology, Kielce)
• Bartosz Girek (Krakow University of Technology)
• Karolina Tatar (Krakow University of Technology)
• Dagmara Pasińska (Lodz University of Technology)
• Agata Skórka (Poznan University of Technology)
• Natalia Piesik (The Academy of Art in Szczecin)
• Jakub Andrzejewski (Warsaw University of Technology)
• Przemysław Chimczak (Warsaw University of Technology)
• Magda Koźluk (Warsaw University of Technology)
• Filip Strzelecki (Warsaw University of Technology)
• Wojciech Motyka (Wrocław University of Science and Technology)
• Michał Wasielewski (Wrocław University of Science and Technology)