Lecture: Quotation, Context, Memory. Romuald Loegler and Postmodernism in Polish Architecture

What traces has postmodernism left in Polish architecture, and how do we view them today? What in Romuald Loegler’s rich body of work draws our attention to the cultural context of Kraków and its spaces? What impact did the transformation have on the architectural projects of that period? We will discuss these topics during a lecture as part of the Decades with Art series.

25 May 2026, 12.00

Postmodernism in architecture was a reaction to the language of modernism, which focused on practicality and broke with the past. Architects working in this style began to draw on history once more, using ornamentation and incorporating local traditions and symbols. They treated the city as a space of memory, meaning and narrative, rather than merely a collection of functions. In Poland, postmodernism was linked to the experience of systemic change in the 1980s and 1990s. And although the fascination with it lasted relatively briefly in our country, it left a lasting mark on the urban landscape, serving as an important testament to the cultural, social and economic transformations of that era.

Dr Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk’s lecture will focus on the work of Romuald Loegler and the transformations in architecture in Poland at the end of the 20th century. During the session, we will discuss selected projects by the architect, including those related to Kraków, as well as their relationship with the city’s urban and cultural context.

The lecture will revisit the exhibition “Romuald Loegler: Dialogue with Time and Place” (19 January – 7 February 1999). The exhibition – presented in Berlin and later in Kraków – highlighted the key factors influencing architecture: time and space and showcased the most significant projects by the eminent Kraków architect. It was accompanied by a catalogue containing essays on the work of Romuald Loegler.

Lecture from the series “Decades with Art” – practical information:

The meeting will be held online via the Zoom platform.
Participation in the lecture is free of charge.
To receive a link to the meeting, please send your application to: warsztaty@mck.krakow.pl
The lecture will be held in Polish.

Host:

Dr. Małgorzata Jędrzejczyk – art historian, curator. Studied art history at Jagiellonian University, Universität Wien and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Graduate of the interdisciplinary study program Environment-Technology-Society (UJ). Author of scholarly articles on 20th century art and architecture and publications in exhibition catalogs and journals. Co-editor of an anthology of “image/body texts” and publication “Composing Space. Sculptures of the avant-garde”. Co-author and curator of the artistic and scientific program “Exercising Modernity” (Pilecki-Institut Berlin). As part of her doctoral thesis being prepared at the Institute of Art History at the Jagiellonian University, she is conducting research on the concept of space in the work of Katarzyna Kobro.

The series is under the auspices of the magazine “Głos Seniora”.