Patchwork. Works of Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak
Opening exhibition: 17 June 2016
Date and time: exhibition open from 18 June to 4 September 2016
Venue: Museum of Architecture in Wrocław, address: Bernardyńska 5, Wrocław
Admission: paid
More details at: www.ma.wroc.pl
The exhibition presenting exceptionally daring productions and projects of Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak will contribute to filling a gap in the history of the 20th century architecture, as the works created on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain have not yet escaped the fringes.
The creative output of Jadwiga Grabowska-Hawrylak is mainly associated with the largest and the most controversial of her designs, namely the complex of residential and service buildings at Grunwaldzki Square in Wrocław, being among the best and most distinctive architectural masterpieces of the post-war Poland.
However, for more than a half of a century of creative activity, her drawing board was the spring of several dozen projects of extremely diverse scale.
She was closely linked with Wrocław, and it is here that she received the architect’s diploma as the first woman in post-war times. As a young architect, she contributed to the restoration of Wrocław’s historical structures, she would design the first housing estates, modern schools and innovative residential buildings in Wrocław, only to ultimately shift her interest to more complex structures: large commerce and service facilities, holiday centres, residential complexes, not to forget about churches. And although her works followed diverse stylistic trends, they all invariably provide extraordinary testimony of the author’s unique talent and sensitivity
Next to the completed structures, the exhibition will feature more than a dozen projects which had never evolved past theoretical deliberations. One will find, among other works, competition designs of a housing district in Manila (Philippines), a tourist centre in Como (Italy), a holiday village in Sobótka or the South Centre of Wrocław.
This combination of daring productions and design concepts will be the very first attempt to review Grabowska-Hawrylak’s entire diversified output. Her works, presented under the European Capital of Culture celebrations, will constitute yet another step towards filling the gap which had emerged in the 20th century history of European architecture. The creative output of architects working on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain has remained marginalised in the Western European narrative, although its artistic and intellectual value is certainly a match for the western architects’ creation.
The main medium assumed to be used at the exhibition to illustrate the works will be models, complemented with historical and contemporary photographs, animations and blueprints. The exhibition will be accompanied by a bilingual publication (in Polish and English).
Text by: Museum of Architecture in Wrocław
The exhibition is held under the architecture programme of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016, and it is co-funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under administration of the National Forum of Music. The project is implemented in collaboration with the Impart 2016 Festival Office, being the organiser of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016 celebration events.
Curator: Michał Duda
Organiser: Museum of Architecture in Wrocław
Co-organisers: Impart 2016 Festival Office, National Forum of Music
Co-funded by: Ministry of Culture and National Heritage
Strategic partner: KGHM Polska Miedź
Illustrations: courtesy of the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław.
