Re-use. Lectures on design Tomasz Fudala / Dominika Janicka / Beata Siemieniako / Michał Sikorski / Maciej Siuda / HouseEurope! 📅 Saturday, 27.09, 4:00 PM 📅 Sunday, 28.09, 4:00 PM On the 10th anniversary of one of the most important Polish architectural exhibitions, "Warsaw Under Construction: The Dispute Over Reconstruction," held in the former Hoffmanowa High School building, we invite you to a two-day series of lectures on the evolving approach to architecture and construction. The construction industry is responsible for extracting over 30% of the world's natural resources and producing 25% of global solid waste, making it significantly accountable for climate change. Architectural practice should involve conscious ecological design or... abandoning the construction of new buildings. "Re-use" means the reuse of existing resources. Cities like Rome, Athens, Venice, and London are renowned for preserving and reusing historical structures. It was only speculative capital in the 20th and 21st centuries, demanding quick returns on investments, that disrupted the principles of longevity and natural recycling in architecture. "Re-use" is a way to restore traditional thinking about designing and using buildings. - On Saturday, 27.09, Michał Sikorski and Dominika Janicka will discuss various ways of practicing this idea. - We will also present HouseEurope! – a European social initiative founded in Berlin that advocates for fundamental changes in values within the construction sector – social, ecological, and economic changes. - On Sunday, 28.09, we invite you to a lecture by Maciej Siuda and a discussion with Tomasz Fudala and Beata Siemieniako, moderated by Bogna Świątkowska. The context for the discussion on "Re-use" is the exhibition from ten years ago prepared by the Museum of Modern Art, "Warsaw Under Construction: The Dispute Over Reconstruction," which posed key questions about the post-war reconstruction of the capital and the changes brought to the city by the systemic transformation of 1989. Its curator was Tomasz Fudala. The introduction to the discussion about the exhibition in the former Hoffmanowa High School will be a lecture by Maciej Siuda. Michał Sikorski – architect and urban planner. Graduated from École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris La Villette. From 2008–2017, as project manager for Belgian architect Xaveer De Geyter (XDGA), he oversaw the implementation of the spatial development plan for the Paris-Saclay campus and the new educational center for the management department of the University of Strasbourg. He is a co-founder of the French architectural office UN1ON. From 2017–2021, he was the chief architect of the Innovation Office at the University of Warsaw. He has lectured and conducted research at various European architecture schools, including ETH Zürich. Currently, he teaches urban planning at WAPW in Warsaw. In 2021, he founded his own architectural office, TŁO. Dominika Janicka – architect and activist who runs the FAIR BUILDING studio. She teaches design at Jan Kochanowski University, co-creates Bal Architektek, and served as the director of the Design Institute in Kielce from 2021–25. Maciej Siuda – architect and designer. Graduate of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Wrocław University of Technology. He works at the intersection of architecture, humanities, and art. He is interested in combining research with practice. He creates objects, small structures, installations, exhibitions, and buildings. Co-author of, among others, the Polish pavilion MYCOsystem at the XXII Triennale di Milano (2019) and the Devebere pavilion at the Biennale Architettura 2012 in Venice. Author of the architecture for the exhibition "The Dispute Over Reconstruction" at the 7th Warsaw Under Construction Festival (2015), a wooden bas-relief as part of the "Polish Table" installation at Expo in Dubai (2020), and the "Basic Forms" exhibition in Chiang Rai during the Art Biennale in Thailand (2024). He has designed exhibitions for institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, National Museum in Warsaw, Ujazdowski Castle Center for Contemporary Art, Museum of Art in Łódź, and Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden. He won a gold medal for the design of the Polish pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025. Tomasz Fudala – Art historian, curator at the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Since 2009, he has organized the Warsaw Under Construction festival dedicated to architecture and urban policies. Author of texts in exhibition catalogs and publications on art and architecture, including 1:1. Monika Sosnowska, Polish Pavilion, LII Venice Biennale of Art (2007), Anna Molska, Art in General, New York (2009); Mister Warszawy. Residential Architecture of the 1960s, Warsaw (2012). He has published in Polish and international magazines, including "Architektura-murator," "Artforum," "Autoportret," "Domus," "Obieg," "Odra." Beata Siemieniako – lawyer, social activist, publicist, recipient of the Pro Bono Lawyer award, author of the book "Reprivatizing Poland. The Story of a Great Fraud." Bogna Świątkowska – founder, funder, and president of the Bęc Zmiana Foundation, with which she has carried out dozens of projects dedicated to public space, architecture, and design, as well as competitions aimed at young architects and designers. Initiator and editor-in-chief of the magazine "Notes na 6 tygodni." Her practice is interdisciplinary and popularizing in nature. Her projects often act as platforms connecting expert knowledge and professionals with the approach of curious amateurs and enthusiasts. Author of numerous texts, interviews, radio, and television programs dedicated to contemporary popular culture. HouseEurope! is a non-profit foundation. Its goal is to promote renovation and adaptation at the EU law level. It organizes events, lectures, panel discussions, and film screenings. It collaborates with cultural institutions, architects, activists, and politicians. It aims to preserve homes and communities, save energy and resources, ensure a fairer real estate market, and care for cultural heritage. Achieving these goals will only be possible by collecting one million signatures for a petition addressed to the European Commission. K+M+B (Krzysztof Błachnio, Mikołaj Krajewski, Błażej Błażejewski) is a creative agency specializing in space. After gaining professional experience in renowned architectural studios in Paris and Barcelona, they decided to focus on what is missing in Poland. On a daily basis, they explore the boundaries of what can be called architecture – elaborating, experimenting, observing, asking questions, and making statements. They design everything, organize events, engage in social activities, and participate in lectures and panel discussions. In their work, they mix architectural theory with everything seemingly unrelated to it. Collaboration: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw Event funded by the City of Warsaw as part of the Komuna Warszawa – Social Cultural Institution project.
