ARCHICOLLAGES / The Exhibition Celebrating 40 Years of Ewa P. Porębska’s Work in Architectural Media

Exhibition concept:
“Architecture requires knowledge. Broad, humanistic knowledge – is necessary for concept creation, as well as exacting, technical knowledge – is necessary for the construction process. It also requires openness, a certain mindfulness, and intuition – to be able to perceive and understand the changes taking place in the world. College opens the path of knowledge to the promptings of intuition. That is why I like to use it as a working technique, which this exhibition suggests: here photographs, testimonies, and documents merge with fleeting and open forms – to emphasize the complexity and multidimensionality of critical engagement. # Archicollages. What is the exhibition about? It is about values. It is about architecture is first and foremost a place to live, rather than a clever and fashionable fetish – which it may at times become, and which some circles believe it to be.” Ewa P. Porębska

1982 marks martial law in Poland, whereas 2022 is the period of the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine. And in between: systemic transformation, accession to the European Union, and enormous changes – in Poland and the world. Archicollages are personal reflections on breakthroughs in architecture, people of architecture, architectural ideas, and re-evaluations.
The exhibition presents a selection of trends and topics, which Ewa P. Porębska focuses on in her professional activity: architectural competitions, exhibitions, publications, and debates, treated as important elements in the public discourse on architecture. Also present are the theme of the utopian ideal city as a distinctive example of architectural creativity, and the presentation of the designers’ professional attitudes in the context of redefining and re-evaluating architecture over time.
The presentation is accompanied by documents from the years 1982-2022: letters, sketches, archival photos, scale models, as well as excerpts from films and TV programs

Bio:

Ewa P. Porębska – architect, architecture critic, curator, expert. In her work, she aims to promote the best models in world architecture.
In 1982, Ewa P. Porębska started working for “Architektura”, a monthly journal published by the Association of Polish Architects, and since then she has been continuously dealing with architectural themes: writing, curating exhibitions, initiating and organizing events, making films, and acting internationally as an expert, consultant, and juror in competitions, including the most prestigious and non-commercial ones, such as the official EU Mies van der Rohe Award, or the Public Space Award. Since 1994, she has been the editor-in-chief of a leading Polish architectural magazine “Architektura-curator”.

Commentaries on the “Archicollages” exhibition:

“When constructing the exhibition on the occasion of her jubilee, Ewa P. Porębska took a backseat. Based on her exceptional experience, she merely made suggestions: some thoughts and threads for the visitors to consider and think about. How to see architecture, what to value in it, and how to talk about it. She always emphasizes the value of debates, exhibitions, competitions, and polls; and as the editor-in-chief of a key architectural journal – also the value of reading, critiquing, and skillful descriptions of buildings as well as the constantly changing urban space. It would be a cliché to say that we all experience architecture, and therefore we have the right to have an opinion about it. The “Archicollages” exhibition suggests how we might form that opinion in a deliberate and informed way.” Anna Cymer, architectural historian

“The exhibition is uniquely interesting in the context of Ewa P. Porębska’s reflections on changes in the discourse about architecture, which is taking place in various publications, magazines, and trade journals. While viewing the “Archicollages”, I remembered another jubilee on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of work. In 2016, an exhibition and the accompanying book came out, titled “Steiner’s Diary. On Architecture since 1959”. It is a review of four decades’ worth of observations on contemporary architecture by Dietmar Steiner, one of the most prominent Austrian architectural critics. Throughout his career, Steiner has advocated for humanitarian and resource-saving architecture and has criticized celebrity “starchitecture” and large global design offices.

Authors and organizers of the exhibition

Concept, narrative: Ewa P. Porębska
Exhibition space and artwork design: Jerzy Porębski
Visual identity: Edgar Bąk, Edgar Bąk Studio
Typesetting: Piotr Śliwiński
Translation: Dorota Wąsik, linguistic consultation Jacek Wiśniewski, and Ewa Kuryłowicz
English version available for download (online pdf) and as printouts in the exhibition area

Organized by: Architektura- mutator magazine
Collaboration: The ZODIAK Warsaw Pavilion of Architecture, The City of Warsaw, The Warsaw Branch of the Association of Polish Architects,
Lecture Partners: CCCB Barcelona, Mies van der Rohe Foundation, Architekturzentrum Wien

Accompanying lectures (held online, in English):
• 12 December 2022, at 11:00 a.m.
Judit Carrera, director of CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona
• 19 January 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
Angelika Fitz, director of Architekturzentrum Wien AZW
• 31 January 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
Anna Ramos, director of Fundació Mies van der Rohe
More information at www.archikolaze.pl