Antoni Mazur (b. 1922), architect of numerous modernist churches in Krakow and many other localities, creator of a distinctive style with which he combined modern construction with the spirit of medieval temples,has died . He passed away on April 7, 2025 at the age of 103.
Antoni Mazur received his architectural education after the war, graduating from the Faculty of Architecture at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He was then employed by the Cracow-based Energoproject, where he designed industrial buildings related to the power industry and secular architecture, including residential and office buildings.
The core of Antoni Mazur's work, however, was sacred architecture, which he worked on intensively since 1952. It began with his collaboration on designs for interior furnishings for Krakow churches, on which he worked together with his wife Daniela Mazur, an architect and conservator. He himself also had a conservator's apprenticeship, which he served in the studio of Prof. Alfred Majewski, director of the Wawel Royal Castle Restoration Management.
St. Joseph the Worker Church in Klaj
Photo: Zygmunt Put © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Soon after, the first temple projects appeared, including the small St . Joseph the Worker Church in Klaj (1957-1967), which presented the characteristic features of Antoni Mazur's mature work - a single-space interior, covered by a vault with massive reinforced concrete ribs, and a soaring silhouette, drawn by steep roof slopes.
Interior of the church of St. Joseph the Worker in Klaj
Photo: Zygmunt Put © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
In Cracow, he designed four churches - St. Anthony' s Church in Bronowice (1963-1983), Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Łagiewniki (1972-1978), Stigmata Church of St. Francis of Assisi (1975-1981) and Resurrection Church in Wola Duchacka (1975-1981). Antoni Mazur's temples were also built in other cities, most notably in Czestochowa, where churches of St. Mary the Victorious (1975-1990), the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1976-1990) and St. John the Baptist, among others, were erected according to his design. St. Adalbert (1978-1985). In total, he designed about 15 temples.
St. Adalbert Church in Częstochowa
Photo: Seboloidus © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
The churches he designed represented a characteristic style, distinguished by the use of steep, gabled roofs with slopes occurring at different angles of inclination. Antoni Mazur's churches appeared to be a contemporary redaction of Gothic or neo-Gothic architecture, being a direct evolution of Krakow's sacred construction of the first half of the 20th century. This is how Jan Czechowicz, the author of a monograph on the churches of the Cracow artist, wrote about Antoni Mazur 's architecture:
[...] he gave up historicizing motifs in favor of leaving in the form of the traditional element the very geometry of the most basic shape of the temple, still associated with Gothic patterns. This peculiar "neo-Gothic" in yet another, almost conventional edition, was accentuated with three most important traditional motifs: covering the temple with compositions of soaring roofs, enclosing the interior space with longitudinal and gable walls with a rhythm of elongated, rectangular window slits, and an attached tower constituting a clear dominant. [...] The sacred compositions of Antoni Mazur, which were created in the times of the second half of the last century, were an innovative phenomenon, already at that time standing out as an independent group of temples. From the perspective of today, after the passage of several more decades, it seems that these churches represent one of the important chapters of the new sacred architecture.
Interior of the church of St. Anthony of Padua in Cracow
Photo: Zygmunt Put © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Antoni Mazur also created concepts for secular buildings. He was the author of the residential buildings at Gzymsików and Grottgera 3 streets in Cracow (1957-1962), and the nearby Energoprojekt office building (1969-1974), which was recently demolished despite the objections of residents of the Krowodrza district. The blocks on Gzymsików and Grottgera Streets were among the first Krakow residential buildings to consciously reject the socialist-realist paradigm in favor of modernist architecture. Their designs were created at the same time as the concepts for the Szwedzki Block in Nowa Huta or the Bank House in Półwsia Zwierzynieckie.
Church of the Holy Cross and Our Lady of Sorrows in Debica
© Photo courtesy of Małgorzata Bereźnicka
Architecture occupied a central place in Antoni Mazur's life. According to Tomasz Bereźnicki, the architect's grandson, he designed at work, at home, and even during family trips. He admired the work of Antonio Gaudi and Santiago Calatrava. When he stopped designing, he took up writing, the result of which was the publication of an authoritative monograph titled "My Churches." Before his death, he was also working on a publication about his experiences as a young man doing restoration work on Wawel Castle and in Wisnicz. Throughout his life he took his work extremely seriously:
He treated architecture holistically - he designed his churches from start to finish, from the structure down to the smallest details. He didn't like it when his concepts changed, or were secondarily complemented by elements he didn't include in his original designs.
- says Tomasz Bereźnicki, grandson of Antoni Mazur.
Energoprojekt office building in Cracow
Photo: Zygmunt Put © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Despite this, as the architect's daughter reports, he was an extremely cheerful person, full of positive energy.
Everything he touched, he turned into something good. Lucky Anthony!
- Małgorzata Bereźnicka, daughter of Antoni Mazur, recalls.
Tabernacle in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Częstochowa
© Photo courtesy of Małgorzata Bereźnicka
Despite the role that architecture played in Antoni Mazur's daily life, he also found time for other activities. He was passionate about film, music, sports and travel, and spent his free time most happily cooking.
Music filled him, and helped him design. He had a whole library of vinyl and books devoted to classical composers. He also played an instrument himself; at the age of 17 he started learning the violin.
- says Tomasz Bereźnicki.
Divine Mercy Church in Debica
© Photo courtesy of Małgorzata Bereźnicki
Antoni Mazur crossed the hundred mark, as he had planned, and died peacefully, naturally, surrounded by his family. A mass for the intention of the deceased will be held on April 16 this year at 14:00 in the chapel at the Kraków Salwator Cemetery.
