The winners of the award given by the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, the Medal named after Professor Zygmunt Majerski, were this year: Joanna and Wojciech Małecki, BAAS studio and Group 5 Architects. Congratulations! The award was presented during the inauguration of the new academic year.
The Professor Zygmunt Majerski Medal is a prize awarded by the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology to individuals whose activities have contributed to the creation or promotion of architecture and urban planning in the Upper Silesian region.
Award named after Professor Zygmunt Majerski
photo: Kuba Czarnecki | illustrations courtesy of MAŁECCY biuro projektowe
The first recipient of the award commemorating Professor Zygmunt Majerski, founder of the Architecture Department at Gliwice University of Technology, was Professor Mieczyslaw Król in 2006. The medal was also awarded to: Stanisław Niemczyk, art historian Professor Ewa Chojecka, Jurand Jarecki, Henryk Buszko and Aleksander Franta, Andrzej Duda and Henryk Zubel, Robert Konieczny, Tomasz Konior, sociologist Jan Olbrycht, Jerzy Witeczek, Henryk Mercik, JEMS Architects and medusa group.
What does one of the winners think of this award? Read for yourself in a short conversation with Wojciech Małecki of the MAŁECCY design studio.
A&B: Can an award from your own university be interpreted as some form of confirmation that you are carrying out the university's ideals didactically? Does it have a special value for you, as its graduate?
Wojciech Malecki: The award has a special value. As I received it, I felt as if I were re-taking my diploma exam - there were many of our teachers in the room, including the first drawing teacher or chairman of the diploma committee. It was a moment like a buckle closing a stage, and at the same time opening a new one, probably even more exciting.
A&B: The award is given to people whose activities have contributed to the creation or promotion of architecture and urbanism in the Upper Silesian region. What do you think should be particularly promoted and appreciated in Silesian architecture?
Wojciech Małecki: There is a notion of a "Silesian school of architecture," which manifests itself in the simplicity of solutions, the continuation of functionalism, and a certain lightness inspired by industrial structures. Katowice is a young city with 150years of history, which probably still spurs on the constant search for modernity.
Once again, we congratulate you and take this opportunity to remind you of Joanna and Wojciech Malecki's answers to our "10 questions to...".
