How will things turn out in the Association of Polish Architects after the resignation of President Bohdan (Bisia) Lisowski? What did he manage to accomplish during his interrupted term? Finally: when is the election of a new president? For A&B, the matter is commented on and clarified by acting SARP president Prof. Jerzy Grochulski and SARP General Board member Karol Fiedor.
As we reported on Thursday, Bohdan (Biś) Lisowski resigned as SARP president and from the association's General Board. Thus, his four-year term of office, which runs from 2019 to 2023, has been terminated . The duties of the president will be performed by Dr. Jerzy Grochulski, a professor at the Warsaw University of Technology, until now SARP's vice president for foreign affairs. Such a decision was made on February 17 during an extraordinary meeting of the SARP General Board.
Jerzy Grochulski was already president of the association from 2006 to 2012, and has also served as SARP's secretary general since 1994.
What caused Lisowski's resignation as president?
The decision was dictated by personal reasons. Of course, it was accepted, which - in accordance with the SARP statute - allowed for the election of an acting president. I will hold this position for the next few months," says Prof. Grochulski.
The election of the new president will take place during the General Meeting of Delegates (reporting and program), scheduled for June. The selected person will serve until the end of the current term. As Marek Szeniawski, Secretary General of SARP, informs us , this does not rule out the chances of being elected for another two full terms (currently four years). The secretary also adds that - in accordance with SARP's statutes - the co-opting of a new member to the General Board (in place of Bohdan Lisowski) can take place earlier, before the June convention.
foksal freed
To President Lisowski, SARP owes the resolution of organizational matters. Among other things,this included clearing up the long-standing issues related to SARP's headquarters on Foksal Street," recalls the former president's most important achievements Karol Fiedor, a member of SARP's Board of Directors. - It was during this term that a restaurant was successfully evicted from the SARP palace, which had been in arrears with rent for years and had not moved out despite the termination of its lease. The premises were later leased to the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning.
Fiedor stresses that the former president devoted almost every moment to the Association and was present wherever the presence of a representative of the architectural community was required.
We also sought comment from the former president. Unfortunately, despite attempts to contact him, we were unable to speak with him.
continuation of the line
Prof. Grochulski announces that over the coming months he will continue the program line outlined by President Lisowski at the beginning of his term.
Among the priorities will certainly be the dissemination of the recently introduced electronic platform epk.sarp.pl for more efficient organization of competitions. I hope that it will increase the number of architectural competitions conducted by public entities through public procurement," he says.
He confirms SARP's participation in cyclical events in which the Association is involved, including the organization of the already traditional V4 Family Houses exhibition presenting single-family houses of the Visegrad Group countries. Its Cracow premiere is scheduled to take place in March.
In the spring, we also plan to conclude an agreement with the associations of architects of the V4 Group countries on a joint competition for the best diploma of the year. This venture could be a good opportunity to compare the level of architectural education in the different countries," adds the acting president.
Disagreements in the background?
We also asked whether the former president's decision could have been influenced by the tense situation between SARP and the Polish Chamber of Architects.
This is information spread by those who would like to exaggerate the differences of positions in the architectural community. Yes, there are discrepancies between the Chamber and SARP , which mainly concern competition procedures. But there is progress here as well: last year we were able to come to a joint agreement on this issue," says Prof. Grochulski.
He also adds that he cares about bridging environmental divisions and uniting forces so that - in increasingly difficult legal and economic realities - the architectural profession can regain its due position as a profession of public trust.
