Ryszard Jurkowski

Ryszard Jurkowski was born in Sosnowiec in 1945, where he also went to Boleslaw Prus Secondary School. In 1969 he graduated with a master's degree in architecture from Krakow University of Technology,[1][6] subsequently obtaining the professional qualifications to practice under the title ‘architect’.[1]

In 1969 he joined the Regional Municipal Building Company in Sosnowiec, but two years later began working for a large architectural firm Investprojekt in Katowice.[1][7] Since 1990 he has been a senior partner at AiR Jurkowscy Architekci,[1][6] a practice he had established with his wife[7][8] who also holds a degree in architecture.[9]

Between 1991 and 1996 Jurkowski was a senior lecturer at Krakow University of Technology and in the years 1992-1998 and 2003-2006 the chairman of the Regional Commission for Urban Planning and Architecture in Katowice[1] He was also appointed a member of Poland’s General Commission for Urban Planning and Architecture in Warsaw[1][4] and he played a significant role in creating the Act of 15 December 2000 on professional self-governing bodies for architects.[10]

He was the chief coordinator of the professional architects' environments[11] and in 2000 was elected the president of the Association of Polish Architects, and held this position until 2006.[1][12]

Jurkowski is a sponsor and promoter of publishing architectural and design books and, in 2018 orchestrated the publishing of the first Polish edition of On Adam’s House in Paradise: The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History (Polish: O rajskim domu Adama: Idea pierwotnej chaty w historii architektury), a literary work on the history and philosophy of architecture written by the foremost historian and critic Professor Joseph Rykwert,[13] and published under the patronage of the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (NIAIU) and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.[14]

He is also a member of the Polish Architecture Council.[15] and one of the judges of the Collegium of Competition Judges SARP.[16][17]

Ryszard Jurkowski is the winner of SARP Honorary Award 1999,[1][18] SARP Award of the Year 1987[1] and 2010[19][20] and of the 1st and 2nd degree Award of the Ministry of Construction (now the Ministry of Infrastructure).[1]

He is the recipient of the Honoris Gratia 2011[7] and of the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit in the recognition of his achievements[21]. In 2013 he was nominated for the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture / Mies van der Rohe Award for the Home Army Museum in Krakow[2]. He is also the winner of Brick Award Polska 2013[22].

In 2012 he has received the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta from the President of Poland for his outstanding contribution to Polish architecture.[10]

• 
  City Museum, Żory
• 
  City Museum, Żory

• Brick Award (in German)
• Budimex (in Polish)
• Honoris Gratia (in Polish)