Tomasz Mańkowski

Museum of Architecture in Wrocław cordially invites to the first-ever monographical exhibition dedicated to the life and works of Tomasz Mańowski - architect, professor, university teacher and creator, who, for the whole duration of his career, was connected to Krakow and the Faculty of Architecture at the Cracow University of Technology.

Mańkowski believed that „architecture is the most important thing” because it is an art that affects all spheres of our lives. He worked creatively for over fifty years – since 1954, when he graduated, to the first decade of the 21st century. He created his own design philosophy based on social sensitivity and responsibility. He believed that social problems could be solved through architectural design and urban planning, which he saw as tools to ensure everyone’s equal right to live in decent conditions. He remained faithful to modernism with its simplicity of form and humanistic message. His works are still distinguished by: the logic of connections, the geometry of systems (grids, modules), and orthogonal forms that with time evolved into more complex structures, while maintaining the unambiguity and clarity of tectonics.

The exhibition will present Mańkowski’s designs and realizations from his whole career, chosen to best represent his individual creative philosophy and themes undertaken by him: housing, prefabrication, post-thaw modernism and postmodernism. The topic of housing and prefabrication will be presented, among others, by prefabricated houses from wood waste and the monumental complex of AGH Student Village. The issue of post-thaw modernism will be shown by a group of competition designs co-created by Mańkowski in the second half of the 1950s. Postmodernism in the architect’s oeuvre, understood in his own way as a play with geometry and form, will be presented by, among others, the designs of the Children’s Village in Rajsko near Oświęcim, as well as Radio Kraków headquarters, which is one of Mańkowski’s most awarded design.