WUT delegation visits the Biennale and two universities in Seoul

The Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism is one of the most important recurring events dedicated to contemporary cities and their future. Every two years, selected architects and artists use exhibitions, discussion panels and presentations to respond to a curatorial theme addressing current challenges in architecture and urban planning. The fifth edition, held under the motto “Radically More Human” and curated by the renowned British architect Thomas Heatherwick, attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and leading designers from around the world, including studios such as Herzog & de Meuron, Kengo Kuma, Christian Kerez and MVRDV.

Within the Biennale’s “Cities Exhibition”, the Akcja “Burza” Park in Warsaw was showcased – a project created several years ago with the participation of Maciej Kaufman (lecturer at the WUT Faculty of Architecture), Jerzy Przychodni (WUT FoA student), Natalia Janek (WUT FoA graduate), Marcin Maraszek, Agata Holdenmajer, Karolina Potębska and Rafał Murawski from Archigrest studio, as well as Justyna Dziedziejko (then teaching at the WUT Faculty of Architecture), Magdalena Wnęk, Joanna Chylak, Anna Sternytska and Agnieszka Tama from TopoScape studio.

The Akcja “Burza” Park on the Warsaw Uprising Mound, photo by Michał Szlaga

The development of the Akcja “Burza” Park on the Warsaw Uprising Mound has received numerous distinctions in Poland and abroad, including the European Prize for Urban Public Space awarded by the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), which recognises the best public spaces in Europe. The project was praised for its skilful integration of the city’s history with the needs of contemporary users and for its creative use of reclaimed materials.

It was the CCCB that made it possible to present the Polish project in South Korea, during a discussion panel devoted to the role of public space in shaping the image of contemporary cities. During the discussion, the Polish architects highlighted the importance of the rubble‑concrete walls in the park, which reveal the anthropogenic geological cross‑section of the Warsaw Uprising Mound and the fragments of pre‑war buildings embedded within it. In the context of the site’s history – and that of the entire city – this carries not only informational value but also a strong emotional dimension. The panel featured, among others, Maciej Kaufman (representing Archigrest studio and the WUT Faculty of Architecture) and Magdalena Wnęk (Toposcape), alongside Roger Mermi (Ballettorigo Studio), Cristina Goberna (Architectural Agonism) and Seungyeol Lee of Seoul National University. The event was moderated by the curator of the Cities exhibition, Keehyun Ahn. The discussion also included remarks from the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to South Korea, Bartosz Wiśniewski.

Panel discussion at the Biennale in Korea, photo by Roman Dziedziejko

After the Biennale, Maciej Kaufman represented the WUT Faculty of Architecture in Seoul’s academic community, speaking at the invitation of Professors Seungyeol Lee and Keehyun Ahn at two leading South Korean universities – Seoul National University and Hanyang University (the equivalent of a technical university). Together with representatives of Archigrest and TopoScape studios, he presented the Akcja “Burza” Park project to students of landscape architecture and related fields at Seoul National University, focusing primarily on the project’s environmental aspects. At Hanyang University, addressing architecture students, Maciej Kaufman delivered a lecture titled “Rubble Concrete – Material in a Time of Crisis”, dedicated to the role of reclaimed materials in architecture and design in the context of the climate crisis. The presentations attracted considerable interest – students actively participated in the discussions and asked numerous questions, and among the audience were also two students from Poland.

Lecture at Seoul National University

The project team in Korea was represented by Justyna Dziedziejko and Magdalena Wnęk from TopoScape studio, and by Marcin Maraszek and Maciej Kaufman from Archigrest studio (with Kaufman also acting in his capacity as a lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture).

Participation in the Biennale took place at the invitation of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB) and was co‑funded by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.