Works of Karol Jankowski (1868-1928), Czesław Przybylski (1880-1936) and Rudolf Świerczyński (1883-1943) as the background for the changes in architectural design teaching at the Faculty of Architecture of Warsaw University of Technology in the 1920s

Abstract

The 20th century Polish architecture reached its turning point in the middle of the 1920s, a decade after the creation of the Faculty of Architecture at Warsaw University of Technology and soon after Poland had regained its independence. National forms emphasizing the autonomy and distinctiveness of Polish architecture were sought for and enhanced, which is characteristic of the first years of the Warsaw school of architecture. New aesthetic trends of the artistic avant-garde hailing from the West changed the perception of architecture. New, modern architectural perspectives were particularly enthusiastically received by the youngest generation of architectural adepts. Striving for simplicity, for purist forms, was related to the construction and logic of the materials used. Changes in the didactics that emphasised the significance of technical subjects and design resulted in a much more rationalistic approach to the problems of architectural design. These changes are also visible in the works of the professors - practitioners who at that time ran the Architectural Design Departments at the Faculty of Architecture at WUT. Using the works of Karol Jankowski, Czesław Przybylski and Rudolf Świerczyński as the example, I would like to present changes not only in the artistic approaches of the leading creators of Polish architecture of that period, but also those affecting the teaching at the Warsaw school of architecture. As the body of the written texts left by these outstanding teachers is relatively scant, their work remained the most powerful form of expression while assimilating innovative currents of the 1920s - a synthesis of their views and ideas contained directly in their architectural works.