Hugon Kowalski + Iza Rutkowska

Hugon Kowalski – Architect. In 2011, he graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Studies of the University of Fine Arts in Poznań. Since 2010, he has hold the position of the Assistant Director of the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the University of Fine Arts in Poznań. His graduation work, “Let’s Talk about Garbage”, concerning the slums problem in Mumbai, allowed him to become the first Pole to receive the prestigious Archiprix International Hunter Douglas Award for the world’s best architectural graduation work defended in 2009–2011. He has worked as a trainee at many studios in Poland, such as Front Architects, as well as at the famous Studio Foster and Partners in London. He is the owner of UGO architecture and the winner of 25 awards, including many international ones. He was the first Polish architect to be invited to present a solo exhibition at the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in Arsenale (Reporting from the Front).

Iza Rutkowska – Polish artist, founder of the Forms and Shapes Foundation. Her activities, which combine design, architecture and performance, focus on giving new forms and shapes to the public space, involve local communities and often win international renown. Her installations and designs have been exhibited in various countries, such as the Czech Republic, Brazil, Italy, Austria and Portugal. She was nominated for the Person of the Year 2011 award in Gazeta Wyborcza’s ‘Wdechy’ poll. Her activities have been written about in such magazines as Coriere della Sera, La Repubblica, Designboom, Cut magazine, Przekrój, Polityka, Przegląd, Architektura and Wysokie Obcasy.