Difficult Beginnings of Technical Education in Poznań, 1891–1945 

Poznań became the centre of higher technical education relatively late, largely because of Poland’s political situation. After losing independence at the end of the 18th century, Poland regained its statehood only in 1918. During this time, Poznań was under Prussian rule, and the state imposed a restrictive cultural policy on the Poles. It was only in the late 19th century that vocational secondary technical education was allowed in Poznań, a city with approximately 170,000 inhabitants and the capital of a province with over 2 million citizens in 1910. This led to the establishment of the Royal School of Construction (ger. Königlich Bauwerkschul Posen) in 1891 and the Royal Higher School of Mechanical Engineering (ger. Königliche Höhere Maschinenbauschule) in 1898, both of which served as technical schools. After Poland regained independence, these institutions continued their educational and scientific activities throughout the interwar period, working to raise the standard of education with the goal of establishing a polytechnic university. Poznań University of Technology was officially authorized in 1937, but the outbreak of World War II in 1939 prevented its opening.

The First Faculty of Architecture in Poznań, 1945–1954

After World War II, the devastation and loss of intellectual elites prompted new communist authorities to broaden access to engineering professions by founding numerous technical colleges. Among these was the Engineering School in Poznań, founded in early September 1945 and later renamed the Poznań University of Technology in 1955. The initial staff and facilities were drawn from pre-war technical schools. They laid the groundwork for the Faculty of Civil Engineering, which included an Architecture Department that trained architects at the first-degree (engineering) level. In 1950, the Architecture Department was promoted to the Faculty of Architecture, with Professor Władysław Czarnecki as dean. He was a professor at the Polish School of Architecture, University of Liverpool, from 1942 to 1945. The Faculty prioritized realistic urban planning, avoiding the dogmas of modernism and socialist realism, and instead advocated modern, practical ideas. Another significant area of expertise was the reconstruction and preservation of monuments and cityscapes. This focus influenced the curriculum, emphasizing field trips and internships with interdisciplinary learning programs to teach students on-site analyses. Most Faculty members were practicing architects and urban planners, incorporating practical experience into their teaching. In their final semesters, students often assisted and collaborated with their instructors in architectural offices. The design approach was anchored in spatial, historical, and social contexts instead of current trends and combined methods from the architectural education programs of Lviv and Warsaw faculties. This approach was further refined based on the experience of the Polish School of Architecture at the University of Liverpool. A significant scholarly achievement of the first Faculty of Architecture in Poznań is Władysław Czarnecki's monumental six-volume work, "City and Settlement Planning." This publication, reissued multiple times, was based on extensive literature reviews, site visits, and observations of project offices conducted by Czarnecki during World War II in the Middle East, Africa, and Great Britain. In the early 1950s, the open educational approach and global architectural connections of the Poznań Faculty conflicted with the socialist realism doctrine, which required ideologically driven formal solutions. Criticism of the Poznań Faculty's work in the journal “Architektura” preceded its dissolution. State authorities suspended recruitment on April 4, 1952, and formally disbanded the Faculty on April 30, 1954. The legacy of the first Faculty of Architecture included fostering a creative environment for architects, aiding in Poznań's post-war reconstruction, and supporting the expansion of the city in the 1960s and the 1970s.

Transitional Period, 1954–1972

Following the discontinuation of the architecture program at the Poznań University of Technology, the Poznań branch of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) persistently lobbied state authorities to reinstate architectural education in the city. Despite the program’s closure, architectural and urban planning education persisted through alternative channels. Professor Władysław Czarnecki organized a master’s course in architecture in collaboration with Wrocław University of Technology. From 1957 to 1963, the Higher Study in Urban and Regional Planning, directed by Professors Władysław Czarnecki and Lech Zimowski, was organized by the Society for the Popularization of Culture and Science. Concurrently, the Department of Rural Construction operated at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Poznań University of Technology, where the Chair of Urban and Spatial Planning was also established in 1963. Architects staffed both departments and progressively advanced their academic careers, achieving higher scientific degrees over time.

Institute of Architecture and Spatial Planning, 1972–1999

After years of effort by Poznań's creative and academic community, the Department of Architecture was established at the Faculty of Civil Engineering on August 1, 1972. A year later, it became an independent Department of Architecture under Professor Andrzej Gałkowski, with its first students enrolled in 1972. Initially, the department had ten staff members. The curriculum of the re-established architecture program was developed by experts including Professor Władysław Czarnecki, and renowned architects and educators like Professors Zygmunt Skibniewski (Warsaw University of Technology, and President of the Polish Urban Planners Association), Wiktor Zin (Cracow University of Technology and later General Conservator of Monuments), and Piotr Zaremba (Szczecin University of Technology and former President of Szczecin). Cracow University of Technology’s Faculty of Architecture provided patronage for the program, which was supported by leading experts. While the Ministry of Science, Higher Education, and Technology mandated a standardized architectural training program, the Faculty’s curriculum was tailored to regional needs, emphasizing regional planning, architecture, urban design for small towns and villages, healthcare facilities, and heritage preservation. The educational approach highlighted the importance of spatial, historical, and social contexts in design, reflecting the legacy of the first Faculty of Architecture in Poznań from the early 1950s. In 1978, the Department of Architecture was promoted to the Institute of Architecture and Spatial Planning, a status held until 1999. By this time, its staff had grown to 25 employees, including 7 professors and associate professors. From 1991 to 1998, the Institute comprised departments of Architecture and Urban Planning; Spatial Planning and Village Design; Regional and Urban Spaces; History of Architecture and Conservation of Monuments; and Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture, with technical subjects taught by lecturers from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and other Poznań University of Technology units.

Faculty of Architecture, 1999–2024

On June 8, 1999, the Senate of Poznań University of Technology resolved to establish the Faculty of Architecture. The initial structure, defined by Rector’s decree on July 5, 1999, included the Institute of Architecture and Physical Planning and the Division of Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, and Visual Arts.

Deanship 1999–2002: Professor Robert Ast, the first dean of the Faculty, expanded the unit's operational foundations by inviting professors from national (Cracow University of Technology, Warsaw University of Technology) and international (Technical University of Hanover, Hogeschool Brabant, University of Belgrade) institutions to collaborate. He actively participated in the Deans' Conferences to set educational standards for Architecture Departments in the EU under the Bologna Process.

Deanship 2002–2008: Professor WOJCIECH BONENBERG fundamentally reorganized the study system. Full-time and part-time studies were introduced in 2005/2006, and the two-cycle study system aligned with the Bologna Declaration was implemented in 2007/2008. Since 2006, the Faculty has the authority to confer a degree of Doctor of Science in Architecture and Urban Planning.

Deanship 2008–2016: Professor JERZY SUCHANEK promoted the launch of first- and second-cycle studies in English (Architecture). The Institute of Architecture, Urban Planning, and Protection of Heritage and the Institute of Interior Design and Industrial Design were established. The latter formed the foundation for a new two-level Interior Design study program, launched in 2010 (second-cycle studies since 2013). In 2013, the Faculty was awarded Category A (ref. scale­: from C to A+) in the national classification of scientific units.

Deanship 2016–2024: Professor EWA PRUSZEWICZ-SIPIŃSKA started her mission with the Faculty receiving an outstanding rating from the Polish Accreditation Committee and European EUR-ACE Label certification. The Master of Science Engineer in Architecture diplomas issued by the Faculty received European notification, with the EC decision published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ L 317 of 1.12.2017, pp. 119—220). Since 2022, the Faculty has been providing doctoral education in Polish and English through the Doctoral School of Poznań University of Technology. The Faculty offers two postgraduate study programs: one in spatial planning and the other in investments and design in healthcare facilities. In 2024, our Faculty secured regional exclusivity to provide trainings in spatial planning.

Among the outstanding active architects at the Faculty were: Władysław Czarnecki, Jerzy Gurawski, Marian Fikus, Wojciech Bonenberg, Ewa Pruszewicz-Sipińska, Sławomir Rosolski, Agata Gawlak.

Author of the text: dr. hab. inż. arch. Grazyna Kodym-Kozaczko