Ewa Maria Kuryłowicz
Ewa Maria Kuryłowicz is an architect and lecturer, who since 2011 has served as designer and vice president of Kuryłowicz & Associates.
She’s the wife of Stefan Kuryłowicz, who founded the Stefan Kuryłowicz Foundation, and chairs its supervisory board. Born on 4 December 1953 in Warsaw, she has two sons, Michał and Marek. For many years, she has been associated with the Architecture Faculty of Warsaw University of Technology. After graduating from Iowa State University in Ames in 1975, Kuryłowicz earned her doctorate at Warsaw University of Technology in 1997, followed by habilitation, and now heads the Design and Architectural Theory Institute. She has held the title of Professor since 2014. She has supervised more than 100 diploma projects at the university, including many that won recognition in university- and national-level competitions. Kuryłowicz has served as a reviewer for many scientific publications.
She is a member of the Committee on Architecture and Urban Planning at the Polish Academy of Sciences. From 2000-2008 she served as PR director of the Spiritual Places UIA Working Programme, and from 2005-2008 as an expert of the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) on universal design. Kuryłowicz is a member of the National Chamber of Polish Architects and a SARP judge. Until 2011 she served as the chief designer in the Kuryłowicz & Associates studio. Her projects include the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at Warsaw’s Chopin Airport and private residences, such as the South Korean Ambassador’s Residence in Anin near Warsaw. Since 2011, as the chief designer of Kuryłowicz & Associates she has worked on projects including the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Galeria Warmińska shopping centre in Olsztyn, Białystok city stadium, the University of Warsaw Language Departments Building on ulica Dobra and the Tides building, also in Poland’s capital.
In her research and professional work, Kuryłowicz often addresses issues related to architecture’s influence on how disabled people function. In 1996 her book Projektowanie uniwersalne: udostępnianie otoczenia osobom niepełnosprawnym (Universal design: making surroundings accessible to disabled people, Centrum Badawczo-Rozwojowe Rehabilitacji Osób Niepełnosprawnych, Warsaw 1996) was the first in Poland to address questions of designing space while taking into account the needs of the disabled. In that same year, Ewa became a consultant to the University of Warsaw on adapting the university’s facilities for the disabled, performing this role until 2012.
Kuryłowicz has served as a juror for Polish and international architecture competitions, including the Wienerberger Brick Award, the EPSE Awards and the BDA-SARP Annual Polish-German Integration Award. In 2016 SARP honoured her with the Bene Merentibus Medal. In 2017 she received the Golden Badge from this Association.
Kuryłowicz is truly passionate about architecture, and is an authority in this area.