ABSTRACT
The role of women in the development of Polish architecture is insufficiently known and appreciated. Although the subject of women’s involvement in the public, political, and economic life of the Polish People’s Republic (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL, 1952–89) is now receiving greater attention, 1 women’s contribution to the built environment remains a largely uncharted area. Thousands of women architects entered practice at this time, becoming designers, professors and award recipients, and playing an important role in the development of architectural standards in this nation. Recent architectural histories of this period, however, tend to ignore them. 2 In contrast, architectural historians emphasize the contributions of women architects, particularly those working in collaboration with a spouse, to Polish Functionalism of the 1920s and 1930s, a situation that was unique in Europe. Considering the impact of this first generation of female architects, it is not surprising that after the Second World War the Polish architectural profession included a large number of women. 3
