ZYGMUNT
BORAWSKI ARCHITEKT IARP/USI-AAM

Born 1987, Bagno a Ripoli (Florence), IT
Citizenship: Polish, Italian (EU)

Polish and Italian (native),
English (fluent)

info@zygmuntborawski.com
a-a-collective.com

Profile
Practice & Positions
Projects & Built Work
Awards & Nominations
Competitions
Teaching & Research
Lectures, Talks & Panels
Podcasts, Radio & Interviews
Workshops & Residencies
Exhibitions
Writing & Editing
Publications on His Work
Education

Profile

Architect (Dipl. Arch. USI-AAM) working between Warsaw and Basel, founder of Zygmunt Borawski Architect and co-founder of A-A Collective. As partner and project leader he co-designed Warsaw Central Square, from the winning competition entry (1st prize, 2018) to its opening in 2025. In 2026 the square received the Peter Davey Prize of The Architectural Review (AR Emerging Architecture Awards), which called it “one of the best new public spaces in Europe”. His practice spans public space, schools, houses and exhibitions in Poland, Switzerland and Denmark. He teaches at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio and writes about architecture. He has published in Polish and international magazines – among them Przekrój, where he edited the architecture and design section, Pismo, Autoportret, Architektura-murator and the first issue of 6850, the magazine of the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio – and in 2026 guest-edited “The New Swiss Wave” for Architektura & Biznes.

Practice & Positions

2020 – present
Founder – Zygmunt Borawski Architect, Warsaw, PL
- Houses, exhibitions and installations in Poland, from concept to construction supervision
2018 – present
Co-founder & Partner – A-A Collective
Warsaw / Copenhagen / Basel
- Collective practice with Martin Marker, Srdjan Zlokapa and Furio Montoli: public space, schools, competitions, exhibitions and research
- Peter Davey Prize, AR Emerging Architecture Awards 2026; AD100 Polska 2026
2022 – present
Teaching Assistant – Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, CH
- See Teaching & Research
present
Member of the Council – BRDA Foundation, PL
2016 – 2020
Editor, Architecture & Design Section – Przekrój, Polish cultural quarterly
- About 50 articles, essays, interviews and reviews (see Writing & Editing)
2015 – 2018
Junior Architect – JEMS Architekci, Warsaw, PL
2010 – 2011
Intern – Christian Kerez ETH SIA, Zurich, CH

Projects & Built Work

2017 – 2025
Warsaw Central Square (Plac Centralny), Warsaw, PL
Competition 1st prize 2018 – opened June 2025
- A-A Collective with Landscape Practice; ca. 2.2 ha public square in front of the Palace of Culture and Science
- Partner and project leader: concept, building permit, executive design, tender documentation, author’s supervision
- Client: City of Warsaw
- Published in Landezine, The Architectural Review, Building on the Built, Architektura-murator, Architektura & Biznes and others
2026
“Gisleni. A Roman Architect in Poland” – exhibition design, Royal Castle, Warsaw, PL – Direct commission – built
- Exhibition of about 30 original drawings by Giovanni Battista Gisleni from the Castello Sforzesco, Milan; 11 September – 13 December 2026
- Client: Royal Castle in Warsaw
2025 – ongoing
House MA, Solina, PL
Direct commission – in progress
- Designer: concept design
- Client: private
2025 – 2026
“Primary Forms” – travelling inflatable box, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, PL – Direct commission – built
- Architect and designer of a special art container – an inflatable box for the safe transport of artworks within the museum’s education programme, touring about 15 primary schools in Mazovia
- Client: Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw
2025
“Saxon Visions. Architecture of Power” – exhibition design, Royal Castle, Warsaw, PL – Direct commission – built
- Co-designer and project leader with Jan Przedpełski: concept, executive design, supervision of production
- Client: Royal Castle in Warsaw
2021 – ongoing
House SJ, Barchów, PL
Direct commission – in progress
- Designer and project leader: concept, permit, executive design, tender, author’s supervision
- Client: private
2020 – 2023
House MM and House AO, Dąbrówno, PL
Direct commissions – built
- Designer and project leader: concept, permit, executive design, tender, author’s supervision
- Client: private
2022 – 2023
Mobile Saunas, PL
Direct commission – project
- Designer and project leader: concept and executive design
- Client: private
2020 – 2021
An Arch for Sønderjylland, Christiansfeld, DK
Open competition 1st prize 2020 – built 2021
- A-A Collective; centenary monument of the 1920 reunification, inaugurated by Queen Margrethe II
- Client: Municipality of Kolding
- Published in ArchDaily; ArchDaily Building of the Year 2022 nominee
2020 – 2021
“The Death of a Building” – OTHERNITY, Hungarian Pavilion, 17th Venice Architecture Biennale 2021 – Invitation – built
- A-A Collective; also shown at the Ludwig Museum, Budapest, 2021 – 2022
- Client: Ludwig Museum Budapest / La Biennale di Venezia
2018 – 2019
Arena Design Exhibition, Poznań, PL
Direct commission – built
- Designer and project leader: concept, executive design, supervision of production
- Client: MTP Grupa / Targi Poznańskie
2018
House WD, Wyszków, PL
Direct commission – project
- Designer: concept design
- Client: private

Awards & Nominations

2026
Peter Davey Prize, AR Emerging Architecture Awards – winner – A-A Collective, Warsaw Central Square (The Architectural Review, London)
2026
SARP Award of the Year 2026 – nomination, public space – Warsaw Central Square
2026
Architecture Award of the Mayor of Warsaw (12th edition) – nomination, public space – Warsaw Central Square
2026
Polityka Architecture Award – finalist (top 5) and 2nd place in the public vote – Warsaw Central Square
2026
Gazeta Wyborcza “Stołek” readers’ vote – winner, Place of the Year 2025 – Warsaw Central Square
2026
AD100 Polska 2026, Architectural Digest – A-A Collective listed
2025
Golden Pin Design Award, Taiwan – finalist, public space – Warsaw Central Square
2025
Property Design Awards, PL – finalist, public space – Warsaw Central Square
2025
BauNetz Shortlist 2025 – A-A Collective featured
2023 – 2024
Projekt START, Danish Association of Architects – A-A Collective selected as emerging practice
2022
ArchDaily Building of the Year 2022 – nomination, An Arch for Sønderjylland
2022
Westival – Sztuka Architektury, Szczecin – invited practice, exhibition “Młoda Polska”

Competitions

2026
Culture House, Kobierzyce, PL – 2nd prize
With Jan Przedpełski and team
2025
“New Karowa” – redesign of Karowa Street, Warsaw, PL – equal honourable mention (with Jan Przedpełski, Landscape Practice)
2025
Wohnbau Pilotprojekt 2401, Pontresina, CH – open competition – with Alexandra Galer and Patrik Honegger
2025
Ekofuturium, Centre for Sustainable Development, Koszalin, PL – with Marcin Kropidło
2024
Extension of the Primary School, Mammern, CH – “4 × 4”, 2nd jury round (top 10 of 26) – ARGE Romagnoli Borawski Architekten
2024
Redesign of Walther-Bringolf-Platz, Schaffhausen, CH – with Pietro Romagnoli
2024
Polish Pavilion, 19th Venice Architecture Biennale 2025 – curatorial proposal “A Lost Future: The Contested Fate of Late-Modern Mirror Glass Architecture in Poland” (with A. Redzisz, C. Mills, J. Przedpełski)
2023
Natural Park Golędzinów, Warsaw, PL – honourable mention – with Landscape Practice
2023
Exhibition Pavilion, Archaeological Museum, Biskupin, PL
2022
Extension of the Museum of the Insurgent Act, Góra Świętej Anny, PL – equal honourable mention (with Aleksander Wadas Studio)
2021 – 2022
New Primary School Goumoëns, Bern, CH – 2nd prize, “PAR TERRE” – with Stadler Zlokapa
2021
Exhibition and Education Building, Treblinka Museum, PL – with Marcin Kwietowicz
2020
An Arch for Sønderjylland, Christiansfeld, DK – 1st prize, built – A-A Collective
2020
Textile Museum St. Gallen, CH – open ideas competition – A-A Collective with Studio PNEUMA
2019
New Building, Upper Courtyard, University of Warsaw, PL – A-A Collective
2017 – 2018
Warsaw Central Square, Warsaw, PL – 1st prize, built 2025 – A-A Collective with Landscape Practice

Further competition entries with A-A Collective

A Pavilion Along a Path, Aarhus, DK – closed competition, 2nd place (with Raphael Kadid)
A Baroque Scenery, Gl. Holtegård, Holte, DK – one of 16 finalists (with Mikael Stenstrøm)
New School, San Vittore, CH – restricted competition
Raiffeisen Bank, Oberlunkhofen, CH – restricted study (with Buol & Zünd)
Hortus Conclusus, MEXTRÓPOLI, Mexico City, MX

Teaching & Research

2022 – present
Teaching Assistant – Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio (USI), CH
- 2026 – 2027: Atelier Penzis-Bettini
- 2023 – 2026: Atelier Prof. Renate Walter
- 2024: Atelier Prof. Richard Venlet
- 2022 – 2023: Atelier Prof. András Pálffy
2023 – 2024
Diploma Research Assistant – Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio (USI), CH
- Diploma 2024 “Basel”, Prof. Quintus Miller: research and book Basel: A City of Research, Industry & Culture
2026
Tutor – TEORIA 2026, Stefan Kuryłowicz Foundation, Warsaw, PL
- Writing-about-architecture workshop (with Igor Łysiuk)
2021 – 2022
Professor of Architectural Design – Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, PL
2016 – 2023
External Critic – Faculty of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, PL
2017
Junior Teacher, Theory and History of Architecture – Institute of Advanced Studies, Warsaw, PL

Lectures, Talks & Panels

2026
Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, PL – lecture “4 ½” on four and a half houses in Masuria, Bieszczady and Mazovia
2026
OSSA Workshop, Warsaw, PL – lecture “Nixons – On the Later Modern Mirror Glass Architecture in Poland”
2025
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, IT – lecture “Ugly, Awkward but Beautiful: On the House in Trübbach–Azmoos by Peter Märkli”
2025
PULSE Ostrava 2025 “RESTART”, CZ – panel “Creating Public Spaces” and discussion on architectural education
2025
Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, PL – talk “{Background Check}”, conversations with emerging Polish architects
2025
POKA / Prolog, Wrocław, PL – lecture “On the Historiography of Julius Posener”
2025
“Planning Cities Amid Uncertainty”, Embassy of Lithuania, Warsaw, PL – presentation of Warsaw Central Square
2023
Reflexie architektúry 2023, Faculty of Architecture and Design STU, Bratislava, SK – lecture “A-A Collective”
2022
Westival – Sztuka Architektury, Szczecin, PL – lecture
2022
OSA, Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, CH – lecture – “Works of A-A Collective”
2021
Big Book Festival, Warsaw, PL – panel “Sen o Warszawie” with Grzegorz Piątek, moderated by Agnieszka Szydłowska
2021
A-Akademia – lecture “How We Work Collectively” (A-A Collective)
2020
ZODIAK Warsaw Pavilion of Architecture, PL – co-moderator, book launch – “Przestrzenie uniwersytetu” (with Prof. Anna Giza-Poleszczuk)
2020
MIASTORANEK #24, antyRAMA / Fundacja Bęc Zmiana, Katowice, PL – talk “Commandments for Architects”
2020
D&A Design and Architecture Forum, BUDMA, Poznań, PL – speaker
2019
KÉK Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre, Budapest, HU – presentation “Long Time No CEE” (A-A Collective)
2018
ZODIAK Warsaw Pavilion of Architecture, PL – lecture “The Duality of the Public Space” (A-A Collective)

Podcasts, Radio & Interviews

2026
Podcast Architektoniczny, Architektura-murator – “Ostatni, którzy pracowali po nocach”, with Artur Celiński
2026
City of Warsaw – “How to discover Central Square”, interview and walk on the square’s first anniversary
2025
Architektura & Biznes – “Designing the Ecosystem of Central Square”, interview by Kacper Kępiński
2025
ZDM Warsaw – “We Will Always Feel at Home Here”, interview with the architect of Central Square
2025
Radio Kampus, “Warszawa w optyce” – “The New Central Square”
2024
Vogue Polska podcast “Emigranci”, season 1, episode 1 – “Switzerland”, guest Zygmunt Borawski
2023
Nowa Warszawa – video interview on Central Square

Workshops & Residencies

2018
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, CA – “How to: Not Make an Architecture Magazine”, one of eight selected participants
2017
AA Visiting School Paris – “Architecture + Écriture”, FR

Exhibitions

2022
Westival, Szczecin, PL – “Młoda Polska” (A-A Collective)
2021 – 2022
OTHERNITY – Reconditioning Our Modern Heritage, Ludwig Museum, Budapest, HU (A-A Collective, “The Death of a Building”)
2021
17th Venice Architecture Biennale, Hungarian Pavilion, IT – “The Death of a Building”; A Guide Book of DIY Chairs in the Biennale Library
2019 – 2020
“55 Living Frames”, Botaničar, Zagreb, HR (A-A Collective)
2018
“A Bigger Splash – Warsaw” and “Futurama”, ZODIAK Pavilion, Warsaw, PL

Writing & Editing

Guest editing

The New Swiss Wave (Nowa fala szwajcarska), Architektura & Biznes 3/2026 – guest editors Zygmunt Borawski and Jan Przedpełski; ten conversations with young Swiss practices, including Irina Davidovici, dorsa + 820, Parabase and Adam Szymczyk.

Books, essays and articles

“The Giant Amazon Parcel …”, opinion column, Architektura-murator, March 2026.
“The Mass Above the Ground – On St Peter’s Chapel by Paulo Mendes da Rocha”, 6850, Mendrisio Academy Press, 2025.
“The First Stone” (Pierwszy kamień) – on building Warsaw Central Square, Autoportret 4 [87], 2024.
Basel: A City of Research, Industry & Culture, Diploma 2024, Prof. Quintus Miller – research and content (with Alexandra Galer), Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, 2024.
“Reflections on Architecture – Polish Architectural Scene”, Spektrum 2023, Faculty of Architecture and Design STU, Bratislava, 2023.
A Guide Book of DIY Chairs, A-A Collective with the Royal Danish Academy, 2020; Venice Biennale Library edition, 2021.
“Academy of Constructive Madness” (Akademia konstruktywnego szaleństwa) – on studying in Mendrisio, Autoportret 1 [60], 2018.

Przekrój – articles, essays and interviews, 2016 – 2020

2020 – Budowanie kolorem / “Building with Colour” (Luis Barragán), 4/2020
2020 – Dom huraganoodporny / “Hurricane-Proof Homes”, 3/2020
2020 – O domu, który lekko dotyka ziemi / “Touch the Earth Lightly” (Glenn Murcutt), 3/2020
2020 – Sen o kryształowych domach / “Dreaming of Crystal Houses” (Crystal Palace), 2/2020
2020 – Dwuznaczność polskiego krajobrazu – interview with Andrzej Tobis
2020 – Architektura – przekrój przez dekadę / “Our Favourite Architecture from the New East”
2019 – Dom szczęśliwego sieroctwa / “The Home of Happy Orphanhood” (Aldo van Eyck), 1/2020
2019 – Nieokreślone ciała w ruchu / “Unspecified Bodies in Movement” (Carlo Mollino), 4/2019
2019 – Dom z (niebauhausowskiej) baśni / “A Non-Bauhaus Fairytale” (early Gropius), 3/2019
2019 – Ogród mój widzę ogromny / “In Hope of a Garden” – interview with Gilles Clément, 3/2019
2019 – Biblioteka Niepodległości (Oodi Library, Helsinki), 2/2019
2019 – Bookworm Cabin – mały domek dla wielbicieli książek, 2/2019
2018 – Mniej nie oznacza więcej, mniej oznacza dość / “Less Is Not More, Less Is Enough” – interview with Pier Vittorio Aureli, 1/2019
2018 – Najważniejsza lodówka świata / “The Most Important Refrigerator in the World”, 1/2019
2018 – Złota gwiazda polarna / “A Golden Pole Star” (Polish Antarctic station), 1/2019
2018 – Bóg, inwestor i cztery ściany / “God, Investor and Four Walls” – interview with Reinier de Graaf
2018 – Kawał domu z kawałków / “A House Made with Pieces” (Jean Prouvé), 4/2018
2018 – Kosmiczny bajzel / “Space Mess”, 4/2018
2018 – Wirtualne zachwyty nad Wertykalnym Lasem / “Virtual Admiration of Vertical Forests”, 3/2018
2018 – Dom mistrza (Bruce Lee’s house); Dom sztuki walki, 3/2018
2018 – Dom z drewna i słońca / “A Wooden House Powered by the Sun”, 2/2018
2018 – Gładko jak po ścieżce rowerowej, 2/2018
2017 – Architektura na zimę; Bar na lodowej tafli; Hotel co roku inny; Igloo i quinzee; Od Sottsassa do lasa; Okładzina z aspiracji, 1/2018
2017 – Słowem i rzutem (architektonicznym) – review of a book by Rem Koolhaas
2017 – Dumna i piękna (Pruszkowski villa, Kazimierz Dolny); Guziki, przyciski i inne natręctwa, 4/2017
2017 – Klejnot Faaborga
2017 – Mamy za dużo złej architektury / “We Have Too Much Bad Architecture” – interview with Adolf Krischanitz
2017 – Jak zbudować gliniany piec?, 3/2017
2017 – Pisarz, który garnki lepi (Edmund de Waal)
2017 – Modernopolo (with Radosław Krajewski)
2017 – Elektrownia w Czarnobylu: coś więcej niż arka
2017 – Doniosłość cienia w czasach ciągłej aktualizacji (Tanizaki)
2017 – Nowoczesne plemię / “A Modern Tribe” (Halen, Atelier 5), 2/2017
2017 – Architektura VII Dnia; Italo Modern 1 & 2 – book reviews
2017 – Dom sprzeczności (Villa De Bondt); Domy o przeciekających dachach (Frank Lloyd Wright), 2/2017
2017 – Akupunktura miejska / “City Acupuncture” (Grafton Architects), 1/2017
2016 – Dom z miłości (Erich Mendelsohn); Dom z przekonań (Adolf Loos); O zapomnianych przedmiotach, 1/2017
2016 – Za fasadą szkicu (Peter Märkli), 1/2017
2016 – Architektoniczne dowody zbrodni (Forensic Architecture), 1/2017

Publications on His Work

Books and catalogues

Michał Murawski, A Form of Friendship. The Museum on the Square, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2024 – conversation with Zygmunt Borawski, Marlena Happach and Dorota Jędruch.
Building Diversity: Who Is the Architect, Arkitektens Forlag, 2023 – A-A Collective.
Natalie Donat-Cattin (ed.), Collective Processes – Counterpractices in European Architecture, Birkhäuser, 2021/22 – A-A Collective, pp. 196–199.
Dániel Kovács (ed.), OTHERNITY – Reconditioning Our Modern Heritage, Ludwig Museum Budapest, 2021.

International press

2026 – The Architectural Review, AR Emerging 2026 winners and October issue 1535
2026 – Landskab 05/2026, DK
2026 – Landezine, “Warsaw Central Square by A-A Collective”
2026 – mooool, CN; Building on the Built, “Site Specific: Warsaw Central Square”
2025 – BauNetz, DE
2025 – Warsaw Insider; Walking Warsaw – Central Square
2022 – Arkitektforeningen, DK – “Arkitektkollektiv via Zoom-forbindelse”
2021 – ArchDaily and Archello – An Arch for Sønderjylland
2021 – Artforum, “Building Blocs” (Ian Volner); ArchDaily, WorldArchitecture, Hype&Hyper – Hungarian Pavilion, Venice
2020 – 2022 – JydskeVestkysten, TV Syd, Fællesavisen Christiansfeld, kongehuset.dk – An Arch for Sønderjylland

Polish press

2026 – Architektura-murator, “Kolektyw zawiązany w paryskim barze …” (Artur Celiński)
2025 – Architektura-murator, “Asymetryczna mapa zburzonego miasta” – review of Central Square
2025 – Architectural Digest Polska, “Plac Centralny w Warszawie”
2025 – Architektura & Biznes, “Klątwa Stalina straciła moc” and opening of Central Square
2025 – Sztuka Architektury; Bryła; whiteMAD; TVN Warszawa; WawaNews – Central Square
2018 – Rzeczpospolita, “Nowe centrum Warszawy z nutą historii”; Sztuka Architektury; Bryła – competition results

Education

2008 – 2014
Bachelor & Master of Architecture (Dipl. Arch. USI-AAM) – Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio – Università della Svizzera italiana, CH
2011 – 2012
Exchange Student, Faculty of Architecture – Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), USA
2006 – 2007
Sociology – Institute of Sociology, University of Warsaw, PL