An exhibition organized by the National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning (Poland) will take place at the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh from May 12 to July 15, 2026.

In 1950, Polish architect Maciej Nowicki joined the team designing Chandigarh, contributing to an innovative urban concept that sought to shape the city in close dialogue with its landscape, climate and patterns of everyday life. Although his sudden death interrupted his involvement in the project, his ideas remain an important and often overlooked chapter in the early history of this city.

The exhibition tells the story of Stanisława Nowicka (née Sandecka) and Maciej (Matthew) Nowicki — two architects whose work unfolded across Europe and the United States before converging, in the final months of Maciej’s life, in Chandigarh. The drawings, plans and models gathered here trace a path from prewar Warsaw through the reconstruction of its ruins after the Second World War, from the experimental schools of North Carolina to the unbuilt capital. Chandigarh is the destination of that journey — and this is the place where the exhibition is most at home.

Shaped by the dramatic events of the twentieth century — war, migration and reconstruction — their work developed at the intersection of cultures and continents. Combining technological experimentation with a deep respect for local context, landscape and human needs, the Nowickis helped shape a form of humanist modernism that expanded the understanding of modern architecture. Their ideas continue to inspire a more responsible and sensitive approach to design — attentive to place, environment and the lives of communities.

Organized by:
National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, Poland
Government Museum and Art Gallery Chandigarh
Polish Institute New Delhi

Curator: Kacper Kępiński
Curatorial collaboration: Karolina Czpczek, Grzegorz Piątek
Text by: Kacper Kępiński
Visual identity: Katarzyna Nesterowicz
Exhibits: Alicja Bielawska, Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone de Iacobis

Acknowledgments:
Peter Nowicki and family, Burak Erdim, Dominika Stecyk, Izabela Gola, Izabela Iwanicka-Dzierżawska, Piotr Kibort, Ewa Perlińska-Kobierzyńska, Katarzyna Iwańska-Rybka, Wanda Urbańska, Katie Mullen, Jesse Lazar, David Hill, Ireneusz Kotlewski, Isha Kamboj, Seema Grear, Rachit Suri, Sangeeta Bagga, Saumya Sharma, Nikita Khinger, Megha Kulkarni, Kunika Thukral, Jan Tyszowiecki, Barbara Szczepańska, Daria Dorota Pikulska

Collaboration:
Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the United Nations in New York College of Design – School of Architecture – North Carolina State University
Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington DC
Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York
Polish Cultural Institute New York
AIA NY Center for Architecture
Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw
Chandigarh College of Architecture