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: Narodowy Instytut Architektury i Urbanistyki
(National Institute of Architecture and Urban Planning, Poland)
Government Museum and Art Gallery Chandigarh
Polish Institute New Delhi

Curator: Kacper Kępiński
Curatorial collaboration: Karolina Częczek, Grzegorz Piątek

Co-financed by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Collaborative input:
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

Exhibition design: OnlyIf Architecture
Visual identity: Katarzyna Nestorowicz
Graphic design of the exhibition: Karolina Częczek, Katarzyna Nestorowicz, Weronika Nowak
Production and licensing: Mateusz Włodarek, Kacper Tomaszewski, Weronika Sołtysiak
Communication: Dominik Witaszczyk, Marta Baranowska, Aleksandra Zaszewska
Translations: Natalia Raczkowska
Models: Onimo, Marta Dachowska
Artists: Alicja Bielawska, Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis
Archival materials: Centre Pompidou, NCSU University Libraries, Muzeum Warszawy, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, UPenn Architectural Archives, Walker Arts Center, Smithsonian Archives of American Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Instytut Sztuki PAN, Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department, Brandeis University, Government Museum and Art Gallery Chandigarh
Acknowledgments: Peter Nowicki with 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, Małgorzata Wejsis-Gołębiak, Aneta Święcicka, Seema Gera, Isha Kamboj, Sangeeta Bagga, Jan Tyszowiecki, Barbara Szczepańska, Daria Dorota Pikulska

We would like to thank all the institutions and individuals who contributed to the creation of this exhibition.
The organisers have made every effort to identify and contact all copyright holders of the works presented at the exhibition.