Study trip to Warsaw and Lublin – a new partnership is taking shape between Norrbotten and Poland

How can architecture, art, and design foster a sense of community in an era marked by climate change, uncertainty, and growing divides? This is one of the starting points for a new collaboration between Norrbotten and Poland that is now taking shape ahead of 2029.

From March 17 to 21, Andrea Luciani, associate professor of architecture, undertook a study trip to Warsaw and Lublin to deepen her knowledge of postwar residential architecture, cultural environments, and contemporary artistic practices—and to potentially initiate a long-term collaboration ahead of Kiruna and Lublin’s designation as European Capitals of Culture in 2029. The trip was undertaken by Andrea Luciani and Silvia Colombo (art consultant, Region Norrbotten) and funded by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

“Vacant Spaces / Common Spaces”

The study trip marks the start of a joint project between Luleå University of Technology, the Norrbotten Region’s art consultant, the Museum of Housing Estates in Lublin, and curator Aleksandra Kędziorek.
The starting point is housing estates designed by key figures in post-war modernism: Oskar and Zofia Hansen’s estates in Lublin and Ralph Erskine’s estates in Kiruna and Svappavaara. Both the Hansens’ and Erskine’s work was shaped by ideas within the Team 10 movement—where architecture was seen as a space for participation, community, and adaptation to climate and human needs. During the study trip, it became clear that these ideas create interesting points of connection between Poland and Norrbotten.

The project takes its starting point in questions that are particularly relevant today: how we build communities in an era marked by climate change, geopolitical uncertainty, and growing social and economic disparities. From two different small towns—Kiruna in northern Sweden and Lublin in eastern Poland—the project explores how shared and underutilized spaces can become laboratories for co-creation and community development through art, design, and architecture.

The next step will be a study visit to Norrbotten: in June, curator Aleksandra Kędziorek and architect Michał Fronk will come to Norrbotten to visit Luleå, Svappavaara, and Kiruna as part of the ongoing work. In parallel, the dialogue with the Lublin and Kiruna2029 teams continues.

The study trip has laid the foundation for a long-term collaboration, with the ambition to work across disciplines—architecture, art, and design—and to deepen the understanding of how people create meaning, community, and identity in everyday environments.