{Project Room} 2025/2026 – Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art has for many years supported young artists and designers by creating a space for the development of talent and the exchange of experience. As a natural extension of this mission, as part of the 13^th edition of {Project Room} 2025/2026, U–jazdowski organised a competition for the visual identity of a series of exhibitions, inviting students from SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities to participate. The main prize was PLN 5,000.

• The competition was open to second-year students of the School of Form, part of the Faculty of Design at SWPS University in Warsaw. The project was supervised as part of the curriculum by:
  • Filip Zagórski
    • graphic designer and academic lecturer specialising in visual identity design. Co-founder of the creative agency Type2 (www.type2.pl). Since 2013, he has lectured in visual communication at the School of Form. He has also taught at universities abroad, including in the UAE, Mexico, China, India, and Spain.
  • Paweł Starzec
    • ​​​​​​​documentary filmmaker, visual sociologist and academic teacher. Author of long-term documentary and research projects. Since 2019, he has been a lecturer, and since 2024, Vice-Dean for Student Affairs at the Faculty of Design at SWPS University in Warsaw.

Students were invited to a meeting at Ujazdowski Castle, where the context and assumptions of the project, as well as the institution’s expectations, were discussed. The competition task involved preparing six coherent key visuals intended for use in both digital and printed formats. The aim of the collaboration was to enable the students to confront a real design challenge within the context of an art institution, to encourage young designers to experiment and develop bold, contemporary solutions, and to build bridges between the academic world and cultural institutions. The intention was also to demonstrate that such cooperation can generate valuable outcomes for both students and art audiences, while promoting creative work through its presence in public space.

The winning project by Olena Deviatkina was recognised for its visual appeal and conceptual coherence, well-considered and symbolic illustrations for individual exhibitions, careful execution allowing for clear placement of textual content, flexibility, and the idea of creating a logo for the entire series.

The jury also distinguished the presentations by Maciej Stachurski, Kuba Skała, and Tymon and Maja.

We would like to thank all the participating students for their efforts. We hope that this initiative will inspire them to continue developing their practice and to engage confidently with the world of professional design.