Starting in September 2025, Warsaw will host the exhibition Jorge Zalszupin: Warsaw – São Paulo – Warsaw, dedicated to the architect and designer who became one of the foremost figures of Brazilian modernist architecture.

Unprecedented in scope, this marks the first solo presentation of Zalszupin’s work outside Brazil. Visitors are invited to revisit his prolific career within the historic Villa Gawrońskich, a space that resonates with memory and origin. The exhibition offers a comprehensive panorama of his production, bringing together more than 25 pieces of furniture, 40 original drawings, and a curated selection of photographs. It is organized in partnership with the Visteria Foundation, founded by Kasia Jordan, responsible for the launch of Vogue Polska.

From Warsaw to São Paulo, Jorge Zalszupin’s journey was shaped by forced displacement and reinvention. In 1949, he arrived in Brazil after passing through Bucharest and Paris during the war years. Over more than six decades in a country undergoing rapid modernization, he developed a distinctive, authorial language. In this symbolic return to Poland, the exhibition reveals how his aesthetic sensibility translated the essence of Brazil, uniting modernity with functionality.

The Villa Gawronskich is a neo-baroque landmark built around 1924. Throughout its history, it has housed diplomatic representations and suffered severe damage during World War II. Rebuilt in the postwar period, it still preserves its original character.

Zalszupin’s collaboration with ETEL spanned over two decades and continues under the leadership of his daughters. With this exhibition, his work returns—laden with meaning—to his birthplace, the starting point of an extraordinary journey.

“This was the first piece I didn’t create on commission. 
Here my other life began. Made in 1959, it is an armchair 
built from jacaranda wood and upholstered, with tapered legs. 
The design of the arms and front legs resembles the columns 
Niemeyer designed for the Palácio da Alvorada.” 

 

The Palácio da Alvorada, the offi cial residence of the President of the Republic of Brazil, is located in Brasília, on the shores of Lake Paranoá. Designed by the renowned architect Oscar Niemeyer, it was the first building to be inaugurated in the new federal capital, in 1958 — two years before the city’s offi cial founding.