Changes in leadership positions at the National Institute of Heritage and the Capital City Conservator of Historic Monuments.
The National Institute of Heritage, the result of a merger between two entities—the National Institute of Heritage and the National Institute for the Conservation of Historic Monuments—was established on June 10, 2024. At that time, Marlena Happach—an architect, urban planner, longtime vice president of the Warsaw Branch of SARP, and City Architect of Warsaw—assumed the duties of director of the new institution. On June 30, 2026, Happach resigned from this role, and Marta Cienkowska, Minister of Culture and National Heritage, appointed Michał Krasucki, the Capital City Conservator of Monuments at the City of Warsaw Office.
Michał Krasucki is an art historian and an expert on Warsaw. He specializes in the history of 19th- and 20th-century architecture and Warsaw’s architectural heritage from that period. For five years, he headed the Studio for Research and Documentation of Historic Monuments at CIM-mes Projekt, and from 2016 to the present, he has served as the Capital City Conservator of Historic Monuments at the City of Warsaw. He also served as the Mayor of Warsaw’s representative for UNESCO affairs, chaired the work of the Warsaw Team for Monuments and Commemorations and the Team for Warsaw Historical Workshops, and was a member of the Warsaw Team for Intangible Cultural Heritage. As president of the Warsaw branch of the Society for the Preservation of Historic Monuments—which he joined while still a student—he was involved, among other things, in co-organizing the European Heritage Days. Krasucki has authored numerous publications related to his interests in the conservation of historic monuments and the history of architecture in Warsaw: “ŻOL: An Illustrated Atlas of Żoliborz Architecture,” “Warsaw’s Postindustrial Heritage,” and “The Warsaw Ghetto: A Post-Place.”
This change also marks a transition in the position of Warsaw’s chief historic preservation officer; Krasucki had held this role for a decade.
According to our information, Krasucki himself decided that it was time for new challenges
— reports Wyborcza.
Who will replace him? As stated on the website of the City of Warsaw:
The position of director of the Office will be filled by his current deputy, Sylwia Brzezińska, who has announced that she will continue the efforts to protect Warsaw’s heritage that have been carried out in recent years.
