Jan Kossowski

Jan Kossowski (1898-1958) was a Polish architect and builder, mainly associated with Bydgoszcz. His professional activity spanned from the interwar period to the 1940s. His artistic style is mainly connected with Modern Architecture.

Life Jan Kossowski was born in the estate of Chrzanówka, near Mogilev in the Podolia region (today's Belarus) on 13 July 1898. The Kossowski family had his roots in the voivodeship of Lublin; Franciszek the ancestor was the first Kossowski of the line in the 15th century. His mother Karolina died when he was 11 years old in 1909 and his father Jan died in 1917. The young Jan graduated from Mogilev primary school and from Vinnytsia junior school. He then started learning in Odessa.

On 27 April 1917 he volunteered for the Polish I Corps in Russia commanded by the general Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki: injured in June 1918, he was sent home to his family estate. After working two years as an accountant in a sugar refinery in Stepanówce, near Vinnytsia, he joined anew the Polish army in 1920, and participated to the Battle of Warsaw for which he was decorated.

Still serving in different army units, lived in 1921 in Poznań, in 1922–1923, in Toruń and in May 1923, he moved to Bydgoszcz to be employed as a building draftsman for the District Engineering Management . Jan Kossowski asked to be transferred from Toruń to Bydgoszcz so as to start learning at the State School of Art Industry. Released from army service at the end of 1923, That same year, he designed the Freedom Monument , erected at Plac Wolności.

Instances of works in Bydgoszcz

+ Main preserved buildings by Jan Kossowski in BydgoszczYearEdificeRemarksPicture 1928 Tenement at 3 Słowackiego street The tenement was built at the beginning of the 20th century; its first owner was the architect Paul Böhm. Jan Kossowski redesigned the interiors in 1928. center 120px 1933 Pałac Ślubów at 8a Sielanka Street Initially commissioned by merchant Czesław Borys. center 120px 1934 Villa at 6 Asnyka street, corner with Ossoliński Alley One of the houses part of the Sielanka area project in the 1930s. center 120px 1933-1938 22/24 Markwarta Street Located at the corner of Markwarta and Piotrowskiego streets. center 120px 1934-1937 5/5a Swiętej Trojcy street The tenement has been built on the premises formerly occupied by an iron foundry factory established in 1846. center 120px 1935 Villa at 5 Ossoliński Alley The house has been designed for Mr L. Stojowski. center 120px 1936 Tenement at 41 20 Stycznia 1920 Street One of the first tenement realized by the architect. Investor was Emil Franke, a director of a sugar factory center 120px 1936 Hotel "Pod Orlem" at 14 Gdańska Street Jan Kossowski worked in refurbishing the interiors of the hotel. center 120px 1936 Emil Bernhardt tenement at 16 Gdańska Street Works of interior renovation. center 120px 1936-1938 208-220 Gdańska Street Jan Kossowski designed plots 208 to 214 (1936-1938). He cooperated with other architects (J. Trojanski, T. Krieger, M. Zablonski) for buildings 216 to 220. center 120px 1938 House at 11 Markwarta Street Villa commissioned by Wilhelm Millner. center 120px 1938 Tenement at 11 Gdańska Street Works of interior renovation. center 120px 1938 Tenement at 12 Gdańska Street Works of interior refurbishing for a workshop. center 120px 1939 Tenement at 7 Plac Wolności The facade is clad with sandstone, and the glazed ground floor was originally occupied by a Chevrolet car dealer, Antoni Butowski. center 120px 1939 Tenement at 3 Piastowski Square Jan Kossowski rebuilt there a 19th-century tenement. center 120px 1939 Tenement at 4 Jagiellońska street The architect expanded the original building from the end of the 19th century, with enlarged wings and outbuildings, so as to create a single, closed bank complex. center 120px 1940 Ground floor arcades (additions) Tenements at 6 Theatre square and 2 Focha street. center 120px 1946 Drukarnia shopping mall at 1 Jagiellońska street Kossowski designed a major expansion of the Printing Plant Institute that then stood on the premises. center 120px 1946 Bydgoszcz University building at 11 Jagiellońska street in Bydgoszcz Reconstruction. center 120px 1946-1948 Gasworks building at 42 Jagiellońska street Reconstruction and expansion of the administrative building. center 120px 1947 Mix Ernst tenement at 10 Gdańska Street Kossowski supervised renovation works to fit a local agency of the State Agricultural Bank . center 120px 1949 Reconstruction of the presbytery and the chapel of Our Lady of Czestochowa, St. Vincent de Paul Basilica Minor The basilica, located at 2 Ossoliński Alley, has been completed in 1945. center