Zbigniew Kośka – Deputy Technical Director
Zbigniew Kośka graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Social Sciences in Warsaw. Since 2016, he has been Deputy Technical Director of the National Theatre.
Phot. Marta Ankiersztejn / The Artistic Archive of the National Theatre in Warsaw
He began his professional career at the Chemitex Design Office in Łódź, in the electrical workshop, where he worked from 1978 to 1982.
From 1983 to 1990, he served as Deputy Technical Manager and then Technical Manager of the National Theatre in Warsaw.
On March 8, 1985, while on duty, he experienced the most dramatic moments in his professional life when a fire broke out at the National Theatre.
From 1990 to 1992, after the National Theatre had suspended activities, he served as Technical Manager at the Na Woli Theatre in Warsaw.
From 1993 to 1999, he served as Technical Manager at the Art Centre Studio – Teatr Studio in Warsaw under the direction of Jerzy Grzegorzewski.
He supervised the stage and exhibition work for the Polish exhibition at the Prague Quadrennial, the world exhibition of theatre, for three consecutive editions in 1995, 1999, and 2003.
Using the experience he gained at the theatre, in 1999 he founded "Tech-scen," a company whose primary activity was the design and deployment of technologies for cultural facilities. Since the company's founding, he has developed various designs for general stage technology, stage lighting, stage sound systems, stage manager communication systems and cinema technology for the following cultural facilities: the Shakespeare Theatre in Gdańsk, the Philharmonic in Szczecin, the Philharmonic in Gorzów Wielkopolski, the Concert Hall of the Academy of Music in Łódź, the Małopolska Gardens of Art in Kraków, the Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw (Laboratory Hall), the Stary Theatre in Lublin, the Jaracz Theatre in Olsztyn, the Dramatic Theatre in Płock, the Polish Theatre in Szczecin, the Transformatornia in Szczecin, the Cultural Centre in Zamość, the Służew Cultural Centre in Warsaw, the auditorium of the Rzeszów University of Technology, the Krakow Opera, the Cultural Centre in Kutno, the Cultural Centre in Lubliniec, the Cultural Centre in Biłgoraj, the Polish House in Vilnius, the theatre hall at the Theatre Academy in Krakow, the Philharmonic in Wejherowo, the theatre hall at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, the Cultural Centre in Połaniec, the Puppet Theatre in Wrocław, and the Stargard Cultural Centre.
He has collaborated and continues to collaborate with numerous architectural firms, for which he has developed various designs, including Budopol in Warsaw, Studio A4 in Szczecin, Ingarden & Ewy Architekci in Krakow, Maag in Warsaw, and Autorskie Biuro Architektury Invest-Partner 6 in Lublin.
His technological designs for cultural facilities, and their resulting implementations, have received a host of distinctions and awards. Among the most important awards for the architectural design team he has been a member of are: the Mies van der Rohe Award for the design and implementation of the Szczecin Philharmonic, First Prize in the SARP competition for the Małopolska Gardens of Art in Krakow, and the Architizer A+ Popular Choice Award for the Małopolska Gardens of Art in Krakow.
He supervised the stage and exhibition work at the Expo 2000 world exhibition in Hanover, including the Polish pavilion (during its construction and the six-month exhibition period).
Since 2011, he has served as Deputy Technical Director and Technical Manager – i.e. as a deputy of the Director of Production at the National Theatre, and since 2016, he has been Deputy Technical Director of the National Theatre.
In September 2015, during the 250th Anniversary season of the National Theatre, he developed and supervised preparations for the National Theatre’s Festival “WSZYSTKO GRA” (“Everything's Great”), which included the construction of three stages with full stage equipment, four exhibition pavilions, and scenographic and exhibition structures devoted to former directors of the National Theatre in Warsaw’s Teatralny Square.
Since 2015, he has taught a course entitled "Theatre Technique and Technology" at the Theatre Academy in Warsaw; it is part of a joint course for students of the Directing Department of the Theatre Academy and the Set Design Department of the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts.
