Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

Permission to publish material from the Czeslawa Zielinska Architectural Collection must be obtained from the Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Preferred Citation

Czeslawa Zielinska Architectural Collection, Ms2005-017, Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Czeslawa Zielinska Architectural Collection was donated to the International Archive of Women in Architecture at the Special Collections by its creator in 2005. An addition to the collection was received in 2011.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement and description of the Czeslawa Zielinska Architectural Collection took place in August 2005. The 2011 addition was added to the collection in 2012.

Biographical Information

Czeslawa (or Czesia) Zielinska is a Polish-born Canadian architect and inventor. She was educated in Poland and holds both a Master of Science degree in Architecture from the Warsaw Technical University in 1952 and a Master of Science in Interior Design from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1962. Zielinska invented the patented GETSET Building System (prefabricated components for building structures and modular furniture), and is co-inventor with her husband, structural engineer Zenon A. Zielinski, of patented UCOPAN (Universal Concrete Panel System). She is a partner in UCOPAN Enterprises and is a member of Royal Institute of Architecture of Canada as well as the Interior Decorators Society of Quebec. Her specialization is in integrated exterior-interior architectural and structural design, low cost housing as well as furniture and product design.

Scope and Content

The collection includes Zielinska's curriculum vitae, a Canadian patent certificate, promotional literature on UCOPAN as well as published papers and articles relevant to UCOPAN's uses and deployment abroad. It also includes personal accounts and photocopies of landscape and building sketches she drew while she and her family were living in Egypt and India from 1966-1971.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by subject matter, and is divided into Personal Papers, Professional Papers, and Project Records.

Index Terms

Subjects:

• Architects and community
• International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)

Occupations:

• Architects.