Michał Murawski

Michał Murawski is an Associate Professor in Critical Area Studies at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), University College London. He also serves as Co-Director of UCL's FRINGE Centre for the Study of Social and Cultural Complexity and convenor of PPV. His academic journey began with a PhD in Social Anthropology from Cambridge University in 2014, focusing on the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw.

Murawski's research centers on the anthropology of architecture and cities, with particular focus on Eastern European state socialism's architectural legacy and its ongoing impacts on contemporary urban environments. His work explores the complex relationship between socialist, post-socialist, and post-colonial processes as manifested in built environments. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, his research has increasingly focused on the relationship between resistance, occupation, and reconstruction in Ukraine.

His scholarly output includes several influential books, such as The Palace Complex: A Stalinist Skyscraper, Capitalist Warsaw, and a City Transfixed (2019), A Form of Friendship: The Museum on the Square (2024), and the forthcoming Only to Hell: Architecture, Nature and Violence in Recolonial Russia (2026). His work demonstrates a consistent engagement with how architecture serves as both a manifestation and mediator of political power, particularly in post-socialist contexts.

Murawski's research reveals significant trends across architecture, political ecology, and urban anthropology. His analysis of 'wild capitalism' in post-socialist urban environments has been particularly influential, examining how architectural forms reflect and shape economic and political transformations. His recent work increasingly focuses on decolonial approaches to architecture and the role of built environments in resistance and reconstruction processes, especially in the context of Ukraine's ongoing conflict with Russia.

• Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship recipient
• Co-curator of Ukraine's national pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale Di Venezia (2025)
• Editor of Mini–Atlas, guide to the Ukrainian Pavilion exhibition

Murawski is actively engaged in public scholarship, frequently contributing to media outlets and cultural platforms. His work bridges academic research with public engagement, making complex theoretical concepts accessible to broader audiences while maintaining rigorous scholarly standards. His current research investigates how reconstruction processes contribute to Ukraine's resistance against Russia and to the formation of a just and equitable commons during wartime and in the postwar period.