Wojciech Obtulowicz, the architect of the acclaimed Warsaw Rising Museum and Poland's Pavilion at the Hanover World Expo 2000, has died in Krakow. He was 77.

Obtulowicz was an irrepressible figure. He was a leading light in the Association of Polish Architects and a former mayoral candidate for Krakow.

Although chiefly active in his home city, where amongst other projects, he designed the Wisla Football Stadium and served as the city's chief architect, it was in Warsaw that he received one of his most memorable commissions.

The Warsaw Rising Museum was created within a former power plant, after Obtulowicz's logical solutions won over the jury. The enterprise opened to great acclaim in 2004.

Obtulowicz passed away after a sudden contraction of pneumonia. (nh)