A new school for students of Prague’s UMPRUM and the reconstruction of the Ostrava cultural center Poklad. Over 30 buildings were shortlisted for the 23rd yearbook, which maps the most interesting domestic architecture over the past two years. Its author is Ondřej Chybík, the father of the iconic Lahofer winery or the reconstruction of the bus station in Brno. When compiling the publication, he looked mainly at public investments.
“In the beginning, I selected roughly 200 buildings and began to sort them into different groups. It turned out that there is a huge amount of quality family houses, but since I have been focusing on public buildings for a long time, I had to narrow down the selection, so I focused on houses that are publicly accessible and ideally also financed with public money,” describes the author of the yearbook, who heads the Chybík+Kristof studio.
The publication, which describes 32 buildings, received large and small investments from various corners of the Czech Republic. “At the same time, it represents a number of skilled mayors who are trying to create quality for their municipality in cooperation with an architect. I think that the more enlightened contractors from among public investors there are, the better our country will function. An architect creates a quality space that, if it is from public money, it can be used by the public,” adds Chybík.
The author of the yearbook tried to avoid Pragocentrism, most buildings are located in Moravia. “It’s probably because I’m from Brno, but there are also a number of projects from southern Bohemia, from the north and around Prague. It’s good that architecture doesn’t just happen in big centers anymore, it’s also implemented in villages and small towns. People responsibly elect their representatives as leaders, who can see projects through to the end,” he adds.
Take a look at a selection from the twenty-third yearbook of Czech architecture.
