Josef Havlíček

Born on May 5, 1899, in Prague. Studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague (until 1924) and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Prof. J. Gočár (until 1926), in whose studio he then worked until 1928. From 1928 to 1936, he designed and wrote alongside Karel Honzík, later collaborating mainly with K. Neumann. A member of Devětsil, the Left Front, SVU Mánes, and chairman of the editorial board of the magazine Architekt SIA. He closely collaborated with artists and designers and was a member of the Artěl cooperative. Since 1929, he has been active in CIAM (Congrés Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne), and from 1945 to 1947 was a member of the World Council of this international organization. In 1948, he became the first director of the Prague Stavoprojekt. He died on December 30, 1961, in Prague. In 1963, a comprehensive posthumous exhibition of his work was held in Prague.
Josef Havlíček was a member of the interwar artistic avant-garde striving for technical and social revolution. He was a typical constructivist, yet with a sense for sculptural artistic solutions in buildings. At the same time, he was active as a progressive painter, sculptor, and visual artist. As an architect, he designed urban concepts, public buildings, and residential groups, most of which were not realized due to their excessive generosity or extravagance. Nevertheless, the building of the General Pension Institute remains perhaps the most typical building of Czech functionalism.