Bohuslav Fuchs - traveling exhibition at the Architecture Gallery Brno

The Architecture Gallery Brno presents a traveling exhibition created for the 120th anniversary of the birth of one of the most prominent figures in Czechoslovak architecture, Bohuslav Fuchs. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with Czech Television and its documentary about Bohuslav Fuchs, which will premiere in 2016. The concept of the exhibition aligns with the filmed documentary and will showcase a cross-section of Bohuslav Fuchs's work through twelve selected buildings of various typologies, viewed through the lens of significant figures in contemporary Czech and Slovak architecture.
Bohuslav Fuchs is one of the best-known Czech architects of the 20th century abroad. An architect, urban planner, theorist, artist, and teacher, who is intrinsically linked to Brno's functionalism, began his career studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Jan Kotěra, with whom he later worked in his studio. In 1922, Fuchs permanently settled in Brno, where he worked at the municipal building office from 1923. From 1938 to 1940, he was a professor at the School of Applied Arts in Zlín, and from 1945 to 1958, he taught at the Brno University of Technology, where he was appointed professor in 1947. Bohuslav Fuchs was a member of numerous professional organizations, such as SVU Mánes, a corresponding member of RIBA in London, a permanent delegate of CIAM, and an honorary vice president of IFHP. In 1968, he was appointed a national artist.
“When I hear the name Fuchs, he is for me the master of the space. This man was a genius. He controls space in the best way. In every corner, in every detail, I find something that points to the abilities of an outstanding architect, designer, and person.” states the world-renowned architect Eva Jiřičná, who is one of the personalities guiding the exhibition and the Czech Television documentary.
Professor Vladimír Šlapeta sees Bohuslav Fuchs as a groundbreaking figure in Czech architecture: “His realized buildings in Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia literally form milestones throughout the First Republic that delineate the development of our modern architecture - from the hydroelectric power plant in Háj near Mohelnice, the mourning hall of the city of Brno, to the pavilion of the city of Brno, the AVION hotel, his own house, the Brno baths in Zábrdovice, Masaryk's home, the VESNA school complex, the savings bank, the Morava sanatorium, aerodynamic villas, to the organically tuned Green Frog and echoing in the premises of the company AKA and the Vlčina hotel.”
“Bohuslav Fuchs's work has for me the value of a constant. It is a work of deep understanding of the principles of functionalist aesthetics.” adds architect Josef Pleskot regarding the personality of Bohuslav Fuchs.
The exhibition will be opened on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, at 6:00 PM by Dr. Irena Murray Žantovská and Prof. Vladimír Šlapeta at the Architecture Gallery Brno.
The exhibition will be preceded by a lecture by Dr. Irena Murray Žantovská on the topic of Fuchs and the Czech interwar footprint in RIBA, which will take place on November 10, 2015, at 4:00 PM in the A310 auditorium of the Faculty of Architecture at VUT Brno.
The exhibition is held with the financial support of the statutory city of Brno and in cooperation with the Museum of the City of Brno.
The exhibition will be open daily from 10 AM to 6 PM until December 4, 2015.

Dr. Irena Murray Žantovská - historian, former director of the British Architectural Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and all collections of the Royal Institute. Currently serving as a Research Fellow. In 2014, she was appointed Honorary Fellow of RIBA (HonFRIBA) for her contributions to the international development and interpretation of architectural collections. Previously worked as a lecturer and chief curator of architecture collections at McGill University in Montreal.

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