<Commented tour of the SIAL exhibition in Plzeň with Jakub Potůček>

Consulate of Czechoslovakia in Shanghai by Emil Přikryl (1989).

The West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen cordially invites you to a guided tour of the exhibition SIAL (Association of Engineers and Architects Liberec), which will take place TODAY, Tuesday, February 14, 2012, at 5 PM in the exhibition hall Masné krámy, Prague 18, Pilsen. The exhibition will be guided by its author Mgr. Jakub Potůček (Art Museum Olomouc).

The history of SIAL has its roots in the 1950s, when the rise of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia meant the abolition of private architectural studios. Architects had to accept employment in Stavoprojekts – state project institutes organized according to individual regions. In the Liberec region, a group of architects and constructors passionate about their work began to form slowly since the late 1950s, who took advantage of the liberal conditions before the Soviet invasion in August 1968, left Stavoprojekt, and operated under the brand Sial – Association of Architects and Engineers Liberec from 1968 to 1971. The leading figures were architects Karel Hubáček and Miroslav Masák, and staticians Zdeněk Patrman and Václav Voda.

The fundamental contribution of Sial to Czech architecture of the 20th century was not only in conveying tendencies that were incompatible or in direct contradiction to the official doctrine, but also in creating an inventive and open-minded environment. A key work of Czech architecture in the second half of the 20th century became Hubáček's and Patrman's television transmitter with a hotel on Ještěd. Construction began in 1966, while the first visitor came only seven years later, in 1973. Even before its completion, in 1969, the transmitter received the prestigious Perret Award from the International Union of Architects. However, the authors could not accept it in Buenos Aires for political reasons.

The building, which according to the judges of the Perret Award "deserves recognition for its integration into the landscape due to its clarity and harmony," garnered deserved attention from young architects at home as well. This led to the founding of the Sial Nursery in 1969. The purpose of this unusually organized studio, led by Miroslav Masák, was to seek suitable tasks for young talents, refining their professionalism. Members of the Nursery worked in a friendly and collective environment, and their 'commune' resembled Austrian and Italian neo-avant-garde groups of the 1960s. Sial had up to 60 members in the 1960s to 1980s, and among others, prominent architects such as Mirko Baum, John Eisler, Martin Rajniš, Emil Přikryl, Zdeněk Zavřel, Helena Jiskrová, and Václav Králíček passed through it.

However, the promising development of Sial's activities was disrupted by the onset of normalization. The political regime of the 70s and 80s sought to destabilize Sial's activities, forcing its members to return to Stavoprojekt and banning its publicity in the domestic press. However, the architects did not give up and managed to break through to contracts abroad, successfully participating in major architectural competitions in the West from 1980. As a result, Liberec surpassed Prague and became the most significant center of Czech architectural creation during those years. The quality of Sial's projects is evidenced by the numerous awards and honors it collected in the 70s and 80s, such as the Grand Prix at the Interarch Biennale in Sofia (1988) for the concert hall and colonnade in Teplice.

Moreover, Sial is not only an acronym for the Association of Engineers and Architects in Liberec but also a pair of abbreviations from the very foundation of engineering: SI as the metric system of units and Al as Aluminum, an element symbolizing hi-tech architecture in terms of appearance and properties.
As architectural historian Rostislav Švácha recalls, Sial essentially existed only from July 1968 to December 1971. At that time, the new regime prohibited the designation of the group, and the association lost its status as an independent entity. Before (since the late 1950s) and thereafter, it was part of the construction behemoth known as Stavoprojekt. But the philosophy of Sial and its members could not be erased. Sial continued to live and actually lives to this day.

The successful exhibition was first presented at the Art Museum Olomouc (June 3 - September 19, 2010), and was then repeated at the Regional Gallery in Liberec (January 20, 2011 – March 27, 2011), in the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague (April 13 - May 22, 2011), and at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb (July 7 - October 2, 2011).

The exhibition panels documenting the history of SIAL are complemented by both period and new models, as well as original drawings and plans. Visitors will thus become better acquainted with the history as well as the details of both completed projects and those that ended up only in the form of proposals and competition concepts.