The transmission of the ČKA Award 2008 marked the beginning of the exhibition of Miroslav Bašek

Professor Miroslav Baše received the in memoriam Honor of the Czech Chamber of Architects 2008 on Wednesday, May 6, 2009. The award was accepted by his wife Olga Bašeová. The ceremony took place at the opening of an exhibition of Baše's work at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague.

The Honor of the Czech Chamber of Architects is awarded annually since 2000 to a significant personality in the field who has made a remarkable contribution to the history of modern Czech architecture through their work and moral credit. Professor Ing. arch. Miroslav Baše absolutely fulfilled the conditions of the Honor's statute. According to the statement of a member of the expert jury that selected the individual for this award, Professor Miroslav Masák “Baše was a personality whose outlook and interests transcended the field of architecture and urbanism, and his conviction about the superiority of public issues over personal interests led him to ongoing social activity. His firm civic stance manifested itself not only during both tense periods of our contemporary history but also during the passive time of normalization in the seventies and eighties”.
Professor Baše passed away last February at the age of just under 75. He studied at the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague (1951–1956), where he worked as a research assistant to Professor Oldřich Stefan, and completed postgraduate studies at Wayne State University in Detroit (1969–1970). He began his professional practice at the residential building studio of the State Institute for Typification in Prague (1957–1959), continued at the Regional Project Institute in Plzeň, at the Mariánské Lázně center (1959–1966), moved to the studio of Jiří Gočár in Prague (1966-1968), and then joined the State Institute for Reconstruction of Monumental Towns and Objects (1968–1991).
He was a significant expert in architecture, urbanism, and rural renewal. He worked on dozens of projects for new buildings and renovations, urban plans, forecasts, analyses, and other theoretical studies. He also participated in the development of regional development plans for Karachi in Pakistan and Colombo in Sri Lanka. He spent three years in Kuwait, where he developed the concept for the center. He served as a consultant and educator at several universities, including the Faculty of Architecture at Czech Technical University, where he headed the Department of Urbanism. He published texts both domestically and internationally, organized many symposiums, and in 1991 was one of the main organizers and participants of the exceptionally significant international conference PRAHA - the Future of the Historical City. Baše was also the vice-chairman of the Society for Rural Renewal and the initiator of the student competition Building for the Countryside.
During the ceremonial event, architect Petr Všetečka presented Baše's work, who was not only a member of the expert jury of the Honor of the Czech Chamber of Architects 2008 but also the author of the concept for the catalog and the exhibition City - Suburbia - Countryside, which runs until May 22, 2009, at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague. In his speech, he particularly pointed to the Urban Prognosis of the Prague Monument Reserve from the 1980s, Baše's magnum opus, which provided an thus far unknown comprehensive view from many professions on the structure and value of the historical city. He recalled the theme of suburbs, the areas between the city and the countryside, and highlighted the breadth of activities related to rural renewal. “Miroslav Baše was not an orthodox regulator or conservator of settlements or landscapes; his perspective was organic, his strength lay in asking questions, gathering and analyzing relevant data, understanding contradictions, and making arguments”, says Petr Všetečka.
Miroslav Baše collaborated with numerous organizations, societies, and prominent individuals. Therefore, RNDr. Václav Cílek also came to pay his tribute, who collaborated with Baše specifically on the topic of suburbanization and jointly popularized the concept of “settlement mash.” Matěj Spurný expressed gratitude for the collaboration and support of the activities of the Antikomplex association. The mayor of Nečtiny, Ing. Jiří Křemenák, recalled Baše's contributions to the Society for Rural Renewal. Coincidentally, the municipality of Nečtiny was the place where Professor Baše gave one of his last lectures. The full text of the lecture, along with other significant Baše texts, is reprinted in the catalog accompanying the exhibition.



The sculpture by sculptor Richard Kočí – the Honor of the Czech Chamber of Architects 2008 was presented to Mrs. Olga Bašeová by the chairman of the Czech Chamber of Architects, Ing. arch. Dalibor Borák, and the certificate was given by architect Jiří Merger, the chairman of the working group for heritage care at the Czech Chamber of Architects, where Baše was active.