SIAL - exhibition at the Olomouc Museum of Modern Art

SIAL (Association of Engineers and Architects Liberec)
The exhibition will take place from 3rd June – 19th September 2010

Museum of Modern Art, Denisova 47, Olomouc


The onset of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia in 1948 led to the abolition of private studios in architecture; architects had to accept employment in state design institutes – Stavoprojekts. In the Liberec Stavoprojekt, a group of architects and designers passionate about their work was formed. They took advantage of the liberal conditions prior to 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 of the association were architects Karel Hubáček and Miroslav Masák and staticians Zdeněk Patrman and Václav Voda. The essential contribution of Sial to Czech architecture of the 20th century was not only in mediating trends that were incompatible or directly opposed to the official doctrine, but also in creating an inventive and free-spirited environment. A key work of Czech architecture in the second half of the 20th century became Hubáček's and Patrman's television transmitter with hotel on Ještěd from 1963-1973, awarded the Perret Prize by UIA in 1969. The political regime of the 1970s and 1980s threw obstacles in Sial's way, forcing its members to return to Stavoprojekt, banning its publicity in the domestic press. However, the architects did not give up; they managed to break into contracts abroad and, from 1980 onwards, successfully participated in major architectural competitions in the West. As a result, Liberec became the most significant center of Czech architectural creation.