The exhibition commemorates the significant architect of interwar Plzeň, Hanuš Zápal

Pilsen - The life and work of one of the most significant interwar architects of Pilsen, Hanuš Zápal (1885 to 1964), is commemorated from today with an outdoor exhibition at U Branky in Pilsen's Smetanovy sady. Until July 30, people can learn more about the author of well-known local buildings, such as the business academy, the so-called skyscraper, theater workshops, the crematorium, the double villa in the brewery, and various residential and school buildings. This year marks 140 years since Zápal's birth. The native of Pilsen dedicated his whole active life to working in his region, said the exhibition's author, curator of the architecture collection of the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, Petr Domanický, today to ČTK.

"The first half of the 20th century was of extraordinary importance for the development of architecture, urbanism, and the relationship with historical monuments. The same was true in Pilsen, where many outstanding personalities worked as private architects, professors of local technical schools, and also as designers at the city building office. Without a doubt, Zápal brought the greatest extent and variety of activities," Domanický said. According to Mayor Roman Zarzycký (ANO), Zápal's buildings still belong among the city's treasures.

As a city employee, Zápal designed public buildings in Pilsen - schools and social institutions, and he also focused on the preservation of monuments in the region, reminded the councilor for culture and heritage care, Eliška Bartáková (ANO). The city named an architectural competition after Zápal, which every four years seeks to find and evaluate the highest quality new buildings in Pilsen.

In the streets of Pilsen, one can encounter Zápal's buildings literally at every turn, Domanický noted. Among his oldest projects is the business academy building in neoclassical style, designed before World War I, and nearby Wilson Bridge, the so-called skyscraper, a cluster of houses in the decorative style, topped with crown-shaped additions. Zápal's school building projects were modern and timeless for their era, and most of them are still used for educational purposes today. The schools stood out not only for their functionality but also for their modern architecture, Domanický pointed out. In the later period of his work, Zápal designed, for example, the constructivist building of Pik's municipal school and the Czech Brethren Church in Kralovice.