Architect Věra Machoninová celebrates her 85th birthday

The private villa of the Machonins in Prague on Strahov (1974-78)

Prague - Her handwriting can be seen in the Prague department store Kotva and the Karlovy Vary hotel Thermal. Architect Věra Machoninová, who will celebrate her 85th birthday on September 27, participated in many significant public buildings. Together with her husband Vladimír, she formed a prominent authorial duo until his death in 1990. She is also engaged in interior design.
    Born in Strakonice, she studied at the High School of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, later working at the Project Institute of the Capital City of Prague. Among other things, she co-authored the cultural center in Jihlava, the Czechoslovak embassy in Berlin, and the festival cinema in Karlovy Vary. She designed the Domov department store in Prague-Pankrác by herself.
    In her work, Machoninová drew from the classic form of the International Style, whose methods she transformed into more plastic and expressively richer forms since the 1970s. In 2006, she was awarded the Grand Prix of the Architects' Association, which is the most prestigious award in her field in the Czech Republic.
    In the 1970s, the Machonin couple were unable to publish or participate in architectural competitions due to political reasons. However, in the 1990s, Machoninová revived the original Atelier Alfa. Her most recent projects include the central square in Štětí and the city center of Jablonec nad Nisou.