ERA21 celebrates 20 years and temporarily unlocks its digital archive

This year, the architectural magazine ERA21 is celebrating twenty years of its existence. On the occasion of this anniversary and given the ongoing state of emergency, with libraries and bookstores closed, ERA21 is offering all interested parties a birthday gift in the form of free access to its online archive. The archive will be available until the end of April 2020 at this link.

In twenty years, ERA21 has transformed from an unknown periodical with the subtitle ecology – realization – architecture into a respected industry medium with a national scope. To celebrate this anniversary, all past editors-in-chief gathered at the end of January at the Husa na Provázku theater in Brno to evaluate the past and present of the magazine and to attempt to glimpse not only into its future but generally into the future of architectural media and the architectural field itself. Under the guidance of Karolína Vránková, Helena Šnajdarová, Rostislav Koryčánek, Osamu Okamura, Zuzana Morávková, and Filip Landa discussed various topics.
The participants of the debate began by delving into history. “It’s been thirty years since the revolution, and many things seem normal to us, but when ERA21 was founded, everything was just beginning: magazines, competitions, student exchanges… In the Czech Republic, there were a few renowned studios and schools producing students who had few opportunities for dialogue. We had a great hunger for a different perspective on architecture,” describes the circumstances of the magazine's founding its first editor-in-chief, Helena Šnajdarová. She was soon replaced in the editorial position by historian and architecture theorist Rostislav Koryčánek, who wrote in his first editorial in 2002: “We are convinced that this will not be a short-term activity.” Under his leadership, the publication, initially of local importance and focused on ecology and sustainable building, gradually expanded to include other themes. The thematic direction of individual issues deepened even further with the arrival of Osamu Okamura in 2005, who elegantly resolved his then spatial shortage by moving from Prague to Brno: “It all started when I had a studio in Prague on Wenceslas Square, in an old house before renovation, and one day the owner came to say that he had sold the house and that we all had to vacate. I had some ongoing work at the time, and suddenly I was on the street. My friend Igor Kovačević was organizing the Young Blood exhibition and invited several young architects to exhibit something. I decided to exhibit myself and thus solve my rent problem. I moved my desk from the studio to the gallery and set up my office there. At the opening, I was sitting under plastic, and at that time, Rosťa came up to me and asked if I would like to be the editor-in-chief.” Osamu ultimately spent seven years in the Brno editorial office, after which long-time editor Zuzana Morávková took over, and since 2017, the editor-in-chief has been Filip Landa, who had collaborated with the magazine for many years externally.
The debate then shifted to architectural criticism, discussing the willingness of architects to write critically about their colleagues' work and conversely, the willingness—or courage?—of creators to accept criticism of their constructions, the selection of buildings, the work of curators, and the editorial board. There was also discussion about who the magazine is intended for, about the popularization of architecture, and interdisciplinary cooperation. Questions from the audience targeted the readership of the magazine. “Of course, the number of readers is a goal; without readers, it would not make sense to produce the magazine. Some topics, however, only interest a narrowly profiled group of people, while others are proven to be very important and relevant, and everyone reaches for them,” states Filip Landa. In any case, the thematic focus of the magazine and the independence of the editorial section are specifics that differentiate the ERA21 magazine from other industry media.
In fact, ERA21 has discovered or at least helped introduce many topics into architectural discourse, such as the aforementioned sustainable building. “I earn my living designing energy-efficient buildings, but I think it has turned into a bit of a dogma and obligation, which it has become to a certain extent today. Let’s behave sustainably, be considerate, do what we can, but use common sense. I see many beautiful neo-classical buildings being insulated and destroyed, which makes me quite sad. That’s not what we really wanted,” lamented Helena Šnajdarová. Osamu Okamura reminisced about his first issue on Digital Architecture (ERA21 #04/2005), which was even surpassed fourteen years later by the topic of post-digital architecture (ERA21 #04/2019).
The final part of the discussion addressed the magazine's position and the general perception of architecture in the contemporary world. According to Rostislav Koryčánek, ERA21 still has its firm place in today's digital age: “Today it may seem that print media are on the verge of extinction, but I believe they have proven their tremendous viability. Among other things, they can be a far more precise record of the times. Architecture is incredibly fragile; even what is recorded about it is incredibly fleeting. In that, electronic media have a significantly shorter lifespan. ERA21 explores the terrain of architecture and related topics and preserves records for the future.” Conversely, Osamu Okamura looks ahead: “I confess that I now read much more on screens and I'm starting to have some problems with reading printed text. So I don’t care that much about the paper; I’m more interested in access to dialogue and reflection on architecture and the events surrounding it. I consider that to be the main value of the magazine.” The debate was concluded by the current editor-in-chief Filip Landa: “In the twenty years since the magazine's inception, the perception of architecture has changed significantly, but that is not our merit. It is the merit of organizations like Kruh or CBArchitektura, or individuals like Adam Gebrian, who have been dedicated to educational activities for a long time and popularize architecture. However, mainstream media still write about architecture in a trivial way, viewing architects as mere embellishers, mistaking them for designers or decorators, and they don’t really understand what our profession is for. Smarter journalists call our professional editorial office for advice. Generally, the situation is improving. As for the future of public debate on architecture, I am an optimist.”