Fragnerova gallery presents the work of the legendary studio Sial

Prague - The work of the legendary studio Sial, whose members are credited with such icons of Czech architecture as the television transmitter on Ještěd, the Máj department store in Prague, and the now-defunct Ještěd department store in Liberec, is presented in an exhibition at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague. The exhibition will be accessible to the general public from April 13 to May 22 and will offer visitors not only photographs, sketches, and designs but also period models.
    "The exhibition presents visitors with around 25 reference construction projects created from the late 1950s to the mid-1990s. Not only those that were built and stand to this day but also those that have disappeared or were never realized," said one of the curators, Jakub Potůček, to ČTK. Visitors to the gallery can admire not only the drawings of the Czechoslovak consulate in Shanghai, the design of the Czech cabin on Sněžka, and photographs of Věra Chytilová's villa, but also three-dimensional models of the transmitter and the Ještěd hotel. Exhibits were loaned by institutions such as the National Technical Museum in Prague or the Museum of Art in Olomouc.
    The exhibition is traveling; it has been in Liberec and Olomouc, and after about a month in the capital, it will move to galleries in Cheb and Plzeň, after which it will travel abroad. "The exhibition should present itself to architecture lovers in Vienna, Berlin, and there are also plans for exhibition spaces in London and Bratislava," stated Pavel Zatloukal from the Museum of Art in Olomouc.
    Each exhibition will differ slightly, especially in the displayed models of certain buildings. However, a connecting element among them is an extensive catalog that will also showcase the contemporary work of this legendary studio.
    The establishment of Sial is closely related to the social climate of the 1950s and 1960s. The rise of Stalinism in Czechoslovakia led to the abolition of private studios in architecture, forcing architects to take employment in state project institutes, the so-called Stavoprojekts. "It was in the Liberec Stavoprojekt that a group of architects and engineers passionate about their work formed, who in 1968 founded Sial - the Association of Architects and Engineers in Liberec," specified Potůček.
    The leading figures of the association, which gained renown for its unique technical innovations, were architects Karel Hubáček and Miroslav Masák and statics Zdeněk Patrman and Václav Voda. In the 1960s and 1980s, Sial had up to 60 members, including architects John Eisler, Martin Rajniš, Emil Přikryl, and Zdeněk Zavřel.
    However, it is Hubáček and Partman who are credited with one of the key buildings not only of Sial but of the entire second half of the 20th century, which gained recognition even abroad. The television transmitter with a hotel on Ještěd began construction in 1966 and even before its completion won the prestigious Perret Prize from the International Union of Architects, which the authors could not collect in Buenos Aires due to political reasons.
    The building, which according to the judges of the Perret Prize "deserves recognition for its integration into the landscape with clarity and harmony," attracted great attention even among young local architects, who founded the Sial Nursery in 1969. The purpose of this studio was to seek interesting projects for young talents.
    Despite the reluctance of the then-regime, architects from Liberec managed to obtain several projects abroad and successfully participated in major architectural competitions in the West. "Thanks to this, Liberec, in a certain regard, surpassed Prague and became the most significant center of Czech architectural creation during those years," states the promotional materials for the exhibition.
    The work of Liberec architects continues to stir the Czech society today, as evidenced by two events from recent years. Firstly, the unsuccessful struggle of the citizens of Liberec to save the Ještěd shopping center in the center of Liberec, and conversely, the successful battle to preserve the Máj department store in the center of Prague.