The eighty-five-year-old architect Masák is a significant figure in the field

photo: Jan Horák

Prague - A significant figure in Czech architecture is Professor Miroslav Masák, who will celebrate his 85th birthday on May 23. He is known as a co-founder of the Liberec studio SIAL, which from the 1960s represented one of the few distinctive currents of contemporary domestic architecture. Masák, along with other members of the studio, is credited with buildings such as the now non-existent Department Store Ještěd in Liberec (with Karel Hubáček, 1977), Department Store Máj in Prague (with John Eisler and Martin Rajniš, 1975), or the reconstruction of the Veletržní Palace in Prague (1978 to 1995).

The architect was born on May 23, 1932, in Úvaly near Prague. He studied architecture and civil engineering at the Czech Technical University (1958). He worked at Stavoprojekt Liberec and, in 1968, co-founded the Association of Engineers and Architects in Liberec (SIAL).

Masák has also been an engaged person in public affairs. Around 1968, he was on the board of the Union of Czech Architects; during the normalization period, he collaborated with unofficial resistance platforms, and in November 1989, he joined the coordinating center of the Civic Forum and later served as an advisor to President Václav Havel. He conceived the development of the Castle.

Masák is a prolific author; for example, in 2006, he published a memoir titled "That's how it was." For his work, he received the award from the Czech Chamber of Architects for the year 2006 and the Ministry of Culture Award for contributions to the field of architecture (2011).