140 years ago, architect Alois Dryák was born

Prague - The works of architect Alois Dryák, whose birth will be 140 years ago on February 24, significantly influenced the appearance of Prague, Brno, and other Czech cities. He studied at the Prague School of Applied Arts and was one of the most talented students of Friedrich Ohmann, the author of the Kramář Villa and the Commodity Exchange at Senovážné Square. Dryák made a name for himself at a very young age, having built an apartment building on Kamenická Street in Letná at just twenty-seven years old, together with his colleague Bedřich Bendelmyer.
The same age architects were also responsible for the reconstruction of the U Arcivévody Štěpána hotel at Wenceslas Square, now Hotel Evropa, in 1905; Alois Dryák also designed the adjacent narrow Hotel Garni (now Meran). He first tried out the Art Nouveau style while completing the project for the Central Hotel on Hybernská Street, following in the footsteps of his teacher Ohmann, and he reiterated this style in his proposal for the competition for the Municipal House. Although he did not win, his approach inspired the winning duo Osvald Polívka and Antonín Balšánek.
In the then-modern Art Nouveau style, Alois Dryák also designed the façade of Langhans' photography studio on Vodičkova Street at the beginning of the 20th century, which was sensitively restored a few years ago. Later, however, he abandoned the flowery style, and his subsequent works were characterized by a lean towards modernism and even constructivism. This is documented by post-war buildings such as the Vinohrady Radiopalace (completed in 1925), the nearby tobacco control building on Slezská Street (now a court, 1928), or the Faculty of Law in Brno (1933).

Faculty of Law MU in Brno, 1928-32

The last unfinished work of Dryák, who died on June 6, 1932, was a gymnasium in Vršovice. For Sokol, of which he was an active member, Alois Dryák worked long-term, being the author of the wooden stadium for the Sokol festival at Strahov and participating in the design of the later reinforced concrete structure before his death. He was responsible for several villas not only in Prague but also in Česká Třebová and Police nad Metují, and he designed grammar schools in Kladno and Česká Třebová, as well as a school in Ořechovka.
Alois Dryák, who was accompanied by a reputation as a cultivated creator, also contributed to the architectural design of two significant Prague monuments before World War I - Myslbek's sculpture of Saint Wenceslas and the statue of František Palacký. However, he was unsuccessful in the competition for the Hus monument at Old Town Square. The public space significantly interested Dryák as a member of the Club for Old Prague; in 1886, he was among the signatories of the famous petition Bestia Triumphans, protesting against the demolition of the Old Town of Prague.