Rajniš's Hut of Architecture has up to 50 projects a year

Prague - The Hut of Architecture Martin Rajniš prepares twenty to fifty projects a year. According to him, it is not just an architectural studio, a project office, or a design studio. "It is a group that not only designs but also builds, experiments, invents architecture - just as it worked since antiquity, in Rome, in Greece, through the Italian and Czech Middle Ages. That is what the huts did, and we continue in this tradition," said the architect, who is not bound by conventions, in an interview with ČTK. Today he celebrates 75 years.

Rajniš studied at CVUT and AVU. In the 1970s, he worked in the SIAL studio led by Karel Hubáček. After the revolution, he led D. A. Studio with Stanislav Fiala, Jaroslav Zima, and Tomáš Prouza, whose most extensive work is the construction of a new shopping center in Prague's Smíchov. Since 2002, his work has been distinct. He focuses on buildings made from natural materials such as wood, stone, and glass. He tries to find paths that would serve the widest group of users with minimal means and humility towards existing buildings and landscapes, returning architecture to its key position in civilization.

"Now is a somewhat calmer time, but we are still working on about 25 projects. We are not someone who takes it lightly. We do a lot of projects, around 500 from 2000 until now, I have tons of those lines, and they all run in parallel," he describes his work.

In addition to new buildings, Rajniš is currently also involved in the reconstruction of the Prague department store Máj, which he designed in the 1970s together with John Eisler and Miroslav Masák. Today, the building is a cultural monument and the new owner wants to rebuild it. "Such a building has dozens and dozens of people involved, it is a large project, there are significant funds at stake, and many experts are interested in voicing their opinions. We are trying to do sensible work for them and have clearly respected their interest in keeping the building as a clear testimony to the 70s," he rebuts any concerns from supporters of architecture from that era. According to him, the character of the building will remain preserved, with modifications mainly concerning technologies and some aspects of the building that were influenced by the then "extreme shortage of foreign currency, which was used for construction."

Rajniš's team recently completed the tenth tower, which received the name Twiggy for its slenderness and height, standing under Kralický Sněžník. "A stone house in Murvica on Brač in Croatia is under construction, we are preparing a project for a smaller church in Prague 14, which is entirely made of stone, we recently opened Doubravka in Prague 14, for which we received the Grand Prix," said Rajniš. The spectrum of the hut's work and its current activities is complemented by a large winery in Dolní Dunajovice, plans for a floating houseboat, and another tower, this time for Prague's Prosek. "I am like death; I do everything," he says with exaggeration.