The exhibition presents wooden houses by Martin Rajniš

Zen cube built on the occasion of the exhibition at GJF (photo: David Kubík)

Prague - A wooden gazebo in the courtyard welcomes visitors to the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague starting today. It highlights the exhibition of architect Martin Rajniš and his office e-MRAK, as it was created in the same way as their wooden structures. The exhibition, which according to Rajniš is also a proposal for how to build houses "differently," will last until July 6.
The work of e-MRAK departs from the established approaches to architectural creation and building customs. Often, works arise that are more artifacts than buildings. Rajniš does not hesitate to push the boundaries of building regulations, legal procedures, and defends the freedom of independent creation. He has gotten into disputes with officials due to some of his works, which are assembled towers made of drying wood, lacking foundations, and therefore, in his view, do not require any official permits.
Such unwanted fame primarily belongs to the structure called the Wood Depot in the Jizera Mountains. However, some clients for whom Rajniš builds in this way want to maintain good relations with officials, so they are already obtaining permits for their planned structures.
Rajniš, like some other contemporary architects, is very dissatisfied with the appearance of most houses built in the country, especially family houses. Out of the ten to fifteen thousand houses built annually in the Czech Republic, only a fraction have architects; most constructions derive from a standardized catalog offer, which is not architecture, just a mixture of incongruous styles and elements, believes the architect.
He offers a simple solution. "One thing can be done: not to adapt to the degraded taste that has driven this great power of architecture to a level somewhere in the Balkans," he said. "At the exhibition, we present how to build houses that people might like and where there are no arches where they shouldn’t be, or any unnecessary decorations," he described his works.
Recently, Rajniš is primarily known as the author of the new Czech post office at the top of Sněžka, which he built together with Patrik Hoffman. At the end of May, another "wooden tower" will be completed - the Bára lookout tower is being constructed in the shape of a triangular pyramid in the forests near Chrudim. According to the exhibition organizers, Rajniš's works bring new perspectives on architecture and his distinctly Czech and internationally independent style could contribute to the return of the Czech lands on the map of modern architecture.
The exhibition also presents Rajniš as a traveler. Photographs from his travels form that part of the exhibition where the architect attempts to present the origins of his thoughts on architecture. He juxtaposes photographs of natural formations and human architectural creations, images from the micro-world and aerial shots of cities, thereby showing the unity of humanity and nature, which is his main starting point.