Behind Architect Jan LINK

The cultural public knew his name mainly as part of the pair Línek–Milunić, with Milunić's name primarily associated with the Dancing House (with Frank Gehry). The path of the L–M tandem began in times of oppression. They were connected by many things – alongside their graduation from the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University, there were also some differences, as is often the case with artistically linked duos. In both, creative dialogue springs from a passion for handcrafting models, often from simple cardboard, as they test the limits of future buildings in the birth process of this micro-world. Even the conceptual ones..., which of course begin with sketching. Both excel with a pencil. They give wings to their ideas through hand drawing. Línek's wings were genuine as he often allows his aerial models to float above the landscape, which he also enthusiastically repairs when they don’t quite land softly from the clouds down to the grass...

They know the Czech land both up close and from afar. Milunić interned in Paris in the 60s. Besides their knowledge of materials and crafts, they complement each other with their technical intelligence. Above all, they share a social fragility in their souls. Here we should search for the programming of the navigation of the tandem towards "geriatric centers", even though both recall aloud how (the first) project for retirement homes "just fell by the wayside"... – at the famous Prager's studio Gama. "Unfortunately, there was no other material base than panels in the 60 cm module," Línek recalls the details of that time "...so the subconscious utilization of the knowledge of F. L. Wright and other architectural icons was of no use to us..." However, even in the so-called "panel era," they managed to push for "reworking" the uniformity of housing estates and humanizing it, which can be corroborated by today's residents of their retirement homes – seniors in Malešice, Bohnice, Chodov, or Háje; after all, Línek himself looked forward to "one of his retirement homes" in a distinctive jest through his Parkinson's...

In the stifling atmosphere, both seek cracks for breathing room. For example, through competition within their friendly duo – a merciless struggle for the project. Right up to the finale of the L–M tandem's functioning: Havel here, Havel there, Línek competes with Milunić even for the Dancing House...

He takes relationships seriously. Through his stubborn promotion of the atypical panel – along with his alter ego – he must have made things quite difficult for the then general managers of housing estates, this worker of the profession. Moreover, from another side, he made his steadfastness felt when the second half of the duo somehow survived the god Prager. Línek too took hold of the handle – hand in hand, a musketeer, one for all… Through his existence, he seemed to affirm the words of the legendary Karel Hubáček, the author of Ještěd: "Nothing in the world can withstand concentrated work, courage, and fun." He is characterized by respect for the memory of place – and community. And for the folk note. This could also be where the source of Línek's shape richness lies.

After the dissolution of the duo after November '89, Línek ventured more outside the center, building his Geriatric Center in Týniště nad Orlicí, or later the Pension for Seniors in Prague's Hvězda. However, his sprawling villas thrived mainly in the countryside, like the Bumerang villa in Býchory or the villa in Modřany, and especially a series of family homesteads, for example in Kostelec nad Černými Lesy or in Orlová near Příbram, recognizable for their organic optics and reminiscences of folk architecture along with natural materials. He would like to live in each of those houses, as he likes to reveal about himself. With Línek's departure, families became orphaned...

His groundedness and straightforwardness also reign in the professional community, and post-November, Línek rose to leadership among colleagues in the Chamber. The revolution in '89 was a path for him to free creation, but also to a new order of citizenship, which he knows how to express nicely to many friends of the old regime.

It was in his nature to protect his friend's back, which not only Milunić experienced...

A sprawling oak in the Czech landscape.

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In December, together with the author of this memory and his son, he still plans to fly with models in the spring air, somewhere above the confluence of the Elbe and the Vltava... His spirit floats there somewhere, unbound by earthly weight, in Honza's rendition light as a feather.