The West Bohemian Gallery already has valuable "catches" in its architecture collection

Plzeň - The archive of Plzeň architects Chvojkových, photographs of the exhibition grounds from the 1960s and 70s, plans for the unrealized part of the Peklo building, three-dimensional models of famous buildings in Plzeň are already part of the architecture collection being built by the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň. The materials are being sought from the families of the architects and descendants of the homeowners. It is the only institution in the Plzeň Region dedicated to architecture. CTK was told by Petr Domanický, who is in charge of the collection.
    "The goal is to acquire documents that can still be obtained. It is a long-term process. Architecture collections that exist elsewhere in the country have been around for decades," he stated. The gallery started the project three years ago and already has several valuable "finds."
    "For example, it is the archive of siblings Marta and Bohumil Chvojkových, children of the notable Plzeň professor and architect Bohumil Chvojka. Part of it concerns designs and realizations from the 1940s and 50s," said Domanický. Chvojka's work includes unrealized proposals for modifications around significant places in the city, such as the area in front of the train station or the Měšťanská beseda.
    Marta Chvojková was involved in the creation of the housing estate in Slovany in the 1950s, Domanický stated. The Slovany housing estate is considered one of the few successful urban planning achievements of the 20th century in Plzeň. A whole team of architects contributed to it, although according to Domanický, the regime at the time did not emphasize this. Chvojková designed both residential buildings and, for instance, the post office building in Rychtaříkova Street and a kindergarten near Částková Street. The gallery acquired the archive through a purchase from the family.
    Another part of the collection is a set of photographs of the Plzeň exhibition grounds, documenting the first objects from the EX Plzeň exhibitions. The gallery also owns part of the archive of architect Karel Lhota, the most significant Plzeň collaborator of Adolf Loos. The collection also includes precise models, including the so-called Rohrer villa, the first functionalist building in Plzeň.
    The West Bohemian Gallery aims to establish a research center for the study of architecture in the future. It is to be created in the largest interior in Plzeň, which was contributed to by Adolf Loos. It is a building located at Klatovská Street 110.