<H1>HOUSE AND WINGS</H1>

When this newly established Academy of Architects invited selected creators to participate in the Grand Prix this year, 9 out of 39 approached declined the offer. You are one of them – and perhaps the most persistent critic of the current situation. Can you clarify your reasons and positions?
It’s my personal feeling and struggle. I understand the position of many young colleagues who pursue the goal of promoting good architecture with a certain purity. However, I feel that promoting good architecture is not the only goal of an architect. If one has a bad feeling, they must also pay attention to other stimuli they sense. In my case, it’s a certain historical memory, as I am older. I have experienced certain situations from the previous regime that lead me to conclude that I cannot reconcile with some matters. I would expect that people who were more or less politically active at that time would humbly acknowledge that everything happened as it did; they would perform their work but would not aspire to impose themselves into any functions.
But this situation has arisen in the Architects' Association, in my opinion, and moreover, it has now connected with the Chamber. The Association became the successor to the Czechoslovak Federation of Architects in a transitional year. However, I believe it was a temporary solution. What started as a temporary solution has become a permanent one that is gradually dying out. And I carry with reluctance the fact that a certain minority group of people currently at the helm of the Association is appropriating powers that do not belong to it as one of the associations.
Everyone knows what I am talking about and who I am talking about. And I am just surprised that even colleagues who are roughly in my age category have lost their historical memory and are capable of accepting personnel assignments that are totally unacceptable to me. The personnel policy is then reflected in the Academy of Architects, as today it is connected with the Chamber and also reflects in the Grand Prix, because – perhaps I am too proud – but the idea of accepting an award from the hands of someone I do not respect at all is absolutely unacceptable to me.

You were previously involved in the Czech Chamber of Architects...
For many years I held positions in the Chamber, but I left because I felt that I had been involved for too long without the chance to promote what I was trying – I personally supported voluntary membership. However, attitudes within the Chamber were not moving in that direction at all... Gradually, I cut myself off from public life. I devote myself to my work, which I have enough of, and my hobbies...

SOCIAL BUILDINGS

Geriatric center in Týniště nad Orlicí, 1996

You have been dealing with social buildings for practically your entire life. How did you actually get into them?
By chance. After school, the architect Prager chose me. There was a group of young people in his studio, about seven of us. At that time, the Parliament was being built, so young blood was needed. We behaved well for a while, but after a certain time, we wanted to project on our own, or rather, we wanted the Master to at least introduce us as collaborators. Perhaps later we wanted to be listed as co-authors; I don’t remember. The Master didn’t have that much time, we were sitting on the projects, collaboration would have sufficed, but we weren’t perceived at all. So we made some kind of rebellion.

What did such a rebellion in Prager's studio look like?
We argued with the Master, whom I actually quite liked, and we wanted to achieve that after those years spent with him, we would also have some verifiable work behind us. If we wanted to go to another studio, we wouldn’t actually have anything to present. The Master, after a long hesitation, decided that each of us would get some independent task. Achieving that, however, cost us great effort. At that time, there was a home for the elderly in Bohnice in the studio. And homes for the elderly at that time were tasks rather from the periphery of the architect’s interest: there wasn’t enough money for them, and the issue was heavily clouded by how the elderly were treated at the time. Nobody wanted to take it on, so they gave us this project to prove our readiness, or primarily our unpreparedness for independent work. However, we tackled the task with all the youthful intensity and creativity. Originally, there was supposed to be one house on the meadow, while we proposed several houses and even additional small apartments for elderly people. Suddenly, it became the largest similar complex in Central Europe, a complex for 620 people. And at the design institute, we began our careers as producers of social buildings. Because the established practice was that someone did healthcare buildings, another did educational ones, and we suddenly got caught up with social ones. Everyone knew that Línek and Milunić were doing homes for the elderly. After that, we automatically received this type of projects.

Did Milunić come to architect Prager at the same time as you?
A bit later. When staff was being supplemented, I mentioned that I knew a colleague from school...
In the meantime, in 1975 we also worked on a zoo – a large carnivore pavilion and a tropical pavilion. The project was published in the Italian Domus and the French Cree.
What is interesting is that the pavilion image appeared again in Domus' third issue this year reprinted as an archive – it was a very nice reminder of the seventies...

Pavilion for large carnivores and tropicarium in Prague Zoo

So clearly the editors of this prestigious magazine still consider it significant even after thirty years. That is success.
The building was never constructed. But it was one of the youthful attempts to completely break away from prefab structures that were pressing from all sides. For the design of the Tropicarium, we were inspired by the basalt pipes at Panská skála near Kamenický Šenov. An image served as our reference then; just yesterday we passed by Šenov on our way to the glassworks, and I saw that rock for the first time with my own eyes – it’s amazing...

The zoo was, however, more of an exception.
Otherwise, until the revolution, we practically did one study of a retirement home every three years. Some were filed away, but many were constructed: Bohnice, Malešice, Chodov, Háje...
Then came the revolution, which loosened relationships and also broke relations between partners. Vlado and I parted ways. And I feel that if the revolution hadn't come, we wouldn't have known what to do with those panels anymore, because we had exhausted all possible creations.

And then the revolution came...
And with it came completely new technologies. Each of us dealt with it in some way, really in a different way. And I think that neither of us embarrassed the other.

Does today’s society address the issues of the social sphere better according to your experience?
Facilities may be increasing today, but the rise in the elderly population is much faster. The problem is getting almost worse. Our previous homes were designed so that both people who could almost play tennis but took medication for high blood pressure at night, as well as bedridden patients, lived in them. The groups were mixed also so that the facility wouldn't be so gloomy. We saw this approach in Sweden in 1970, and then it was brought to us. But recently, I received a call from a home in Chodov saying they needed to redesign part of the facility for the chronically ill... However, I no longer have such a close connection with the Ministry, so I cannot assess to what extent home care has developed. If that meant moving care into the field, it would be quite good. Although it’s a very complicated problem: when a person is admitted to a facility while in a very frail state, they hardly get used to the transition.
I, too, cannot solve the question of home care versus institutional. But I have gradually created some sort of motto: Thank God for every bed in a home. The lack of places is still enormous.

Retirement home, Loučná nad Desnou, 1999

After 1990, villas also became part of your portfolio.
Today, I have about six buildings under construction, mostly they are villas, but my dedication to social buildings accompanies me throughout my professional career. After the 1989 revolution, I built a retirement home in Týniště and in Benešov, guesthouses in Loučná nad Desnou and in Hvězdě, and most recently, a home for seniors for the Jewish community in Prague.

We recently presented Hagibor on Archiweb. Its form must have responded primarily to a very complicated location in a busy area...
I was invited among four teams. I set my mind to win. I had the experience for it. And as a Christian, I was interested in the Jewish community in Prague. Its life. I felt that through this task I would get closer.
Although various opinions appeared at the beginning, I would say today everyone recognizes that from the perspective of the urban planning concept of a closed atrium within the city, and moreover at a metro station – which is very advantageous for maintaining social contacts of elderly people – the chosen concept is viable. Even though it is located in a busy area, it guarantees clients peace thanks to the mass of the house and also meets certain safety requirements that must be taken into account for a building of this type.
I think the solution is correct. Because the idea of a solitary object standing in a garden: with views from the street, on one side the mass of the Don Giovanni hotel, on the other the Radio Free Europe, is unacceptable to me. In the courtyard position, a peaceful environment for specific activities of the Jewish community has been created, which is certainly different from the majority society. Here they have absolute peace for celebrating their holidays...
It is true that we also monitored closed cyclical schemas in previous assignments – so there is indeed a certain continuity. However, it was primarily due to ensuring the internal serviceability of the house: an elderly person could walk inside, not having to go out at all in bad weather, while enjoying a walk. In the case of Hagibor, functionality was intertwined with the need for soundproofing and safety. All rooms are turned inward, and only circulation and storage spaces are situated externally.

Home for Seniors Hagibor, 2008

Did such a specific task bring any surprises?
I got to know the Jewish community: things I suspected and things I didn’t suspect.
To some extent, I was surprised by the kindness with which I was received by both groups in the Jewish community: both the old and the new leadership. I also formed certain personal relationships that went even into my private life. My wife was seriously ill at that time, and the expressions of sympathy were certainly not just courteous...

Did the layout change during the work?
No. Only at the back did we have to move the building a bit because it turned out that underground there were two 120 cm water pipes. By the way, the same happened in the case of the new building of Radio Free Europe because the pipes are poorly documented.
I usually work on variants in a dream form: I think about the house, lie down, and reflect. Then the idea arises sooner or later, but I am not used to producing "x" variants. After analysis, I follow one variant, and that remains valid for me until the end of the building process. But certainly, I make corrections during the work. I usually warn the client that work for me does not finish with the drawing documentation. But only with the occupancy permit.

What do the changes usually stem from?
From understanding the actual spatial relationships. Many things I clarify already on the model, but I grasp the real space even better on the rough construction.

BETWEEN MODELS

Villa for the publisher, 2005

We are sitting in your studio, and to help the reader better imagine the environment, I will mention that models of airplanes hang overhead, in the windows, and on the sides...
Remote-controlled airplanes. I have been enchanted by the shapes and structures of airplanes since childhood. An unfinished airplane is perhaps even more beautiful than a successful, completed one. The frameworks of airplanes remind me of the skeletons of animals, and I consider them beautiful. They can be transposed into architecture as well.
Once I worked on a family house where I shaped the roof like a wing. Unfortunately, this villa was never built. But aviation is certainly a source of inspiration for me and belongs in the realm of my themes: from animals to other objects from which one can draw while creating.

Do you make the airplanes you fly yourself?
Some yes. For example, this small one hanging above you. But since I make them in the living room, and the material makes a lot of dust when sanding, I usually buy semi-finished products that I then adjust and finish. All fly on electronics, which has recently become incredibly miniaturized. The weight of the batteries and motor is so low that electric motors can now be used instead of combustion ones.
But I am not an exception among architects. Ivo Oberstein and others also model.
Not only modern airplanes have beautiful structures. I also have machines here from 1906. Their frames and the courage of pioneers are inspiring.

Villa in Hlubočepy, 2008

Modeling was also practiced by Vladimír Jeník, but in his case, this hobby is even more closely tied to the profession.
I occasionally communicated with Vladimír because he helped me several times to make a part for an airplane that I couldn’t manage to make in my workshop.
For me, modeling is also logical. The craftsmanship developed by this hobby is reflected in the fact that I make my own models of houses. Practically always, I get clients with models. Today, visualization in 3D is of course much more popular – however, if the visualization is not done properly, it is ugly, and even if it is done well, the client perceives it not spatially, but more as a picture on paper. It is not 3D for them in a human way.
Only when making a model does one discover a number of spatial possibilities and can make corrections that they wouldn’t otherwise make. When I then open the house for the client and they see where their dining table and piano will be... (Jan Línek lifts the roof on the model of the villa and shows: The piano stands here...) their imagination is much more satisfied, and potential conflicts stemming from the fact that they had a different idea are eliminated.
Even in the case of Hagibor, the first model is the most convincing for us, even though it is simplified.

So you are faithful to models. And what is your overall relationship with computers?
For a long time, I believed that I could manage without them even in drawing; unfortunately, the era has surpassed me there. I personally don’t use a computer, I can’t do it, and I don’t want to learn it either. I enjoy being able to take a pencil and draw. Especially the new task – which is like a crossword puzzle – excites me. However, I had to make certain organizational arrangements because investors today require documents in digital form for various reasons. Personally, I therefore draw everything by hand, but someone then transfers the work into digital form.

Have you ever considered expanding the office?
We live a lot of work; the studio is at home, where there used to be coal, so we just go downstairs and don’t really care if it’s Sunday or a workday. I don’t want to say that we don’t rest, but we don’t strictly distinguish working hours and free time. Strength is dwindling, and the amount of work is increasing. Which is unfortunately a necessary tie because a certain reputation built over time brings work. However, I definitely don’t feel like wanting to expand the studio because of increasing work. Moreover, finding collaborators as reliable as my colleague Kolář is a big problem...
I would never want to be just a manager. That first search for solutions, sketching is something I would never let go of. I like to sketch and I have two beautiful colored pencils!

What distinguishes one colored pencil from another?
One is very worn down because I have drawn a lot with it and made good money. And I save the other one. Once a colored pencil starts to be edged, it doesn’t look so beautiful in the box anymore...

You say that the amount of work is increasing. Do architects even have time to read?
Usually not, maybe Domus and Detail. I mainly surf the internet. In the evening I come home, I am tired, I look at the news and then I sit for three hours on the internet...
I don’t even go to the cinema. I’m essentially a badger. But I do go to the airport.

To the airport?
I found a model airplane club at Hořín airport, under the castle in Mělník. These larger airplanes cannot be flown on the meadow. They have a wingspan of up to two meters sixty. If you hit that... I’ve come home several times, well, I don’t want to say crying, because I like to fix them again.

And how often do you go flying?
I try to fly once or twice a week. Usually in the morning. It’s beautiful there. However, my vision has deteriorated, so I can no longer fly gliders because they fly quite high and far, and once you lose visual contact, it’s over. Previously, I would go into nature, sit on the meadow, and observe the clouds or the raptors that have a very developed sense of seeking air currents. They fly exactly like my glider.

Thank you for the interview.
Kateřina Lopatová