Dialogues with History: Lecture by Rostislav Švácha in Klatovy

We would like to invite you to a lecture Dialogues with History with Prof. Rostislav Švácha: The Club Za starou Prahu award for new construction in a historical environment: positives and controversial points. The lecture will take place on October 23, 2015, at 6:00 PM at the Gallery U Bílého jednorožce in Klatovy.


The KZSP award was born out of dissatisfaction with new buildings in old cities, not only in Prague, and a desire to define the principles of good integration of new architecture into the historical context. This year, the award will be presented for the twelfth time. The lecture will familiarize the Klatovy audience with the issues the jury of the competition has sometimes encountered and will attempt to explain the strengths of the buildings that have become laureates or finalists in the Club's competition. The lecture will also address the question of why no buildings from Klatovy have yet entered the competition.

The project Dialogues with History is a series of lectures intended for the general public – all potential builders, whether private individuals, developers, or representatives of local or municipal government. It is primarily a message from architects – not just individuals or one studio, but architects as a whole – directed towards society.

The project should plant and spread the idea that just as relationships between people in society function, so too do relationships between objects. Unlike society, where there is a movement of people and a variability in the composition of individuals who share a common space, objects do not change their place and remain; they are built for a minimum of one hundred years or more, and the spaces defined by them (both internal and external) influence the conscious and subconscious behavior and thinking of future generations.

Houses and objects can connect spaces, create pleasant, kind environments for habitation, and can also create barriers and places where one does not wish to linger. Therefore, every intervention, every alteration of existing conditions should be sensitive, designed responsibly with regard to the connections and relationships that it changes. I believe that the new that arises should lead a dialogue with what has already been here. There should be a dialogue with history, with the awareness that it is a legacy for the future. This is especially relevant in today's time when the desire of owners or managers is dominated by one-sided market thinking and the demand to gain as much as possible from the land for as little as possible changes our assignments and priorities at the expense of these values. Without a good assignment, there is no good solution. And an architect without an informed investor is helpless.

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