Jan Šépka - Work - Invitation to the Nymburk Lecture

On Thursday, February 12, 2015, from 6:00 PM, a lecture by architect Jan Šépka about his work will take place for the public at the Municipal House in Nymburk. Together with architect Osamu Okamura, he will introduce a new book titled How to Make a City. At the same time, an exhibition of students' works titled Visions for Nymburk will be inaugurated.

The significant Czech architect Jan Šépka will be introduced by Osamu Okamura, the program director of the international conference reSITE. In his lecture, Jan Šépka will outline how his proposals come to life through eight specific projects, highlighting their artistic, experimental, and playful character. After the lecture, both architects will present the book How to Make a City, which documents the students' works from Jan Šépka's and Mirka Tůmová's studio for Czech cities from 2009-2014. Following will be a moderated discussion addressing issues of urban planning and public space creation. Finally, an exhibition of semester works from the Architecture Studio A1 at the AAAD in Prague focused on Nymburk will be inaugurated. The public presentation of the student projects will follow on February 26, 2015, at 6:00 PM again at the Municipal House.

Jan Šépka and Mirka Tůmová assigned the theme of the city of Nymburk to their students for the winter semester. Their introductory week-long stay in Nymburk culminated in a public presentation and discussion about the resulting designs in November. About fifty citizens attended this meeting and the subsequent discussion in the foyer of the Hálk Theatre, including the rector of the AAAD in Prague, Professor Smetana. The projects offer citizens and local government representatives an unencumbered view of several locations and gaps in the city, which may contribute to their future cultivation, development, and use.

Jan Šépka
- studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University (CTU) and at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague
- in 1994, he initiated the New Czech Work association with Michal Kuzemenský
- in 1998, he founded the successful studio HŠH architects with Petr Hájek and Tomáš Hradečný
- since 2009, he has been leading his own studio Šépka architekti
- from 2004 to 2014, he served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU
- since 2014, he has been leading Studio A1 at UMPRUM and the Project and Competition Office at the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague
- many of the projects he has been involved in have received awards both domestically and internationally; among the most notable are the modifications of Upper Square in Olomouc and Jiřský Square at Prague Castle, the Archdiocesan Museum in Olomouc, a villa in Beroun, villa Hermína, modifications of the castle hill in Litomyšl, the design of the National Library in Prague, or Room in the Landscape in Modrava

Osamu Okamura
- studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU and conceptual design at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague
- since 2013, he has been the program director of reSITE
- works on the editorial board of the architectural magazine ERA21
- is a member of the Metropolitan Sounding Board, an expert advisory body to the Council of the Capital City of Prague on urban development issues
- he is an independent proposer for the Mies van der Rohe Award for the Czech Republic – the European Union prize for contemporary architecture
- teaches at the International Architecture Institute ARCHIP in Prague

Mirka Tůmová
- studied architecture at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU
- since 2008, she has been running her own architectural studio homostudio with Jiří Gulbis
- from 2009 to 2014, she served as a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture of CTU
- since 2014, she has been an assistant professor to Jan Šépka at Studio A1 at UMPRUM
- among the successful projects she has participated in are, for instance, the memorial for Operation Anthropoid in Prague, a family house in Dobřichovice, and a relaxation zone at Václav Havel Airport

students of Studio A1 at UMPRUM
Yara Abu Aataya, Marie Adámková, Lukáš Bursík, Tomáš Černý, Milos Djikanovic, Marie Eliášová, Oto Emr, Kristýna Geržová, Tereza Haumerová, Bibiana Heinichová, Jakub Herza, Jakub Kolek, Agnieszka Lewandowska, Anna Moskvitina, Viktória Mravčáková, Anna Pátková, Štěpán Smetana, Jan Stibitz, Jan Šolar

publication How to Make a City
Architect Jan Šépka focuses on selecting and assigning topics for locations where there is an active interest from local governments in architectural and urban proposals from students. A publication representing several years of systematic work by the studio and its students is being released just these days. The authorship team chose a significant title, How to Make a City, and outlines different possibilities in planning urban strategy concepts.

dates
- Thursday, February 12 at 6 PM: lecture by architects Šépka and Okamura with the presentation of the book How to Make a City
- Thursday, February 26 at 6 PM: public presentation of the works of students from Studio A1
- February 12 – March 31: exhibition of students' works

The mayor of Nymburk, Tomáš Mach, has assumed the patronage over the February events on architecture. The lecture is organized by gallery JII and Jan Ritter Jr. in cooperation with the city of Nymburk and the Municipal Cultural Center of Nymburk.

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