Ladislav Zikmund-Lender : Public Buildings of Jan Kotěra

We would like to invite you to a lecture Public Buildings of Jan Kotěra. The lecture will take place on February 16, 2012, at 18:00 in the auditorium of the main building of the Vršovická Waterworks pumping station in Braník, Vltavanů 229, Prague 4.

The discussion will cover Kotěra's waterworks, the prolonged project of the Law and Theology Faculty, but mainly the museum building in Hradec Králové and its equipment. The lecture will present the most significant Kotěra museum building in the East Bohemian metropolis (1909–1913), as well as the waterworks project at Zelená liška in Michle and the accompanying pumping station in Braník (1904). This realization was followed by the construction of the water tower in Třeboň (1909), which seems to have been inspired by its Michel counterpart. In addition, Kotěra’s top publishing houses will be introduced (the Laichter House in Vinohrady /1908–9/ and the Urbánek House, known as the Mozarteum /1910–13/ in close proximity to Wenceslas Square). Furthermore, there will be a discussion about monumental cubist buildings such as the General Pension Institute (1912–14) or the later building of the Vítkovice Mining and Metallurgical Company (1921–24). Kotěra long outlived the prolonged project of the Law and Theology Faculty, which lasted an incredible fifteen years (the first sketches date back to 1907, the building was completed after Kotěra's death in 1923 by his student Ladislav Machoň). The conversation will also turn to one of Kotěra's first so-called Gesamtkunstworks, the District House in Hradec Králové (1903–1904), or the still captivating National House in Prostějov (1905–7). Various ephemeral projects will also be featured, such as Kotěra's designs for the stage of Rusalka (1901). The lecture will be complemented by readings of the most significant moments from texts that had the most pronounced influence on Kotěra's work, such as B. Scott's book House and Garden, Wagner's treatise On Modern Architecture, as well as excerpts from Kotěra’s own texts (On the New Art in Free Directions).

The lecture will be delivered by Ladislav Zikmund-Lender, the author of the monograph guide to Trmal Villa in Prague, author of the upcoming monograph on the museum building in Hradec Králové, contributor to a number of collective monographs (Family Houses of Jan Kotěra, Famous Villas of the Plzeň Region, On Landscape and Garden, etc.) and magazines (Architect, Atelier, Art&Antiques).
The guest of the program will be screenwriter and architecture lover Pavel Cmíral.

The lecture is co-organized by the non-profit organization Interaktiv.cz, representing public appearances by Ladislav Zikmund-Lender and Kroužky na Vltavě, the Children's Agency Kroužky, s.r.o., operating the Braník Waterworks facility.

Entrance fee 50 CZK