The lecture by Rostislav Švácha on the work of Bohumír Kozák

The Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences is organizing a lecture on Bohumír Kozák, the architect of a building slated for demolition. Kozák’s house at the corner of Wenceslas Square and Opletalova Street in Prague has recently gained media attention due to the decision by the responsible authorities regarding its demolition. Proponents of the demolition have repeatedly argued that it is a worthless and historically insignificant structure. The intention of the organizers is further elaborated by leading Czech architectural historian Rostislav Švácha from the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who will be one of the speakers: “We intend to place the aforementioned building in the context of the author’s work and will address both Kozák's contribution to modern Czech architecture and urbanism, as well as the sensitive enhancement of the significant public space of Wenceslas Square.”

The public lecture will take place on Tuesday, June 28, 2011, at 3 PM in the building of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Národní 3, Prague 1, 2nd floor, hall no. 206. The lecturers will be architecture historians Rostislav Švácha and Vendula Hnídková.

Bohumír Kozák (1885-1978) was a graduate of architecture from the Czech Technical University in Prague (1909). From the early 1920s, he successfully led his own office. From 1949 to 1958, he worked as the head of a studio at the State Institute for Urban Planning of the capital city of Prague. He is the author of many realized architectural designs, which belong to the gold fund of Czech modern architecture. Initially, he responded to the impulses of the "national style" (Radiostation Poděbrady, Telegraph and Telephone Exchange in Žižkov). However, he soon developed simplified architectural forms that led him to a highly cultivated functionalism (the Avion Palace, now Luxor, on Wenceslas Square, the complex of today's Thomayer Hospital in Krč). His contributions in the field of planning within historical settlements are noteworthy, where Kozák managed to combine his own creative invention with a deep sense and sensitivity for historical architecture and the environment.