BIG DEAL

Exhibition organizers:
Centre for Central European Architecture (CCEA), www.ccea-info.org under the auspices of the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Belgrade.

Exhibition curators:
Igor Kovačević, Yvette Vašourkova (CCEA)
Ljiljana Miletić Abramović (MAA)

After a lengthy period, the Belgrade public has an opportunity to see current works of Czech architects at three exhibitions which, together with the accompanying lectures by Czech architects, constitute the manifestation called – Days of Czech Architecture in Belgrade.

Exhibition – Dialogue of Contemporary Housing Conditions – a concentration of the most interesting designs – family houses, residential buildings and reconstructions, realized in the Czech Republic in the last three years.
Exhibition – Figurative Architecture for Beginners – a specific concept of spatial realizations of architectural forms. Its author, the leading personality in architectural studio New Work – Svatopluk Sladeček – will be present at the festive opening and will also deliver the following lecture – From Architectural Space to the Space of Architecture.
Multimedia Exhibition of Architectural Studios – consisting of short film documentaries – interviews with the founders of studios because of its emphasis on the relationships of: architect – builder, architect – the city, architect – private investor, etc. The film medium conjures up the “narration”, or the statement on personal experience of architects in search of major commissions.

The BIG DEAL project brings to light the phenomenon of a dynamic progress of the young generation of Czech architects and their studios in the 1990s, through their major designs from that period. The choice of studios reveals their diversity and questions the stereotypes of rectilinear development of Czech architecture.
Apart from the story of the development of architectural studios, the BIG DEAL project intends to indicate some of the obstacles encountered by architects in the process of their professional assertion and search for the right direction in the creative procedure. Not all of the realized works are displayed, because the purpose of the project is to show the background of architectural creation and the inner sides of architects’ work processes.
The BIG DEAL project will be presented first in Serbia (the main exhibition of Days of Czech Architecture in Belgrade) and Croatia, the countries that have had a comparable architectural situation in the period after 1989.

The Serbian–Czech architectural relations date from the nineteenth century and form part of a diverse cooperation of the two peoples. One of the first big buildings in Belgrade – Kapetan Mišino zdanje, presently the seat of Belgrade University – was built in 1863 after the design by Czech architect Jan Nevola.
This influence was particularly emphasized after World War I and the constitution of national Slavic states after the breakdown of the Austro–Hungarian Empire. The appearance of a large number of Czech experts in all areas was the consequence of the then popular ideas of pan–Slavism. The Exhibition of Czech Architecture, held in Belgrade in 1928, had a major influence on the history of Serbian architecture and the development of modern ideas. The best known among a few studios active in Belgrade at that time was the studio of Matija Bleha, who also brought over Czech architect Jan Dubový. The works of Dubový had a significant impact on the spreading of the ideas of modernism among Serbian architects. Together with M. Zloković, B. Kojić and D. Babić, Dubový was one of the founders of the Group of Architects of Modernist Orientation in 1928. The best–known Serbian architects, such as Momir Korunović, Svetomir Lazić and Nikola Dobrović completed their studies in Prague.

BIG DEAL shows the progress towards success of the following studios:

A69 – architects
(individual entrepreneur and the architect)
Studio A69 from Heb was founded in 1994 by three young, then final year students of the Faculty of Architecture (ČVUT) in Prague: Boris Rodčenkov, Prokop Tomašek and Jaroslav Vertig. The studio realized a number of designs in the short time of its existence and attracted the attention of media and the professionals. The studio does not act as a self–contained institution and presents its works at numerous public lectures and exhibitions.

New Work
(individual investor and the architect)
Svatopluk Sladeček’s New Work studio from Brno attracts specific attention primarily through its architecture of family houses and villas conceived as works of art and not only as utilitarian buildings.

Kruh / Marcela Steinbachova
(education and the architect)
The association of citizens Kruh (Circle) organizes lectures, discussions, excursions and film festivals on architecture. They also print publications that document contemporary architectural thinking. The main protagonist of this association is Marcela Steinbachova, a young architect who has successfully merged her own career with the work of a non–profit organization. She is also one of the founders of architectural studio Skupina.

HŠH architects
(public opinion and the architect)
Architectural studio HŠH architects was founded in 1998 by Petr Hajek, Tomaš Hradečni and Jan Šepka. After they had won prizes at open competitions, young architects entered the unknown ambience of media jungle directly from the classroom, but they soon found their way around and began to accomplish their ideas.

Projectil architects
(open competitions and the architect)
This studio, led by four young architects, has become known as the library studio. It has designed the Library–information Centre in Hradec Králové and the Public Technical Library in Prague.

OK PLAN ARHITEKTS
(provinces and the architect)
The OK PLAN ARHITEKTS studio was founded in 1998 by Ludjek Rizner. The seat of the studio is in Humpolec, a town between Prague and Brno. The studio draws attention through a marketing approach and active relations with the public and has spread its activities beyond Humpolec.

4A architects
(developer and the architect)
4a architects is one of the busiest studios in Prague. Its was founded in 1998; its international character and different educational experiences guarantee diversity in architectural approaches.

CCEA/ + Yvette Vašourkova + Igor Kovačević +
(education and the architect)
The Centre for Central European Architecture, founded in 2001, is the first independent architectural centre in the Czech Republic that reappraises contemporary architecture. The two architects (founders of CCEA) are committed to the advancement of architecture and architectural thinking in Central Europe and to finding the architectural identity of space. They endeavour to strengthen the Central European positions with their practical and theoretic projects..

Kuesl+Kyncl architects
(local self–government and the architect)
The studio was founded in Brno in 2001. It is closely connected to the local Faculty of Architecture. The competition entries of its founders reveal the fact that they apply and interrelate their pedagogical experiences, and confront their ideas with the general public.

BIG DEAL catalogue
Vladimir Cumalo writes about the generation phenomenon, while theorists of architecture, journalists and architects themselves treat individual subject matters. The authors are: Petr Fišer, Rostislav Koričanek, Jana kostelecka, Jan Kratohvil, Radomir Sedlakov, Milena Strnjova, Metej Šišolak, Jana Tiha.