High School and Business Academy

When the Czech-Polish gymnasium in Orlová was completed at the end of the summer of 1996, the hearts of most architecture theorists leaped with joy. The confident form followed one of the modern global trends in architecture - deconstructivism. The architects responded to the rather bleak context of the panel housing estate with contrasting forms that introduced a new oxygenating element into the environment. The well-placed building of the gymnasium, which responds to the surrounding context, creates a counterbalance to the orthogonal thinking of the area and offers a more interesting and emotional dominant for perception.
The 24-class school is capable of accommodating 768 students. The gymnasium is divided into Czech and Polish sections. A comparison is made with Berlin architect Daniel Libeskind, of Jewish descent, who is the author of many buildings for the German Jewish community, and Havířov's Arkis, who displays a pro-Polish tendency in our country.
From the architecture, we can still feel the influence of the functionalist training that architect Kiszka underwent during his studies in Brno; however, many elements and the resulting composition suggest a much more advanced consideration when conceiving architecture. The world of the school and students is very dynamic, and therefore I believe that an adequate range of expressive means has been chosen. I believe that the architecture of the school significantly influences the lives of students and teachers.
It is interesting that while Coop Himmelb(l)au deepens and explores the possibilities of contemporary deconstruction with every new project, architects Kiszka and Potyszová have not yet followed up on the gymnasium in Orlová. Perhaps tomorrow will bring us a different answer. For the current Czech scene, this would certainly be refreshing…