Bedřich Rozehnal: An Architect Who Changed the Standard of Hospital Environments

The exhibition presents the personality and work of the Brno architect Bedřich Rozehnal (1902–1984), who was one of the few creators of the 20th century specializing in healthcare architecture and fundamentally changed the standard of hospital environments. In his peak realizations, he successfully combined elegant functionalist aesthetics
with a scientific approach to hospital operations and an emphasis on the psychological impact on the patient – what we would today call the humanization of the environment. Through his work, he not only defined the concept of a “modern hospital” but also educated
a whole post-war generation of architects.
Bedřich Rozehnal worked after completing his university studies in 1931 in the architectural office of Vladimír Fischer, where he participated in the project of the House of Comfort in Brno, which he modified and independently completed. This was followed by intensive work on projects for regional and clinical hospitals (Nové Město na Moravě, Kyjov, Dačice, Kroměříž, Hodonín, etc.) culminating after the war with the Children's Hospital in Brno. During the same period, he was appointed professor at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Dr. Edvard Beneš in Brno, where he became the most popular educator. From 1960 to 1962, he was imprisoned by the communist regime for alleged fee and tax irregularities related to design work at the university. While staying at Basaprojekt, where he held an almost legendary position among persecuted and imprisoned architects, he designed his last realized buildings. After 1966, he became the head of the Cabinet for Environmental Design at J. E. Purkyně University in Brno and later the director of the Institute for Environmental Design at the Technical University, where he returned as a professor at its Faculty of Civil Engineering. In 1970, he was fully rehabilitated and received numerous honors.

The exhibition includes examples of Rozehnal’s project documentation and period photographs of buildings from the collections of the Museum of the City of Brno, as well as several original items from the hospital environment. A separate section presents an overview of hospital architecture in Prague, where the development (unlike in southern Moravia) was shaped by a number of differently oriented creators. Plans and photographs of Prague hospitals designed by architects such as Josef Havlíček, Vít Obrtel, or the duo František Čermák and Gustav Paul come from the archive of the Development Unit of the Capital City of Prague.

Organizer: Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, Museum of the City of Brno
Venue of the exhibition: Hall of Architects, 4th floor of the Old Town Hall, Old Town Square 1, Prague 1
Date: November 14, 2013 – March 30, 2014
Opening hours: Mon 11.00–18.00, Tue-Sun 9.00–18.00
Admission: free
Exhibition authors: Jindřich Chatrný (Bedřich Rozehnal), Martina Flekačová and Milan Kudyn (History of Prague Hospitals)
Curator: Klára Halmanová
Architectural solution: Lenka Křemenová, David Maštálka, Tereza Schneiderová – A1 Architects
Graphic design: Marta Maštálková
Production: Jitka Kulhánková
Information for the public: www.salarchitektu.cz

Accompanying program for the exhibition:
December 4, 2013, 5 PM - Guided tour of the exhibition with Jindřich Chatrný, Martina Flekačová, and Milan Kudyn
January 29, 2014, 5 PM - Guided tour of the exhibition with Jindřich Chatrný and architect Eva Rozehnalová
Reservation required by email at info@salarchitektu.cz.