Czech Television will reveal Eva Jiřičná's 13th chamber

On Friday, January 9, Czech Television will broadcast another episode of its series "13th Chamber" on channel ČT1 at 21:00. The globally renowned Czech architect and designer living in Great Britain - Eva Jiřičná - will reveal her privacy.
She was born at the beginning of World War II in Zlín. Her father was a prominent Czech architect. Eva originally wanted to become a professor of chemistry. However, at her father's request, she studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of Jaroslav Frágner. In the summer of 1968, she went for an internship in London, but Czech authorities prevented her from returning. Eva had no idea that she would not be able to come back for another 13 years and that she would never see her beloved father again in her life. She joined the studio of Louis de Soisson, where she designed the port in Brighton. Then she began collaborating with the famous architect Richard Rogers. Jiřičná is mainly known for the interiors of fashion stores and boutiques in London and New York that she designed. She has her own architectural studio in Prague (AI Design Prague) and London (Eva Jiricna Architects). Since 1996, she has been a professor and the head of the architecture studio at the AAAD in Prague.
In family and partnership relations, she has not had as much luck as in her work. She divorced her first husband and was never able to have children. In England, her partner was architect Kaplický, who was less successful than she was at that time. After several years, they parted ways. Today, Eva Jiřičná is also known in the Czech Republic thanks to him - she was the chair of the jury that selected Kaplický's famous project for the new National Library building, the so-called Octopus, as the winning entry.
For Eva Jiřičná, leaving the country was not a liberation from the fate that is so typical for women in top positions. She too faced the decision of whether to choose a profession or a family, and she also chose work.
The guide through Eva Jiřičná's life story is journalist Jana Ciglerová.