ZČU has started building the Institute of Art and Design for 200 million

Plzeň - After seven years of effort, construction of the Institute of Art and Design (ÚUD) began today in the campus of the University of West Bohemia (ZČU) in Bory. "Art factory," as the teachers and students call the new building, will cost approximately 200 million crowns. The university managed to reduce the institute's original budget by 40 percent due to the crisis and strong competition among suppliers, which will save the Ministry of Education that finances the entire construction. Groundwork is expected to begin in January on the land next to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering towards the Borská Pole industrial zone. The Institute of Art and Design is set to open in September 2012, ZČU's treasurer Antonín Bulín told ČTK.
    "After completion, the institute will be transformed into the ninth faculty of ZČU. The building will consist of large open studios, flexibly adjustable, and a three-story building for departments," he added. According to the director of ÚUD, Josef Mištera, it is possible to shorten the construction time from 18 to 14 months or less, but it depends on the weather. "It is a simple modular hall, like a large Merkur construction set. We have participated in its design," he added.
    Consolidating one of the youngest art-focused universities in the Czech Republic under one roof will not only bring economic savings but also save time for teachers and students and enhance the quality of education.
    According to Bulín, ZČU has been trying to secure funding for the construction for six years. It was delayed due to budget shortages and the fact that some other projects became more prioritized, Bulín added.
    "Next year, in addition to the ÚUD, we will construct three research centers for the technical faculties. Construction companies in the region need not worry about a lack of work. Such contracts are comparable to highways, but in my eyes, they are somewhat more meaningful," said ZČU vice-rector František Ježek. Thus, the campus will be a major construction site for the next four years.
    The ÚUD will have 6,000 square meters and a capacity of 550 students. Currently, the institute has 450 students in 16 fields and 50 teachers who work in seven locations around Plzeň. "Thanks to the new building, we will increase the number of students by another hundred," Mištera stated. The institute started in 2002 as part of the Faculty of Education at ZČU with 80 students in illustration and design. It was established in response to the lack of higher art schools in northwestern, western, and southern Bohemia. It attracted several prominent Czech artists, such as sculptor Jiří Beránek and Vratislav Karel Novák, Helena Krbcová for fashion design, painters Mikoláš Axmann, Boris Jirka, Jiří Kornatovský, and one of the latest was Jiří Barta, a prominent director and creator of animated films, who guarantees the new discipline of animated creation.
    "The intensive development of the institute is now over. We would like to accredit a master's program in product design and we are also considering photography and some special studios such as comics, which is in high demand," Mištera stated. The original plan to accredit and open architecture will now not be fulfilled due to an excess of architects and schools.
    Thanks to Plzeň recently succeeding as the European Capital of Culture 2015, the ÚUD is also counting on the Světovar project, where, alongside a multifunctional cultural center, a branch of the Prague Museum of Applied Arts will be established. "We are already negotiating with the management. We want to collaborate with this entity and we also want to have some workshops at Světovar because we plan to accredit new fields in the restoration of applied arts," the director added.