Interview with architect Markéta Cajthamlová

Ing. arch. Markéta Cajthamlová

She was born in 1959 in Prague. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague and completed postgraduate studies in architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
From 1989 to 1991, she gained professional experience in Canada.
She has been an active architect, and from 1991 to 1999, she was a partner at the design office Lev Lauermann and Markéta Cajthamlová; since 1999, she has had her own office. In 1996, she taught at the Summer School of Architecture in Liberec, and from 1996 to 1997, she worked as an assistant in the studio of architect L. Lábus. She is a member of the Czech Chamber of Architects.
She was the editor of the second Yearbook of Czech Architecture 2000-2001. Her works have been published in various Czech and foreign magazines.

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For a long time, your work has focused on a single type of construction - family houses, specifically villas. Would we find other typological types in your work?
Few. It's definitely not intentional. It is due to the focus on private clients. With them, the outcome can be influenced to a certain extent, and it is simultaneously influenced by the client. When someone decides to invest their money in a house, they choose a reasonable architect and the collaboration begins on the basis of mutual understanding, so the outcome is more or less, I don't want to say guaranteed, but it tends towards a good result. In developer projects or state contracts, it is mostly insane struggles associated with disappointment in the end. So, I would say that my focus has emerged over time. Maybe it's convenience, maybe a resistance to that desperate struggle often associated with corruption.

Some architects refuse to take on family house commissions because they are financially unprofitable for them. The final realization usually does not meet their expectations. What do you think about that?
It is true that we do very little of it. There are a lot of investors who come through our office with something they saw and want to do that too; however, very few of them we actually collaborate with. It’s some sort of mutual selection. I don’t say it to them directly, but they likely sense themselves that it won’t completely go their way.

How many projects do you usually work on? Could you estimate how many houses your studio designs annually?
About two - at most. We realize one house per year. This corresponds to the work involved. Once that mutual communication with the client succeeds, there is a lot of work not only on the house itself but also on the interior, furnishings, garden... The total amount of work is indeed significant.

To what extent does the personality of the builder manifest itself in your houses?
To the extent that it is acceptable for me.

…and has it ever happened to you that a client entrusted you with a commission and left everything, including the construction program, to you?
I would perhaps not want to influence the construction program. Feedback from the client is always very important. Everyone has specific needs. Useless things must not be invented. Of course, when a client says that something is too big or small, I try to influence that, but the spaces and how big the house should be overall - the builder usually has little money and wants a big house - so I have to gain the advantage there. We need to put that together.

So far, it works that way. Maybe also because the internet is starting to function well as a medium.

Why don't you have your own website?
Probably sheer laziness. I've thought about it, but Archiweb works quite well…

Could you design a prototype house for a developer? Is it possible to sacrifice the determinant of location in the design?
I feel that it might not be possible without the location. As for prototype houses - sometimes someone calls us and says, "I heard you do little houses, send us a catalog." I know that some offices do that. We don’t have a catalog and probably wouldn’t go into that. Some developers are now calling offices and want prototype houses in a specific location, but that also seems anonymous to me. I know it would have to remain just a shell, and the interior would have to change. There is always a specific buyer, and they may not always identify with that architecture. I prefer to work for a specific person than for a developer. However, I understand that this market exists and someone has to fill it.

In recent years, there has been much talk about low-energy, healthy, or intelligent houses. How do these new requirements affect your work?
I rather let it flow. It is true that the last two clients asked about low-energy houses. That word is used a lot now, and developers use it as a weapon, as a lure. I’ve expressed not entirely positively about it, and I think that was the reason why they left. So I've started to think about that. I have nothing fundamentally against it. I know society should address this issue. However, I am not sure if it is specifically family houses. The entire name, the technology, affects the construction so much, influences its architecture, that I am not sure if it is the priority that one should choose when building a family house.

Do you think the technology directly influences architecture?
Terribly! Small windows to the north, large ones to the south… The rules are clear. Due to material costs, it is no longer a low-energy house. Moreover, such a building can hardly be ventilated other than through forced ventilation and recuperation. That alone sounds terrible, and the idea that I would close myself in a little house and wouldn't be able to open the window to save money while simultaneously heating a pool next to it - that doesn’t sound good to me.

In the yearbook of Czech architecture, you mentioned that the emergence of quality architecture requires not only enlightened clients and quality architects but also competent officials and skilled contractors. Have you observed any progress in this area over the last few years?
Not really. No. There are still as many competent clients, and probably the same number of competent officials, and developers are also the same. I don’t see any shift. Instead, there are more investors who have 4-5 million. The middle class has grown.

Does the promotion of architecture play a role in this regard? Do you think the current promotion of architecture is of quality? Do future builders have relevant information and are they not manipulated by the tastes of fashion magazines?
Of course - they are influenced the most by that. Magazines like Modern Apartment, Roof, Window, Garden... I don’t even know what they are called. I think there are already several of our own and international professional magazines, and it’s just about the client's education whether they buy My House or something of better quality.

How do you think communication with the general public should improve?
It's lacking in the mass media. The word architect still sounds derogatory there. Someone recently told me that the New York Times publishes an article about architecture every week and it's on par with any other culture segment. Then society can perceive it quite differently. Of course, television is the strongest medium.

Should architects themselves engage in some activities?
Probably yes, but I don’t know how. Perhaps in such a way that they will build decent houses, right?

Are you planning to publish your own book or organize an author exhibition of your works?
I was asked about that about two years ago. I said I would build two or three more houses and maybe then. So I will build a few more and see.

What do you think about the claim that women design better interiors than men?
Well, that is true. It’s probably related to attention to detail. Men have big concepts, and women may focus more on the details. They care as much about how it looks from the outside as from the inside. I find that important for a family house.

Do you have any unfulfilled wishes in your field?
Perhaps to try something different than little houses. Something bigger.