Creating the Ostrava scene will be a long process

THE OSTRAVA SCENE

According to Martin Strakoš (see ERA 01/2010 - THE OSTRAVA PHENOMENON), the contemporary architectural scene in Ostrava began to define itself more distinctly around the year 2000. How would you characterize it?
In connection with the issue of the magazine ERA 21, a debate arose about whether there is a scene here or not. We concluded that it may have arisen, but it probably should be assessed by someone from outside. We are fighting here to build good houses, and I definitely perceive some progress. Long ago, Kamil Mrva and I used to go to Brno for lectures, and after one of them regarding Vorarlberg, we talked with the Austrian speakers who said they worked for 60 years to create a scene, a foundation for people to start taking them seriously... it's a long process. We definitely wanted the same as they did, and so we began to devise activities around the Center for New Architecture so that we wouldn’t have to travel to Brno or Prague for lectures. At that time, discussions also began about whether architecture (meaning "school of architecture" - editor's note) would or would not exist here, and it all started to move a bit, and we are pleased to have been there from the beginning. Within our association, we organized a round table on architectural education, bringing almost all the architecture professors to Ostrava, which was amazing. People preparing the Ostrava variant of architecture had the opportunity to meet and discuss with them in person; these were excellent impulses... Otherwise, for modern architecture, it was very important that a building was constructed at the beginning that had a flat roof, was new, and had wooden cladding.

Who designed it?
Engineer Pavel Obroučka, who is talented and has a breadth that would put many architects to shame. He managed to advocate for a building with the investor that had a huge influence, at least among my clients. At that time, I was preparing two houses, and both investors were afraid of the flat roof and wooden cladding. I took them to that house, and suddenly they saw - a new building, a flat roof, wooden cladding, and at the very least, they said to themselves: If he can do it, I will try it too, and that’s how it started... Trips to Switzerland, Germany, Austria were organized; something was organized by the Brno school, something by Renata Vrabelová, Kamil and I participated and thus made it to the aforementioned Vorarlberg. We studied how they did it, that they don’t paint the wood and similar seemingly banal things. So we got a feel for it and began to design those things here. You have a bit of certainty when you can tell the investor: Yes, in Switzerland this and that exists, you show photos, explain it... Nowadays, when a client arrives, I put them in the car and drive them around the houses we have built.

In addition to Ostrava architects, especially thanks to competitions and development activities, increasingly more studios from outside Ostrava are manifesting in the city. Do you view this as a benefit?
That is always a benefit, a breath of fresh air. I will put it another way. There was a time when it was completely unsuccessful. There existed a group of local architects who, of course, didn't let anyone in, no competitions were held, and if they were, they ended up like Karolina, which was a significant disappointment. When I started here, the generation, say ten years older than me, told me: You don’t stand a chance, here are these and those studios, and no one else will get public contracts or anything more substantial. Fortunately, it worked out, but it wasn’t easy and it isn’t. Colleagues from other parts of the country say the same; the problem is the same everywhere, yet here there were far fewer exemplary cases... Back to the scene. In Prague, there’s money and a lot is being built; foreign investors have come and are investing in really expensive materials; the bar has been raised. In Brno, it's not like in Prague anymore, but it’s still moving forward. Here in Ostrava, the first administrative building was constructed recently, which has decent materials. It's about the extension of the gasworks by Radek Kolařík, a black prism; that was the first swallow into the world of local strange architecture.

Proposal for the utilization of the Karolina location, project for an urban-architectural competition, 2000

Isn’t it a bit misleading - a black prism, a black cube, a black gate, a black meadow…
It's a bit of a coincidence. I don’t think it’s correct that some of the aforementioned projects are black. The black prism of coal can be a certain impulse in the architect's mind, which is nice, perhaps for a library, but a black house for living does not convince me... When we are talking about black, let me remind you of an experience. We did a competition for Havířov right after school; we finished second, the local architect was first, again without comment, it was shortly after the revolution. I proposed a mining tower at an intersection, which was to be moved from another location to the middle of a roundabout, which eventually was the only one realized. I discussed it back then with people from Havířov, telling them it was a symbol of their city, their past, the Eiffel Tower, that it all works, axial views... and my uncle said to me: As you say that, I remember all the hard work, and it bothers me. I realized how relative everything is. The idea was good, but it has to wait a bit until the generation that has experienced the bad and difficult also changes; at that point, it will work... That’s how it was with the Lower Area; it took an incredibly long time, over 15 years, before people accepted it. At the beginning, around 1991, I did a project for Lower Vitkovice that was declared a cultural monument. It was only three years ago that it broke through, and the media started unequivocally saying: We want it, those are our Hradčany...

The publication of the Guide to the Architecture of Ostrava, the initiative Revived Ostrava, the Architecture Cabinet, or Ostrava 2015 - Candidate for the title of European Capital of Culture, indicates that something is happening in Ostrava in terms of architecture promotion. How can your Center for New Architecture be understood in this context?
I guess we kind of set things in motion here, which worked, and at this moment our primary goals have been achieved. Architectural exhibitions are regularly held in Ostrava, contributed to by the arrival of a new, more receptive generation of architects. Currently, we no longer have the ambition to organize exhibitions, which is also due to the fact that floods came and in our space down here (the Center for New Architecture was located in the basement of the villa where the studio is based - editor's note) we have wet walls, and there is no money for repairs yet. But mainly, an architecture school has emerged, and some activities have transferred to its grounds, where I teach. Kamil, on the other hand, alternately works at schools in Ostrava and Brno. We are now cooperating with other associations on activities more for the development of the city. Moreover, our exhibition, which we put together in 2007, is traveling through Poland this year; we opened it in Katowice, Wrocław, and at the architecture school in Gliwice. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we turned down the Wooden House this year.

What is the potential of the Department of Architecture at FAST VŠB-TU within architectural education in the Czech Republic?
Great, everyone should be trembling… (laughs) … If from every architecture school, one or two people graduate each year who then really find their place at the imaginary top level, the same percentage could come from the Ostrava school these days. Even though the conditions are incomparable, it is in its infancy, and the kids are brutally terrorized by non-architectural subjects. When someone has talent, wants to work on themselves, and gets to good teachers, and there are some here... most of them don’t have as many years of experience as in other schools, but maybe that’s an advantage. We have a lot from practice, and hopefully, it’s more enriching than if we were classic teachers. And the kids are making progress; each year is better... For a long time, we hesitated whether establishing another architecture school in the country makes sense, and we came to the conclusion that it definitely does for this location. The better ones never returned here, whereas now the school is educating local people, in that spirit, it is good.

How will the further development in Ostrava be affected by the awarding of the title European Capital of Culture to the competing Plzeň?
The potential that exists here, Ostrava has despite any title. Personally, it feels a bit artificially created to me. If the city has a vision and builds it and there happens to be some competition where it can capitalize on it, then it’s okay; but if activities are invented just because a competition appears, it’s not entirely good. I believe that some activities that were conceived were hastily made for the candidacy. That we did not obtain the title is strange and sad because culture is at very interesting heights here. I do not want to declare that there is more or less of something here compared to Plzeň, but the candidacy awakened a lot of people and many things were done. The cultural scene was mapped, and that should help for the things to improve, and no one will underestimate them anymore, as before. The candidacy was undoubtedly an impulse, a good step into the future.

Will any of the projects now end up in a drawer?
The library is a case in itself. We have to fight to get it built. The decision that there would be no money is unrelated to not being awarded the title because it was decided much earlier. With the other competitions (the public competition for Černá louka and the invited competition for the extension of the House of Art - editor's note), since I know the situation here, I wasn’t that enthusiastic about how everything went and how it turned out. It was conceived as a blank slate action, so it so happens that it’s a black meadow, but I think it would be far more necessary for the city to carry over old projects. Marketing-wise, someone decided that this wouldn’t make them visible. Of course, there is a debate about architecture; world-renowned architects have been here, there have been lectures, but still, one must start with what is unfinished.

STUDIO

Family villa, Ostrava-Lhotka, 2006

What does ATOS-6 mean?
Studio Ostrava 6. I had no influence on the name; it came from a socialist company, Stavoprojekt, which I perceived negatively as a student – white coats and a sterile atmosphere. After a few years of practice in Ostrava, I got a tip about the ATOS-6 office; at that time, it had about twenty people and needed architectural designs and didn’t have an architect. I started collaborating with them as a freelancer. Then came the year 2000 when there was a competition for Karolina; I made a proposal, basically on the knee. A friend who was studying at the Ostrava school at that time helped me with 3D, and I drew the rest myself. Around that time, we were also working on a villa in Lhotka, so it was a terrible yet beautiful period. When my current partners from the company saw everything, they offered to take me on as a partner. I joined a group of older gentlemen who had experience, and I had enthusiasm and big plans. It was a good combination. Some things take away, but some give.

How has the enthusiasm of a young architect changed over time?
Above the door, I have a quote from Renzo Piano, which I really like: An architect who does not believe he could change the world is a candidate for suicide. It’s a necessary utopia that belongs to this profession... One must not abandon ideals; otherwise, one wouldn’t have the strength to fight every day. In that regard, I remain an optimist. However, of course, the information one gathers over the years isn’t very cheerful.

The ambivalence of the studio still manifests in the existence of an engineering studio and an architectural team at two different addresses. Does this mean that as an architect, you only focus on creating studies, while the project documentation is entrusted to engineers?
The fact that we have two centers, two addresses, evolved historically. My partners are based in Poruba; there they had their Stavoprojekt and then their new firm, while I have been based here on Slezská from the beginning. But we fundamentally draw all projects ourselves, whether it’s a three hundred million crown contract or a family house. We also process the execution documentation ourselves; I cannot imagine the implementation of quality buildings without it today. It was a huge experience to be the main engineer of the project for the extension of the ČEZ Arena. At first, I was afraid of that, but I endured, and it’s only because of that that we were able to monitor everything; if others had decided, it simply wouldn’t have worked at all. My colleagues and I agreed that here, there is still a lack of an engineering office that would have the ambition to properly finalize architecture. They would either ruin it... well, actually there is no other option; they would ruin it for me; there’s no one here who could do it well, unlike in Prague, where such engineering companies exist. It’s a necessity born of hardship, and one doesn’t even think about it much anymore. Unfortunately, not much can be built, but again, we have experience today; a person visits construction sites, sees everything, and can react immediately.

So does the collaboration with the original ATOS-6 office function in some way?
My partners are a structural engineer and an engineer. On the extension of the Arena, I had the advantage of being able to go and consult anything with them. They designed most of the structure and dealt with the spatial coordination of the energy distributions. I had the assurance of support, which I actually still have. One doesn’t have the psychological feeling that everything is just on them... In these large contracts, the advantage of our connection is fundamental.

What are your current projects and your further ambitions?
The best would be to wrap it all up and finish… (laughs)

Wrap it up?
Of course, we are not going to wrap it up, but what is happening with public contracts, with project work prices, and some investors is frightening; one can’t effectively work here…

Will I learn more?

Service building and training center for energy savings, Ostrava

We started constructing the first passive administrative building in the republic, which, as the name suggests, is an incredibly interesting project, but nothing is that simple. The project must be affordable, it has to be reasonable, and all available technological and structural gimmicks won’t be used. A real investor who has limited resources is building it, so everything is constantly being optimized and simplified, as usual. We also have many villas underway. To exaggerate, before it was 10% residential buildings, which means one or two buildings a year plus large projects. Now it’s the opposite. There are millions of villas and family houses, and occasionally something bigger. We are redesigning the Ostrava park Komenské sady, which was started very generously, but everything has been cut back because there is no money, and it’s more of a managed repair. For me, it is very interesting because I met Kurt Gebauer, with whom we are collaborating on the project. Some of the family houses are being built, which is nice, but at the same time, it’s completely scary. So many small things, and with each, the same worries as with a large construction; the money is completely laughable compared to large constructions, construction companies change everything, they don't understand when you come and say: You will change that because it was like this and that... There are questions like: Are you somehow related to that investor since you care about it so much?... But when there’s work, that’s better than when there isn’t...

On your studio's website, there is also a section on theory; I assume that education is an essential part of your architectural work?
Definitely yes. Thanks to the activities of the Center for New Architecture, we devised various documents and dealt with various matters. I prefer the practical aspect of our work, not some overly academic debates, but really solving problems and searching for them. At the moment, I am burdened by how public space is developing, the contracts organized by the city, the fact that investors build houses selfishly. Martin Strakoš described the Améba (the Améba apartment building near the New Town Hall - editor's note.) very well as a building that parasitizes on its surroundings. Buildings today only suck in and create nothing; here it’s one building after another. I am considering focusing on that, mapping it, if only I had more time...

Thank you for the interview.