<h1>Lecture by Rostislav Švacha on New Visions of Modernity 1985-95</h1>

The Antiquarian Bookstore and Club Fiducia cordially invites you to a lecture by the prominent Czech art historian and internationally recognized expert on twentieth-century architecture Rostislav Švácha on the topic New Visions of Modernity 1985–1995, which will take place at Fiducia on Wednesday April 6, 2011 at 6:00 PM.

Leading Czech architects of the unofficial scene in the 1970s and 1980s were interested in Western postmodernism, including its tendencies toward historicism. However, around 1988–1992, their orientation changed. The values of modernity re-emerged, whether adopting a neo-functional or more contemporary minimalist form. This can be well observed in the projects of Alena Šrámková, Emil Přikryl, the A.D.N.S. association, or Josef Pleskot. The lecture will focus on this turnaround while reflecting on the extent to which the then-current Czech architectural theory and criticism, led by Jana and Jiří Ševčík, were able to explain it. The lecture will last for two hours.

Prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha, CSc., (1952, Prague) graduated in 1976 from the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University in Olomouc. From 1977 to 1984, he worked as an editor at the Odeon publishing house. In 1985, he became a research worker at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences, where he is still employed. He focuses on the theory and history of art and architecture from Baroque to contemporary times. He also teaches at the School of Architecture at the Academy of Art in Prague and the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University in Olomouc. Among other works, he is the author of numerous studies and articles on the history of architecture and issues of heritage conservation and contemporary architectural creation in professional journals and media, as well as several books: From Modernity to Functionalism: Transformations of Prague Architecture in the First Half of the 20th Century (1985, 2nd edition 1994), Le Corbusier (1989), Angled, Square, and Arched Shapes: Czech Cubist Architecture 1911–1923 (2000), Czech Architecture and Its Rigour, Fifty Buildings 1989–2004 (2004). Last year, a catalog edited by him, SIAL (2010), was published by Arbor vitae as a counterpart to the exhibition of the work of the prominent Liberec architectural studio.

We are organizing this event in collaboration with architectural historian Martin Strakoš. RESERVE YOUR SEATS IN TIME BY CALLING: +420 596 117 312.

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EVENTS OF THE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSTORE AND CLUB FIDUCIA IN 2011 ARE SUPPORTED BY: The Ministry of Culture, The Statutory City of Ostrava, The City District of Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz, The Czech Architecture Foundation, The Landek Foundation, The Czech Chamber of Architects.