Price of Archiweb 2005: Zdeněk Fránek

The personality of architect Zdeněk Fránek represents a unique phenomenon in contemporary Czech architecture. The interest in organic architecture in Fránek's early work is linked to a resistance against the conditions in the then-socialist Czechoslovakia. Unlike his peers, the young architect did not cling to the strong tradition of Czech functionalism but directed his artistic potential into the realm of expressive and organic architecture. Fránek understood in time that the Hungarian organic movement was leading into a dead end and shifted from the raw wooden style to puristic plasticity, the results of which indirectly remind us of the works of expressionists Scharoun, Steiner, or the Šlapeta brothers. Continuous contemplation of architecture leads Fránek to explore white territories on the map of domestic architecture.
The interest in the artistic aspect of architecture reflecting the conceptual depth of Fránek runs through all his works like a red thread. His buildings are not easily categorically defined, and they represent an interesting collection in contemporary Czech architecture. With each of his new projects, we discover an unwritten chapter, and we certainly cannot speak of repetition. Just as we discover countless shapes and stories in nature, Fránek's buildings are equally diverse.
For his unique approach to architecture and outstanding achievements in creation, the editorial team of the portal archiweb.cz has decided to award the archiweb Prize for 2005 to architect Zdeněk Fránek. He is thus the third laureate of this award after Roman Koucký and Svatopluk Sládeček.