Designers, what do they really do?

Jan Bauch

(*1898 Prague – †1995 Prague)

was first trained as a carver, then he went on to study at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts under Max Švabinský. He was a member of Umělecká beseda (an association of musical, literary, dramatic and visual artists, theorists and friends of art) and of Spolek výtvarných umělců Mánes (The Manes Association of Fine Artists). Between the years 1946 and 1958 he worked as a senior lecturer at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. In 1977, he was awarded with the title of National Artist. At first, he was influenced by cubism, in the 1930’s by neo-classicism and later on by surrealism. His most famous works are from the 30’s and 40’s are probably the mosaic of the former Provincial Bank and the windows in St Vitus Cathedral.

Hana Benešová

(*1975 Znojmo)

Studied at SPŠS in Brno and then at the Faculty of Archtiecture in Brno under Prof. Alois Nový in the studio of industrial. From 2002 to 2006 she worked for the architectural agency ADNS architekti, and since 2007 she has been working as a freelancer. She designs interiors of both residential and non-residential premises, architectural studies of new buildings, reconstructions, attic conversions, two-floor apartments and family houses. At the same time, she designs furniture, lights and light switches, various house equipment and decorations, green space, unusual architectural elements for modern interiors and also luxury bathrooms and kitchens.

Jaroslava Brychtová

(*1924 Železný Brod)

studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague under K. Štipl and the Academy of Fine Arts under J. Lauda. Between the years 1950 and 84 she worked as an art designer in Železný Brod’s glassworks. She focused on the interconnection of sculpture and glasswork and its use in architecture. In 1954, Brychtová started co-operating with Stanislav Libenský. Together they organized a number of glasswork symposia. She founded the studio Sklo v architektuře (Glass in Architecture) in Pelechov) and she revived the 2500 year-old method of grinded glass melting. In 2005, she was awarded the State decoration Medal For Merit from the hands of President Václav Klaus.

David Černý

(*1967 Prague)

Graduated from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design and participated in study programmes in New York. Since 2002 he has had a number of individual and group exhibitions all over the world. In our country, he is mostly famous for the pink tank in Smíchov and project Babies at Žižkov Television Tower. He also engages in film creation – he is known as an architect and actor from the film Knoflíkáři by Petr Zelenka – and in theatre scenography and he is the author of the theme and screen play of the television periodical Artoza (2002).

Jan Čtvrtník

(*1975)

Studied graphic design at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, and at the Pedagogic Faculty of the South Bohemian university, specializing in teaching for art schools and colleges. He collaborated with the Jan Činčera’s studio for package design, and in 1998-2004 he worked in the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in the studio of Design products (with Michal Froňk and Jan Němeček). After his return from a scholarship in Finland, he established the File studio and later, after the residency in University Pontifica Perú in Lima, he became a founding member of the Tactoo Project. He completed many residencies and his work gained numerous international awards for bathroom design, rattan bathtub proposals, PET bottle Aqua (collaboration with Filip Streit), upholstery etc. In the competition of the Dutch design group Droog he was unquestionably as a winner.

Ivan Dlabač

Studied at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in the architecture and design department where he specialized in industrial design, machinery, health, textiles and consumer products. Due to his extensive knowledge of technological processes he leads teams of experts in various sectors of design and marketing. He also works on interior design projects and in the area of fine art. He is co-founder of the design group Divan where he currently works as a consultant for production and technology. He is also a programme leader for the Department of Industrial Design in the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in the Faculty of Design in Zlín.

Eva Eislerová

(*1952 Praha)

Is an internationally recognized jewellery designer and also works in furniture design and decorative interior accessories such as lighting, tableware and also statues. After she finished studying industrial construction at school she attended graphic design college, later she continued in architecture at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague. Later she worked as a Project Manager in the studio SIAL. Her husband, John Eisler, was also an architect and studied in Prague, they got married in 1977. In 1983 they left for New York with their sons. She had her first solo exhibition in 1987 and taught design in the New York University among other posts. In 2007 she accepted the post of Program Leader for the Department of Metal and Jewellery in the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague.

Milča Eremiášová

(*1938 Prague)

Studied the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design under Prof. Emilie Paličková and Prof. Antonín Kybal – laces and embroidery – and between the years 1962 and 1990 she taught at the Institute of Artistic Production in Prague. Apart from bobbin lace work and artistic subjects she taught the history of art and textile technology. From 1990 to 1995 she taught at a private school of artistic design in Prague, she was the head of the lace and embroidery studio. She has always been actively engaged in bobbin lace. She has organized a number of exhibitions both at home and abroad and her works can be found in state and private collections.

Michal Franěk

(*1966 Prague)

During his studies at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design under Prof. Šípek, he became one of the founders of the group of designers Olgoj Chorchoj and in 1993 he founded a company named Artěl, which focuses on Czech design. In 1999, together with Jan Němeček, he was the head of the studio of design products at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. With Eva Eislerová and the graphic studio Najbrt he exhibited carbon tables and bowls in Radio House Gallery, New York. These are now part of New York Metropolitan Museum collection. At the same time he designed a number of interiors for the company PPF, restaurant Dynamo and several private spacious apartments.

Josef Gočár

(1880 – 1945 Jičín)

was one of the most important architects of the first half on the twentieth century. His furniture, clock and lighting designs from the years of 1911 to 1920, defined Czech cubism as an independent style. He studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague in Jan Kotěra’s studio, and after his death, he was appointed as a professor of the Academy of Fine Arts where he was later voted as chancellor. The design for actor Otto Boleška’s men’s room and some of the small applied art household objects, in particular, clocks, are the most prominent works of early Czech cubism and confirm his extraordinary artistic talent. The other half of Gočár’s work is a confident modernist expression with an artistic interpretation of functionalism.

Jindřich Halabala

(*1903 Koryčany – †1978 Brno)

Played a key role in the development of modern interior design in Czechoslovakia. He studied woodwork at college in Valašské Meziříčí and then architecture at the Academy of Art Architecture and Design in Prague. His specialization was in furniture design and interiors under Professor Pavel Janák. In the thirties he became Head of Design in the United Decorative Arts Company in Brno (at the time one of the biggest furniture companies in Czechoslovakia), where he created products that combined functionalism with art deco. He designed flat pack furniture that enabled his customers to have some input in their interiors and was well known for his modular furniture, reclining armchairs and chairs made of tubes.

Josef Hoffmann

(*1870 Brtnice u Jihlavy – †1956 Vienna)

was an architect, designer and an important figure of the Art-Nouveau movement. He designed simple and elegant furniture, textiles, silver and metal objects – often with chessboard and perforated patterns, jewels, glass and ceramics. He studied at Jihlava grammar school, then at a college in Brno and finally at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under the Art-Nouveau architect Otto Wagner. These two, together with some other designers, founded an artistic group called the Vienna Secession and in 1903 they founded the Wiener Werkstätte – a workshop where they designed furniture, ceramics, metal objects and jewels. This workshop operated until 1932. Hoffmann also co-operated with Czech glassworks Loetz.

Vlastislav Hofman

(*1884 Jičín–†1964 Prague)

Czech architect, urbanist, painter, graphic designer, scenographer and an outstanding designer. His work as a painter, draftsman and graphic designer was first presented to the public in 1918 together with a group of artists called Tvrdošíjní. His painting and drawing went through different stages: expressive, geometrized, classical and realistic. Soon after, he became a protagonist of cubism in architecture and decorative arts. His furniture and house accessories brought him fame and recognition. He was employed at Prague City Hall as a bridge designer. He also engaged in modern scenography.

Salim Issa

(*1973 Prague)

studied photography at the Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Pavel Štecha’s studio and since 2001 he has been working as a free-lance photographer and graphic designer (e.g. he created the graphic design of the band Tata Bojs). Since 1995 he has been co-operating with Štěpánka Stein. They were influenced by the contact with architecture, design and applied arts students. In 2003 they received a grant from the Capital of Prague for the first place in Czech Press Photo competition for portrait. Issa and Stein followed the changes of the city – they chose Karlín which was the most affected part of Prague during the floods in 2002. One of the most significant commissions that they have realized is the project Documentation of the National Theatre Season 2005/2006. At Czech Grand Design 2006 they received the Academy of Design of the CR’s Award for fashion photographs for their series of photographs for Muset Design Fashion and Sistersconspiracy and also for the cover story for the magazine Blok.

Pavel Janák

(1882 Prague – 1956 Prague)

a Czech architect, draftsman and theorist. He was also a designer and studied civil engineering and architecture under Professor Josef Schulz and Josef Zítek; later in Vienna under Otto Wagner. Later he collaborated with Jan Kotěra. Their works were presented at numerous exhibition pavilions in the 1908 Jubilee Exhibition. In 1907 he co-founded the group Artěl, an association of artists making applied arts objects. Interior and furniture design detail was of an utmost importance to him. Together with Josef Gočár they established The Prague’s Art Workshop where proposals for furniture collections, accessories and objects of daily use were designed and made.

Jaroslav Ježek

(1936 Podlesí u Příbrami – 2002 Karlovy Vary)

was a prominent Czech industrial designer. The nephew of the famous music composer Jaroslav Ježek, he studied art in the Pedagogic Department of Charles University under Professor Cyril Bouda and Karel Lidický. From the fifties he gradually became well known as an important Czech artist in figurative and applied porcelain arts. The most important works were for the Karlovarský Porcelain and Development Company in Lesov. He was one of the founders of so called Brussel’s school, in the fifties and sixties. During his lifetime he completed 39 porcelain sets (Elka, Asmanit, Rafaela, Romana, Nefertiti) and more than hundred of miniature plastic objects.

Milan Knížák

(*1940 Plzeň)

studied at the grammar school in Planá u Mariánských Lázní and then he started his studies at the Pedagogical University in Prague which he did not finish. He also studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics but he did not finish either of them. He went on several study stays to the USA and elsewhere. From 1997 to 1998 he engaged in doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague where he was the Chancellor between the years 1990 and 1997. Since 1997 he has been working as a professor in his Studio of Intermedia Studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. Currently, he is also the National Gallery’s general director.

Zdeněk Kovář

(*1917 Vsetín–†2004 Zlín)

The Nestor of Czech industrial designers and trainee of sculptor Vincenc Makovský – had a great artistic and technical talent. His studio designed a great number of tools and machines for light industry, as well as cars (e.g. Tatra 603 and the lorry Tatra 137, 138), medical tools, record-players and telephones. He also engaged in sculpture, portraits and reliefs. In 1959, as an extraordinary professor, he founded and headed a detached studio of shaping machines and tools under the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and in 1961 was appointed its professor.

Jan Kotěra

(1871 Brno – 1923 Prague)

was a leading exponent of Czech modern architecture. He studied at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts where he was influenced by Wagner’s modernism and later, at the time of his travels around Italy, by Italian classicism. At his public and private building works he always connected sculpture, painting and design with architecture. He was also a draftsman, graphic designer, watercolour painter and applied arts designer. His style was absolutely unique and his projects were always stunningly beautiful artworks.

Václav Král

(1936 Ostrava – 2005 Prague)

was a famous Czech car designer. He was active for twenty years in motorcycle, Formula One and autocross races on a professional level. He studied the Higher National Diploma in Aviation and Car Engineering in Mlada Boleslav; later he worked in car body construction in the car manufacturing plant in Mlada Boleslav and after in the Energy Research Institution. From 1994 he taught at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He designed bodies of Formula One, Easter and Mondial, Škoda Buggy and Spider and over twenty other vehicles. Some of the most recognized are Tatra MTX V8, Dioss Rebel a Tatra Prezident. Furthermore, he designed packing assemblies, laminators, large lawn sprinklers, fine- cut saw, computers, drills, engines, and utility household objects and toys.

Zdeněk Lhotský

(*1956 Praha)

is a founding member of the artistic group Tvrdohlaví. He studied at the Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague under Prof. Stanislav Libenský and his artistic works focus on glass design, melted glass sculptures, stained glass, drawings, graphic art, metal sculptures and interior realizations. Since 1994 he is the owner of the Studio of Melted Glass Plastic Art in Pelechov u Železného Brodu. It is actually the studio founded by Jaroslava Brychtová where she and Stanislavem Libenským worked together. In 1997 he received the Bavarian State Design Award for a collection of dishes. His studio works on the most important glass commissions and Lhotský co-operates with renowned sculptures and artists from both the Czech Republic and abroad.

Stanislav Libenský

(*1921 Sezemice u Mnichova Hradiště † 2002 Železný Brod)

Studied at the secondary glass school in Novém Boru and in Železný Brod, then at the school of applied arts at the studio of Prof. J. Holeček and at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague at the glass studio of J. Kaplický. From the end of the war he taught at the secondary glass school in Nový Bor and worked as a designer for Borské Sklo. In 1954 he started to cooperate with Jaroslava Brychtová, who was his partner at work an in life until his death. He is considered to be the most significant figure of both Czech and world glass design. In the first half of the 1960’s, he e.g. created twelve reliefs for the Railway Union building hall in Paris, windows in St. Wenceslas Chapel in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle and he co-operated with K. Hubáček on the interior of the hotel and television transmitter Ještěd. In 1980’s he designed the facade of the National Theatre’s New Scene, crystal wall for the Old Town Hall, the optically impressive reliefs called Contacts inside Národní třída metro station. At Expo 1958 in Brussels, he and J. Brychtová received gold medals for zoomorphic stones made of melted glass. In 1963, Libenský become professor at the glass studio of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague where he stayed until his dismissal on political grounds in the 1980’s. From 1984 he worked at his private studio in Železný Brod.

Vincenc Májovský

(1900 – 1966)

an important designer who is responsible for a lot of innovations in the area of applied arts and industrial product design. Also he became famous as a sculptor of monumental works (New Age, J. A. Komenský, the Partisan) and as a portrait painter (B. Němcová, K. Havlíček Borovský). The artist was influenced by surrealism first but in the second half of the thirties he turned to realism.

Vincenc Makovský

(*1900 Nové Město na Moravě – †1966 Brno)

was a celebrated designer who created many design concepts in the field of decorative arts and industrial design. His talents are also recognized as a sculptor of monumental works (Nový věk, J. A. Komenský, Partyzán), and as a portrait painter (B. Němcová, K. Havlíček Borovský). He is highly regarded for his sculptures-machines – a capstan lathe and a drill with antenna. After the First World War he studied at the Academy of Arts in Prague and worked in the sculpture studios of Bohumil Kafka and Jan Štursa. After the Second World War he established Art School and became a senior researcher in the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical Institute. In 1952 he was appointed a professor at the Academy of Arts. Surrealism was a major influence in his early development but over time he tended towards a greater sense of realism.

Halka Maršálková

(*1978 Prague)

Graduated in textile creation from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. She mostly focuses on visual aspects of interiors but she also designs textiles and accessories. She and Tereza Šmahová founded Studio Manu, which has gained recognition both at home and abroad. Its realizations were exhibited and received awards in London, Sydney, Vienna and Munich. In 2007 she opened an interior studio, together with Lucie Barešová. This studio focuses on visual aspects of interiors, their decoration and textiles with characteristic printed patterns.

Alfons Maria Mucha

(1860- 1939)

born in Prague, he gained public recognition for the theatre poster, Gismonda. It had been made on request by the actress Sarah Bernhardt. He studied at the Slavic Grammar School in Brno and succeeded in becoming one of the most famous secessionist designers. There he made decorations and posters for amateur theatre performances and also designed invitations. He worked in Vienna as a painter of theatre props, and later he studied at the academy in Munchen and then in Paris. Apart from the posters he created: package designs for bottles, chocolates, biscuits, cigarettes, food menu’s, calendars and decorative screens, illustrated books, and designed Czech stamps and banknotes. His work includes also interior design, jewellery and last but certainly not least, also the window design in the St Vitus Cathedral (1931). He died on the 14th of July 1939 in Prague of tuberculosis after an interrogation by the Gestapo.

Aleš Najbrt

(*1962 Prague)

studied at the Secondary Graphic School in Prague (1977 – 81) and then design at the Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague (1982 – 88) For three years, he worked as an art director of the magazine Reflex and he published the magazine Raut. He is the author and co-author of a number of film posters (e.g. Pelíšky, Želary, Samotáři, Rok ďábla, Příběhy obyčejného šílenství) and he has received the award for the best film poster tree times. In 1996 he became the second Czech to receive the Grand Prix of the Biennale of Graphic Design in Brno. He also received the Tokyo Tipe Directors Club bronze medal. He is the author of dozens of graphic logos and marks and he co-operates on the graphic design of the International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary. In 2003 he received the Academy of Pop Music Award for the best CD cover for Jaromír Nohavica’s album Babylon.

Jan Němeček

(*1963 Praha)

Studied Architecture and Design at the Prague Academy of Art between 1985-1999 in the Studio of Architecture and Design under Professor of Architecture, Šípek Phd. Later he worked there as an assistant. In 1990, during the workshop of the Vitra Design Museum, led by Denis Santachiara, he and Michal Froňk established the design group Olgoj Chorchoj. In 1993 he formed another company called Artěl that developed Czech product design throughout the late twentieth century. Since 1999 these two artists have been programme leaders of the Product Design department in the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague. Some of their popular products were a plywood furniture line (no waste production) and resin bowls and tables. Later work included interior design for the PPF Company, interiors for the Dynamo Restaurant and later on collaboration with the porcelain maker Epiag Cápovice, and glassblowers, Tavená Plastika Pelechov, and Kavalier and Květná.

Květa Pacovská

(*1928 Prague)

engages in graphic art, painting, conceptual art and mainly in the creation of authorial experimental books. Květa Pacovská graduated from the Academy of Arts, Design and Architecture in Prague, where she studied under Prof. Emil Filla in 1951 and she distinguished herself as a children’s book illustrator and an author of free graphic art. Since 1960’s she has been working on picture books as a three-dimensional object of art. She has received a number of distinguished awards and recognitions. Between the years 1992 and 1993 she worked as a guest professor at Hochschule der Künste in Berlin and from 1995 to 1997 she realized a project of the garden in Chihiro Art Museum Azumino in Japan. In 1999 she was awarded a honourable doctorate from Kingston University, Great Britain.

Jan Padrnos

(*1967 Kutná Hora)

Studied at first in the Faculty of Engineering of the Czech Technical Institute and then he worked for four years with Ahrend Co, which was his first encounter with design. He worked for a family business in Třebíč where he carried out some of his own furniture projects. After he had set up the Blackbox company he become widely recognized for his designs of minimalist furniture and he also exhibited at prestigious shows in Milan, New York, Saint Étienne, Vienna, Brussels, Essen etc. Currently he designs furniture upholstery for a newly reborn brand UP together with Jiří Pelcl and the Olgoj Chorchoj studio. He has also begun to be interested in the direction of architecture.

Jiří Pelcl

Has been the head of the Studio of Architecture and Design in the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague since 1997. During the years 2002-2005 he was appointed chancellor. He specializes in the theory of design, and is widely published, in addition he lectures at universities internationally. He founded the celebrated design group Atika, producing designs for furniture, interiors, glass and porcelain in collaboration with numerous Czech manufacturers. One of his most prestigious assignments was the interior of Prague Castle for the ex President Václav Havel. In 2006 he gained the National Award for design, Prize Form 2006, the Prize Design Plus 2007 in Germany, and was also awarded, Czech Grand Design for the Designer of Year 2007. His works are part of many collections in galleries and museums at home and abroad.

Oskar Petr

(*1952 Prague)

has an extraordinary scope of artistic and cultural activities. He is a composer, lyric writer, singer, photographer, publicist, designer and interior designer. In the past he was a member of a folk-rock band Marsyas. He has always focused mostly in a non-commercial sphere, yet he has for example composed music for the song Medvídek, for which the band Lucie received the first prize of the Academy as the song of the year 1999 and the clip of the decade. He has created several restaurant interiors. At present, however, he focuses mainly on music. He also wrote the song Hříšná těla, křídla motýlí for Aneta Langerová.

Rony Plesl

(*1965 Jablonec nad Nisou)

He studied at secondary glass school in Železný Brod and then the Academy of Arts, Architecture and design under Prof. Jiří Harcuba and Vratislav K. Novák. He became a teacher in his former secondary school. In his artistic creation he used specifically coloured uranium glass. His limited edition of uranium vase designs made in 2006 is the interconnection of the best traditional glass technologies and contemporary design. He also makes blown glassware somewhere between design and free art. He is famous for his design of the Staropramen beer glass.

Beáta Rajská

(* 1963 Liptovský Mikuláš)

Graduated from the School of Industrial Textiles in Trenčín and the Philosophical Faculty of the Comenius University in Bratislava. As a student she won many awards in fashion competitions and in 1993 she began to teach in a textile school. From 1997 she worked as a freelance fashion designer and in 2001, established her own business Beáta Rajská – Design, her work has been connected with the competition MISS. Presently she is one of the leading contemporary fashion designers.

Jiří Rathouský

(*1924 Prague – †2003 Prague)

studied arts at the Faculty of Education of the Charles University in Prague (1945–49). In the 1950’s he started focusing on promotional and graphic book art. He was one of the founders of the group Šturma in 1952, group Máj in 1957 and Horizont in 1959, and he created posters for their exhibitions. He also worked on the artistic arrangements of Czechoslovakian pavilions in Expo 58 in Brussels, Expo 67 in Montreal and Expo 70 in Osaka. His most important commission from the turn of the 70’s and was his variable integrated Prague transport information system (original alphabet called Metron), used for line C of Prague’s metro. He also made an information design for the New Scene of the National Theatre and information systems for the hotel Intercontinental in Prague and Thermal in Karlovy Vary. At the beginning of the 90’s he also developed an orientation system for the Czech parliament. He is equally known for the graphic marks of the publishing houses Albatros, Artia, Československý spisovatel, Orbis and Olympia.

Liběna Rochová

(*Brno)

Studied at textile secondary school and wanted to continue at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague but was not accepted on grounds of having a bad background. She was a member of a group of artists who organized exhibitions and fashion shows in Bertramka. In 1990, she represented the Czechoslovak Republic at the CPD IGEDO World Fashion Show in Düsseldorf. Thanks to a huge success of the fashion show she started to work for a lot of foreign companies and has become one of the best contemporary fashion designers.

René Roubíček

(*1922 Prague)

Studied applied arts in the studio of monumental painting and glass (prof. Jaroslav Holeček) and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design under prof. Josef Kaplický. He was the chief designer of the art and technical centre n. p. Borské sklo and worked at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He become popular during the Expo in Brussels with his large abstract composition made of glass and metal for which he was awarded the Grand Prix. He and his wife – glass designer Miluše Roubíčková – were famous for monuments as well as smaller objects for interiors. Roubíček also designed chandeliers, luminous compositions and stained glass. His love for music inspired him to make variations of glass musical instruments.

Jan Schindler

(*1968 Berlín, SRN)

Lived as a child in Ostrava and later in Prague, he studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical Institute. Since then he worked for various Berlin’s studios. From 1997 he became a member of the group 4A architects formed by four partners, each of them from a different country: Leigh D´Agostino from England, Peter Hudák from Slovakia, Ludvík Seko from CZ a J. Schindler, who is considered both a Czech and German designer. The company took part in the competition for the realization of the library in Letná. Some of their projects are family houses and villas, including interiors.

Ladislav Sutnar

(*1897 Pilsner –†1976 New York)

One of the founders of Czech modern design, his main spheres being decorative art, exhibition management and typography. His legendary glass dishes were part of almost every household. In 1939, he left for the USA, where he was in charge of the Czechoslovakian exhibition at the World’s Fair in New York. Then he gradually joined the founders of modern American graphic design. Nowadays, he is considered a predecessor of website graphic layout. Apart from graphic art and utility object design, he engaged in scenography, architecture, exhibition management, toy and marionette design and teaching. At the age of thirty-five he become the director of the National Graphic School in Prague, which he significantly modernized. From the 1960’s on, he focused on painting. In 2001, he received a distinguished service medal in memoriam.

Bořek Šípek

(*1949 Praha)

is a Czech architect and designer: he was born and grew up in Královské Vinohrady. He lost his parents as a child. The orphan’s guardian René Roubíček was a well known Czech glass artist. After Šípek graduated from the school of applied arts, he emigrated to Germany. In Hamburg he studied architecture and in Stuttgart, philosophy, and later he worked as an assistant in the Institute of Industrial Design in the University of Hannover. In 1983 he moved to Amsterdam where he set up his own design and architectural studio. In 1990 he began to teach architecture in Prague. One year later he founded a glassmaking company AJETO and built associated art glass works near to Nový Bor. He was appointed by Václav Havel as a chief architect of the Prague’s Castle and in 2005 he was voted the dean of the Technical University in Liberec.

Petr Tučný

(1920)

belongs to a founding generation of the Czechoslovakian and European industrial design, but he is also a painter and graphic designer. He worked within the framework of the Czechoslovakian industry chiefly in building, forestry, trenching machinery (excavator DH 132 ZTS) and designed original concepts of furniture (furniture MS 2000). He published theoretical and teaching works on aesthetics and the methodology of design (essentials of aesthetics’ technique, theory of aesthetic reactions). A graphic artist, architect and designer of international reputation, he was a man of many skills and apart from many international awards he can pride himself on the fact that many royal families use kitchens designed by him.

Maxim Velčovský

(*1976 Praha)

Studied applied arts in Uherské Hradiště and the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design; ceramics and porcelain and contemporary design of interior objects. He is the head of design for the studio Qubus, together with Jakub Berdych, also he writes for the magazine Blok, draws comics and even acted in a TV ad. In 1999 he received a scholarship to the Glasgow School of |Arts and he has participated in more than 25 exhibitions. He is reowned for his design of digital clocks in Empire style or a bowl formed in the shape of the Czech Republic, porcelain cups and saucers in “pure‘ style. His work is represented in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague and many international collections. Last year he won the Designer of Year award in Czech Grand Design.

Andrea Vokřálová

(*1978 Konárovice)

one of the most significant contemporary applied glass designers, she studied at the School of Applied Plastic Arts in Železný Brod; then the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and the department of glassmaking under the professor Vladimír Kopecký. She completed an internship in the Bezalel University in Jerusalem and L´ecole Superiéure des Arts in Strasburg in France. Later she collaborated with Anna Glass’s glassmakers in Nový Bor. In 2003 – 2007 she taught at the Applied Glass School and the Institute of Chemical Technology and the department of painting in Světlé nad Sázavou. In 2001 she founded together with Milan Krajíček jr. the studio Animus. As of 2006 she works as the manager of the Prague’s ZOO exhibition’s department.