The latest issue of the Romanian architectural magazine Revista ZEPPELIN, entirely dedicated to Czech architecture, has just been published. Osamu Okamura was honored to be its guest curator. The last time he curated the Czech issue of this magazine (then called Arhitectura) was in 2007, i.e. 17 years ago. At that time he was still the editor-in-chief of the Czech architectural magazine ERA21. What happened during that period time?

PLATO Contemporary Art Gallery in Ostrava by KWK Promes. Photo: Juliusz Sokołowski.

From Starchitects to High-quality Community Service

In his largely critical introductory text in 2007, Osamu Okamura wrote about the difficulties of reconnecting to the often problematic roots of national identity from the first half of the 20th century (pre-communist period), about the second life of the prefab housing that dominated socialist construction, about the growing urban sprawl and the increasing number of mega shopping malls causing traffic jams. He dedicated the last part of the text to the emerging spectacular iconic architecture of world stars and multinational corporations, in contrast to Czech architectural moderation and rigor.

CAMP – Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning in Prague. Photo: BoysPlayNice.

Inspiration from Czech Architecture

Now he can see the most significant shift in the field of architecture over the past decade in the systematic spread of good practice from big cities, with their good architecture schools and financially strong investors, to many smaller cities and towns, even in more remote regions, through ambitious and talented (and often young) city architects (and local politicians), and via open architectural competitions for various smaller public projects arising from the needs of local communities. Such as new town halls, community centers, elementary school buildings, kindergartens, fire stations, libraries, city galleries, educational centers, but also the headquarters of smaller local manufacturers.
This is also, in his opinion, one of the main positive trends, which can become a good inspiration for architects and municipalities in other countries as well.

GAMPA & Sféra Building in Pardubice by Šépka architekti. Photo: Aleš Jungmann.

Special Thanks

Thanks for the cooperation go to Revista ZEPPELIN editor-in-chief Stefan Ghenciulescu. For the initiative and support to Centrul Ceh (Czech Center Bucharest) and above all to its current director Robin Ujfalusi, Česká centra – Czech Centres. And to all involved authors and architects: Tomas Zdvihal, @re:architekti, Robert Konieczny KWK Promes, Bod Architekti, atakarchitekti, CAMP – Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning, @ova, Jan Šépka.

More info on the Zeppelin Magazine | No #172 DOSSIER: Czechia. From Edge to Center. is HERE.