AAAD celebrates its 130th year!

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
nám. Jana Palacha 80, 116 93 Prague 1

Open: Thur 10 am–6 pm, Fri–Tue 10 am–9 pm
admission free

The exhibition will take place from 22 – 27 October and the entire school premises will be accessible to the public. The individual studios will present a cross-section of their best work. “We did not want to restrict the presentation of the studios to a unified curatorial concept. On the contrary, we allowed them freedom in choosing how to best present their work on this occasion," says the Vice-Rector for public relations and international cooperation, Prof. ak arch. Jiří Pelcl, dr.h.c.

The Studio of Furniture and Interior Design, which Pelcl heads, has prepared for presentation a selection of student work of the last two years, which was exhibited in September at the Paris Design Week. The Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design, headed by Doc. Liběna Rochová, will present its travelling exhibition Iconic Recycling. Studio K.O.V. (Concept – Object - Meaning), led by Doc. Eva Eisler, is dedicating its installation to the topic Chess Tournament and showing the most successful products / objects of recent years on the boundary between art and design. Maxim Velčovský’s Studio of Ceramics and Porcelain will mount an installation of its best work of the last four years. The Sculpture Studio, under the leadership of Dominik Lang, will mount the exhibition Two Sides of a Circle. Here, students Barbora Dayef and Martina Kocmanová interpret the traditional techniques of ceramic production in the language of sculpture.

The Architecture II Studio, led by Prof. Ing. arch. Ivan Kroupa, has prepared a large figure-ground diagram of Prague with selected interventions that the studio’s students have dealt with in the last five years. Architecture III, headed by Prof. ak. arch. Imrich Vašek, conceived its presentation as “an academic-architectural survey of the new parameters of architectural typologies of contemporary 21st century mythologies”. Mgr. ak. arch. Roman Brychta's Studio of Architecture IV will present a workshop from the beginning of the current semester in which the students erected constructions without joints on the edge of stability. During the celebrations, the Chataři (Cottagers) exhibition by a former AAAD tutor, the photographer Pavel Štecha, will take place in Gallery UM.

Apart from a tour of the studio exhibitions, visitors can also experience how it feels to sit on the school benches of AAAD and participate in theoretical education. Auditoria 115 and 215 will be open to the public, and faculty staff from the field of theory and history of art as well as other prominent figures from the areas of both practice and theory will give lectures.   

On Thursday 22 October the ceremonial unveiling of a bust of one of the school’s former teachers, the renowned Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik, will take place in the office of AAAD Rector Prof. Jindřich Smetana. “Josip Plečnik not only made a name for himself in the history of Czech architecture as the prominent author of modifications to Prague Castle, but also as a teacher at our school, where he worked from 1910 to 1921 as a professor of architecture and significantly influenced the generation of young architects of the period”, Rector Prof. ak. Arch Jindřich Smetana explains why this particular figure from the school’s history is being commemorated in the jubilee. The bronze bust is a copy of the original by the Slovenian sculptor Peter Černy. The unveiling will be attended by the Ambassador of the Slovenian Republic, J.E. Leon Marc.

To mark the occasion of this important jubilee, UMPRUM Publishing is issuing a prospectus containing the latest information about the school. A documentary made by Czech TV on the history and present of the school will also be presented. The TV broadcasting premiere of the documentary will be aired on Monday 19 October at 9:45 pm on the channel ČT ART and it will also be screened during the exhibition.