Ideas Behind the Form: Overlooked Qualities of the Experimental School in Bratislava

Ideas Behind the Form: Overlooked Qualities of the Experimental School in Bratislava

Paper in proceedings (conference paper)

Through the example of the experimental school in Bratislava, designed by a prominent Czech architect Vladimír Karfík (in collaboration with a structural engineer Jozef Harvančík), built in 1957, the aim of the paper is to show the importance of awareness of the contemporary context that influenced the conception of school buildings in the period of socialism in the then Czechoslovakia. It is not only the architectural value of a particular building, but its placement in the historical discourse that can be used to justify its significance. This knowledge also increases the assumption that the method of restoration and further use will be designed in accordance with the original concept to support its values. This was not entirely the case with the school under study, which, although it did not destroy the original features, visually suppressed them through colour and decorative elements. The frequent overlooking of the values of the schools built during socialism motivated the research, aiming to identify aspects that show that architects in Czechoslovakia—similarly to their colleagues in Western countries—sought to produce work that responded appropriately to the current knowledge of the time in general, not necessarily submitting to the regime. In the case of the experimental school, this can be based not only on the fact that one of its authors was the prominent Czech architect Vladimír Karfík, whose work was influenced by work experience for Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, and by the years spent in the Baťa company, during which his most important realizations were created. It is also evidenced by the content analysis of a book Karfík co-authored, which provides dozens of examples of schools from the West. Apart from this, the research worked primarily with standard methods of architectural history (archival research, contemporary publications, field research).

Through the example of the experimental school in Bratislava, designed by a prominent Czech architect Vladimír Karfík (in collaboration with a structural engineer Jozef Harvančík), built in 1957, the aim of the paper is to show the importance of awareness of the contemporary context that influenced the conception of school buildings in the period of socialism in the then Czechoslovakia. It is not only the architectural value of a particular building, but its placement in the historical discourse that can be used to justify its significance. This knowledge also increases the assumption that the method of restoration and further use will be designed in accordance with the original concept to support its values. This was not entirely the case with the school under study, which, although it did not destroy the original features, visually suppressed them through colour and decorative elements. The frequent overlooking of the values of the schools built during socialism motivated the research, aiming to identify aspects that show that architects in Czechoslovakia—similarly to their colleagues in Western countries—sought to produce work that responded appropriately to the current knowledge of the time in general, not necessarily submitting to the regime. In the case of the experimental school, this can be based not only on the fact that one of its authors was the prominent Czech architect Vladimír Karfík, whose work was influenced by work experience for Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, and by the years spent in the Baťa company, during which his most important realizations were created. It is also evidenced by the content analysis of a book Karfík co-authored, which provides dozens of examples of schools from the West. Apart from this, the research worked primarily with standard methods of architectural history (archival research, contemporary publications, field research).

experimental school building; Czechoslovakia; post-war modernism; prefabrication; socialism; Karfík

experimental school building; Czechoslovakia; post-war modernism; prefabrication; socialism; Karfík

BARTOŠOVÁ, N.

02.12.2024

Docomomo International

Santiago de Chile

978-956-6204-22-0

Modern Futures: Sustainable Development and Cultural Diversity, ed. H. Torrent

219

225

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