Famed architect Hubáček dies

Prominent Czech architect Karel Hubáček died Nov. 23 at the age of 87, leaving a legacy as one of the most important designers during the country's final two decades under the communist regime.

Hubáček is perhaps best known for Ještěd, the mountaintop hotel and television transmitter near Liberec. Considered a symbol of the north Bohemia region, Ještěd, constructed between 1966 and 1973, gained international recognition as his biggest success and won the Auguste Perret Prize from the International Union of Architects in 1969. The building was noted for its elegant shape of a rotating hyperboloid and practical use of modern technology. The building also won the title of most successful Czech architectural project of the 20th century in 2000.

But his influence and designs were farther-reaching than Ještěd, according to architecture historian Zdeněk Lukeš.

"Even if we leave out Ještěd, all of his buildings in the 1960s and 1970s were exceptional," Lukeš said. "They were finished by paying attention to the very last detail, even regarding technology."

While born and raised in Prague - even studying architecture in the city - it was in north Bohemia that he left his mark. It was there, in the city of Liberec during the communist regime, that he flourished and started his own architecture studio, the Liberec Association of Engineers and Architects (SIAL). What made his studio so special, according to Rostislav Švácha, professor of architecture history at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, was the close cooperation of architects and structural engineers.

"The studio program was based on a close working relationship between architects and engineers," he said. "They didn't compete; they inspired each other and motivated each other to perform better."

SIAL only saw three years of independence, from 1968 to 1971, before the communist authorities ordered it to join the state architecture organization, Stavoprojekt. Even then, Hubáček was able to pick the right people for his studio. He visited architecture schools and picked the most gifted students for his own working team.

"He was able to create ideal conditions for young architects," Lukeš said. "They even got a chance to compete in international competitions, which was absolutely rare."

Hubáček also established, along with architect Miroslav Masák, the SIAL kindergarten, in an effort to raise a strong architecture generation.

After the revolution, Hubáček became professor of architecture at the Technical University of Liberec and remained active in SIAL.

Hubáček has been said to be the most significant personality of Czech architecture during the 20th century.

Filip Šenk can be reached at
fsenk@praguepost.com