Architektúra starostlivosti (představení knihy)

How is care related to architecture? What is the architecture of care? And are we taking enough care of it? Slovakia has rich sources of mineral waters that transformed many places into spa zones and enabled the emergence of a large number of spa buildings. Although the development of spa towns began as early as the 19th century, the most attention in this area was paid during the socialist period. The title of the book Architecture of Care refers to the phenomenon of spa services in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the period after World War II, but also to the contemporary perception of the body, regeneration, and lifestyle. The state invested large resources, specialized institutions focused on the specifics of spa treatment, as well as spa urbanism and architecture were established. As a result, buildings of unique forms were realized with a sophisticated spatial arrangement considering the needs of spa visitors.

The initiator of the entire project is the artistic group Opustená (re)kreácia: photographer Andrea Kalinová and architect Martin Zaiček, who contributed photographs and expert text to the book. The book's editor is Petra Hlaváčková, and Magdaléna Scheryová took care of the book's graphic design. From the beginning, another photographer, Peter Kuzmin, collaborated on the book. The book contains several other texts; in addition to the architectural study by Martin Zaiček, contributions were made by Zuzana Jakalová, Ivana Rumanová, and Jarmila Bencová. Oral history was collected by Barbora Németh.

The discussion will feature:
Andrea Kalinová is a photographer and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. She focuses on the intersection of art and activism, mainly aimed at preserving 20th-century architecture. She is the initiator of the platform Opustená (re)kreácia, co-author of the book Off Season (2017) and C20: Guide to the Architecture of Trenčianske Teplice (2016), and author of the documentary film Po sezóne about the spa house Machnáč (2018).

Martin Zaiček is an architect who researches 20th-century architectural heritage in Slovakia. In 2019, he defended his dissertation on the development of spa architecture between 1948 and 1989. He is a member of the artistic group Opustená (re)kreácia. He is a co-author of several multimedia performative projects, the book Off Season (2016), and the author of a series of guides to 20th-century architecture C20. He works in the civic association Archimera.

Petra Hlaváčková is a critic, curator, journalist, and documentarian who has long been focused on gender issues in art and architecture, feminist art history, and gender aspects of public space. She is a co-founder of 4AM Forum for Architecture and Media. She has prepared several exhibitions and is the editor of the Brno Architectural Manual, among others. She contributes, among other things, to A2, artalk.cz, Art+Antiques, and Era21.

Zuzana Jakalová works together with Zbyňek Baladrán as a curator at the Prague Display, Association for Research and Collective Practice. She has curated projects at MeetFactory and Prádelně Bohnice. She is currently a PhD student at the FaVU VUT in Brno, focusing on the themes of emotional labor in contemporary art institutions. She regularly publishes in Flash Art CZ/SK, A2, artalk.cz, Kapitál, and other periodicals.

Maria Topolčanská is an architect, architecture critic, and curator of public programs. She has contributed to publications such as Bratislava: Atlas of Housing Estates 1950–1995 (2012) and Modern and/or Totalitarian in 20th-Century Architecture in Slovakia (2013) and has published in many magazines. Currently, she teaches architecture theory at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.

From 5:30 PM, there will be a screening of the documentary film Po sezóne.