Exhibition of workshops of the Department of Architecture at VŠUP in the DOX center

A 1234

Four studios, each with its own specific approach and orientation towards architecture. Student projects represent architecture in the entire spectrum from landscape through buildings, interiors to detail. The exhibition takes place at the DOX Contemporary Art Center in Prague (Poupětova 2a, Prague – Holešovice) from February 27, 2009, to March 12, 2009. Opening on February 26, 2009, at 7 PM.

The individual studios further present their leaders in short comments:


A1 – studio leader: Assoc. Prof. Jindřich Smetana, assistant: MgA. Josef Čančík

The unique advantage of the VŠUP system is studio teaching. Thanks to this, the student has the opportunity to perceive and compare their development both in the horizontal of their classmates and in the vertical of higher years. In this way, they gain multiple experiences and encounter topics they would not have touched upon in a conventional six-year education system.

What should graduates, students, candidates of the Architecture 1 studio have...
graduates:
They should have a sense of situation, context – values that are independent of them. This is a guarantee for quality in the profession.
They should have courage, critical thinking, and faith.
They should have social sensitivity.
They should have luck.
students:
The basic working method is searching and healthy experimentation. Thus, the opposite of routine and the assumption of truth. There is no place for authorial whims in architecture. At school, they can learn to listen where the given topic will lead them.
They should be able to put good concepts aside when they do not lead unequivocally to the goal.
They should be interested in understanding their colleagues' thinking in the studio. Also, in other fields at school. This is a prerequisite for respect towards others. "Envying" good ideas is also a manifestation of appreciation, a guarantee of growth, and indirectly an expression of humility.
candidates:
They should be generally educated.
They should have the ability to read the space around them, the landscape, the city, and the society in which they operate. They should have feelings about it. They should also read literature.
Analytical thinking and technical literacy are prerequisites.
They should be able to express themselves, of course, also artistically.
They should have a sense of humor and the ability to maintain it throughout their "career" (the test is part of the entrance exams).


A2 – studio leader: Prof. Ing. arch. Ivan Kroupa, assistant: Ing. arch. Jana Moravcová

Complete architecture - the full spectrum of architectural skills with overlaps into related fields. Architecture in as broad a context as possible. Emphasis on and support for each student's personal approach, participant in the discussion. Justified contemporary or futuristic architecture with a substantial relationship to reality. Freedom, responsibility.


A3 – studio leader: Prof. Petr Keil, assistant: MgA. Patrik Zamazal

The goal of studying in studio A3 is to nurture independent creative personalities who are professionally oriented across the entire spectrum of architectural creation. During their studies, they become acquainted with the broadest possible field of architecture – from detail and its design through interior design, minor architecture and building architecture, to the creation of urban space. Collaborative studio work among students of all years allows them to learn from their teachers and each other, while also providing inspiring feedback to the teachers. The purpose of education is primarily to teach students to find the best spatial and volumetric solution for the given house's content. Only the understanding of all spatial principles and knowledge of individual typological types of buildings, applied with the appropriate imagination, is a prerequisite for higher quality creation. Future architects should embrace the idea that all their creations should primarily serve human needs and understand that only a well-solved function provides space for architectural creation, which should radiate an understanding of place and a certain kindness. Then only time will show the viability of the work.


A4 – studio leader: Prof. Jiří Pelcl, assistant: MgA. Radim Babák    

Our studio at VŠUP is on the third floor, it is a large space of 8x12 m with the professor's cabinet above under the ceiling. There are about twenty of us students across six years. We differ from other architecture studios at the school in that we also focus on design tasks.
Each year works on different projects; sometimes we all have a common task.
We think about the houses in which people live and the things they use. At the same time as thinking, we draw these things, make models, and test if they work.
These are not only houses, interiors, and furniture, but also lighting and objects with which people live. We enjoy experimenting and doing things as we feel them.
At the end of each semester, the studio is cleaned up, and the works are exhibited.
We regularly participate in domestic and international competitions. Sometimes we win main prizes; other times we win nothing.
In addition to studio work, we have lectures from accompanying disciplines related to the study of architecture. Lectures on art history and other theoretical disciplines are held together with other students of the school, painters, sculptors, graphic artists, textile students, ceramics, etc.
Almost every student during their studies goes on an internship to some foreign art school; conversely, we regularly have one or several interns from other schools with us in the studio...

The DOX Contemporary Art Center is open: Tue-Fri 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM, Sat-Mon 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM