Speed Date / JANA MORAVCOVÁ, architect
Where are you from?
I am a nomad, born under the Tatras, raised in totalitarian North Bohemia, studied and profiled in Prague (with breaks abroad).
Where did you study?
FA CTU Master and PhD student / École d’architecture de Nantes / Atelier of Digital Media FUUD.
Who was your best teacher?
Ivan Kroupa, Štěpánka Šimlová.
Who were/ are your parents?
Birth certificate says retail inspector and technician in the company.
What don’t you enjoy in design?
Egomania.
And on the contrary, what do you?
Sharing, communication, uniqueness.
What do you listen to?
I grew up listening to classical and electronic music.
Your favourite film, cartoon, series?
Right now I’m devouring Mad Man, otherwise recently Red, Spy, older Fargo, Narcos.
Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
I don’t have many authorities, in my country I still like Ivan Kroupa, from the younger Sporadical, otherwise my favourite is Jean Nouvel. I recognize anyone who manages to bring a concept adequate to the place and the client to realization.
What thing did you last buy?
A work bag.
Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
When we invite someone to the gallery we always try to get a physical publication that they have contributed to, most recently Charlotte Barthens: Housing Cairo. I’m furthering my education in large scale and landscape architecture, and outside the field I’m interested in psychology and economics.
Do you vote?
I do.
Who throws the best parties?
I don’t know. 😉
Your favourite dome?
I don’t have any.
Party dress. Made by…?
Jeans.
Your hero from the past?
I don’t have any.
Best/nicest house?
I don’t have any.:)
Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
I try not to have them, to start from scratch every time…First I listen to the assignment, then I go to the place and immediately make a sketch and then you have to suffer for a few years before it materializes. I’m learning to enjoy the process. What’s crucial for me is who I’m doing the project for and with.
What’s on your desktop?
Black.
Best exhibition, work of art?
I don’t have any.
What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
See above.
Ethics or money?
Ethics.
Extraordinary book?
Houellebecq.
Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
Optimist.
Do you have any hobby?
Sports and friends.
Solo or in a collective?
Both.
Slovakia as the Promised Land?
Absolutely, I go there more and more often and I like it more and more.