Speed Date / MARTIN ZAIČEK, architect, member of the group Abandoned (Re)Creation
Where are you from?
I was born in Tvrdošín, I am from Bratislava at heart.
Where did you study?
In Bratislava.
Who was your best teacher?
Jan Tabor.
Who were/ are your parents?
My father worked in Tesla Orava, my mother was a pharmacist.
What don’t you enjoy in design?
Indifference and technocratism.
And on the contrary, what do you?
The unconventionality of creating and working with materials.
What do you listen to?
Arcade fire.
Your favourite film or cartoon?
The Fifth Element.
Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
In the field of local architecture, I would mention architect Paľo Paňák from the BKPŠ studio, an extremely creative architect for the local scene in recent years. I can’t wait for the opening of the SNG, it’s going to be a big thing. Outside the field, I recognise the pro-European statesmen who are building a common continent for us.
What thing did you last buy?
During the spring rains, I couldn’t resist a Park coat from Suveren.
Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
In the age of the internet, not much anymore, the latest addition: Beatriz Colomina, X-Ray Architecture.
Do you vote?
Yes, always.
Who throws the best parties?
Michal Sládek.
Your favourite dome?
Sina in Trenčianske Teplice.
Party dress. Made by…?
Michaela Bednárová.
Your hero from the past?
I don’t have one.
Best/nicest house?
Curative house Machnáč by Jaromír Krejcar.
Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
I’m lazy, it takes me a very long time to force myself to work, is that a stereotype?
What’s on your desktop?
What’s there by default.
Best exhibition, work of art?
Dalibor Bača – “Definitively Unfinished”, New Synagogue Žilina.
What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
I follow the theory of architecture reflecting the body, gender, sexuality. Deconstructing architecture through social mechanisms connected to the body. Beatriz Colomina is my favourite author of this genre.
Ethics or money?
Ethics.
Extraordinary book?
Jakub Drábik – “Fascism”.
Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
Depending on how I wake up in the morning, I’m subject to the mood waves in society.
Do you have any hobby?
Sauna.
Solo or in a collective?
Collectively.
Slovakia as the Promised Land?
The promised home.