Speed Date / JIŘÍ KŘEJČIŘÍK, designer
Photo: Michaela Karásek Čejková.
Where are you from?
Prague.
Where did you study?
In Pilsen and Copenhagen.
Who was your best teacher?
Dušan Brozman, who taught the theoretical course Colour, Light, Space at the Faculty of Design and Art in Pilsen.
Who were/ are your parents?
Home and love.
What don’t you enjoy in design?
Trendiness.
And on the contrary, what do you?
Authenticity.
What do you listen to?
Christian Löffler, Nicolas Jaar, Rafael Anton Irisarri, Coals, FKA twigs, Yung Lean.
Your favourite film or cartoon?
Square, Toni Erdmann, The Worst Person in the World, Love, Enter the Void.
Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
Among the contemporary ones, for example, the architect Ricardo Bofill, who died a few days ago. Looking into the past, then Jože Plečnik. Both of them are absolutely authentic, incredibly working with composition, space and the tension between the forms that make up the final whole.
What thing did you last buy?
A train ticket.
Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp by Pierre Cabanne.
Do you vote?
Yes, I do.
Who throws the best parties?
I like the spontaneous ones that happen during an evening with friends.
Your favourite dome?
Polish couple Coals, who mesmerized me a year ago when they performed in the intimate space of Café V Lese in Prague.
Party dress. Made by…?
Second-hand and last-minute improvisation.
Your hero from the past?
Milada Horáková.
Best/nicest house?
Bílek’s villa in Prague 6.
Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
I’m thinking and nothing comes to mind right now.
What’s on your desktop?
Right now, Yves Klein Blue.
Best exhibition, work of art?
I don’t think I can pinpoint one in particular. I was very struck by Anne Imhof‘s exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, which I visited last September.
What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
There’s a lot of it. From abroad, Formafantasma studio immediately comes to mind. Their responsible approach focused on research and the environment combined with their aesthetic expression is captivating. From the domestic scene, for example Tadeáš Podracký, Jakub Berdych Karpelis, Jan Plecháč, Rony Plesl, Byoungchan Yun, Eliška Monsportová, Lukáš Novák, Dávid Valovič, Taja Spasskova.
Ethics or money?
Ethics.
Extraordinary book?
Carlos Castaneda: The Teachings of Don Juan.
Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
Optimist.
Do you have any hobby?
I have a lot of them. For example, hiking, tennis, cycling, looking at the sky, endless walks with friends in Prague, non-conformist conversations.
Solo or in a collective?
I like both, depending on what and with whom.
Slovakia as the Promised Land?
Definitely.