Photo: Alex Chudá.

Where are you from?
Prague.

Where did you study?
I studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University and thanks to that I could spend a year at the RWTH in Aachen. Then I studied at the School of Architecture of the Academy of Fine Arts under Emil Přikryl.

Who was your best teacher?
Michal Kuzemenský and Emil Přikryl. Michal and I were looking for realism, artificiality and unobtrusive solutions. With Emil it was a kind of intellectual game. The two approaches were quite different. I like to remember the semester with Michal when we designed a home for the elderly. I thought it was very important how much time and empathy we gave to old age. I still associate Haneke’s film Love with that semester. And I also have some pretty important friendships from that time. Emil’s memory search and cross-referencing was also close to my heart. Analogies were key for both of us.

Who were/are your parents?
My mom is an accountant and my dad repairs microscopes. They have a business together.

What don’t you enjoy in design?
Archdaily type sites.

And on the contrary, what do you?
I like writing about architecture set in some broader context. Like Oase magazine. I also like how active the current generation of students is. They can name problems and are trying to change the tired patterns and stereotypes of our profession and education.

What do you listen to?
NTS radio.

Your favourite film, cartoon, series?
Somehow the movie Our Day Will Come stuck with me. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it.

Who do you respect as an authority in and out of your field?
I don’t think the people I respect are authorities in the true sense of the word. I look for the opposite. It’s not some conscious decision, it’s more my personal tendencies.

What thing did you last buy?
I just bought a book called No one belongs here more than you by Miranda July.

Do you buy professional literature? What was the latest book?
I recently bought Thought by hand by Flores Prats and Roadside picknicks by Víctor Muñoz Sanz and Alkistis Thomidou.

Do you vote?
Every time.

Who throws the best parties?
I’m looking forward to Creepy Teepee, but that’s not a party. Or maybe it is a little bit.

Your favourite dome?
San Pietro in Montorio.

Party dress. Made by…?
Second-hand. I don’t have much new stuff anymore. But I appreciate everyone who makes fashion in our area. It’s hard work.

Your hero from the past?
Marco Pantani.

Best/nicest house?
I really like the first houses of more famous architects. Like Nouvel, HdM, or Caruso. I like the green chipboard house by Olgiati a lot too. That’s usually the end of it. Then I like weird stuff, like Carlo Mollino, or Villa Conti by Claudio Vender.

Do you have any stereotypes when you work? How do they show?
I ideally start the morning with coffee followed by a bike ride. That’s nice. But it’s not creating.

What’s on your desktop?
Nothing at the moment.

Best exhibition, work of art?
Not the best, but I enjoyed the exhibition in the Schinkel Pavilion when H.R. Giger and Mire Lee were there. Very good.

What do you respect both from the local and foreign design scene? And why?
This is a tough question, because it would be rather long. I’ll try to write what comes to mind. No concept. Schneider Türtscher and Flores Prats. Exhaustive work with models and drawing. The way it translates into the houses is nice. Poetic. I like BAST for their immediacy. It’s almost the opposite of the previous ones. I like the living spaces, the nooks and crannies. Something that’s a little complicated, obscure but perfectly usable. Job Floris. Rotor for indicating the tendency of circular economy in architecture. Sandra Bartoli, ℅ now, Something Fantastic, Adam Khan, David Kohn, Olivier Goethals, Simmacumfemmer, Comte/Meuwly. I’ll tactfully avoid the domestic scene, but I have plenty of favourites too.

Ethics or money?
Too easy. Ethics.

Extraordinary book?
Melancholy and Architecture by Diego Seixas Lopes. But there’s more.

Optimist, pessimist, nihilist?
I’m trying to be an optimist and I’m not very good at it.

Do you have any hobby?
Sports. Mostly cycling now. And also just to watch.

Solo or in a collective?
It depends. But as far as it is possible, collectively.

Slovakia as the Promised Land?
I hope so.