Josef Gočár

An architect, professor, urban planner (Hradec Králové and Pardubice), and designer of furniture and articles for daily use. Josef Gočár was a generally respected figure of Czech architecture; he influenced many of his students and the following generations of architects. His works display the world’s rarity of Czech cubism in architecture (the iconic House at the Black Madonna) and rondocubism (the Legiobanka building, Na poříčí Street), the influence of constructivism or even designs in the national or Art Deco style. His professional life culminated with functionalism; the villas of the Baba estate (the Maule, Kytlice and Glücklich Houses) or the Church of St. Wenceslas in Vršovice. In 1925, he received the Grand Prix for his design of the Czechoslovak pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris and, in 1926, he received the Order of the French Legion of Honour.

Josef Gočár

(*1880 Semtín +1945 Jičín)

1902-1905
studied architecture with Professor Jan Kotěra at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague

1905-1908
cooperated with the studio of Professor Jan Kotěra in Prague

1906
spent several months in London while supervising the Czech installation at the London Exhibition

1908-1945
independent architect in Prague

1908
member of the Mánes Union of Fine Arts

1911
co-founder of the Cubist Group of Fine Artists

1912
co-founder of the Prague Art Workshops (PUD)

1913-1914
member of the Association of Czech Works (SČD)

1916-1919
military service

1920-1924
President of the Czechoslovak Werkbund (SČSD)

1924
professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

1927
member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts

1928-1931
Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

1934
corresponding member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

Significant Works

1909
Wenke’s House, Jaroměř

1910
Jarušek’s House, Brno

1911-1913
The House at the Black Madonna, Prague-Staré Město

1912-13
Spa Pavilion, Bohdaneč

1920
Czechoslovak Pavilion for the trade fair in Lyon

1922-23
Legiobanka building, Prague-Nové Město

1922-24
Masaryk Square, Hradec Králové

1924-25
building plan of Hradec Králové

1924-1927
school building campus, Hradec Králové

1925
Czechoslovak Pavilion at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, Paris
House of Agricultural Enlightenment, Prague-Vinohrady

1928-1930
Church of St. Wenceslas, Prague-Vršovice

1932
Directorate of the Czechoslovak State Railways, Hradec Králové

1932
house of Václav and Jarmila Maule, Baba, Prague-Dejvice

1933-1936
houses of Karel Kytice, Marie and Stanislav Mojžíš-Lom, and Julius Glücklich, Baba, Prague-Dejvice

1934
Tax and District Office, Hradec Králové
Otakar Med’s villa, Humpolec

Realised buildings in Baba Housing Estate

1932 house of Václav and Jarmila Maule, Baba, Prague-Dejvice