The opening of exhibition was presented by Ms. Jana Chaloupková, Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of the Czech Republic.

 

Through 50  photographs of an Slovanian art historian Damjan Prelovšek the exhibition “Prague Castle: Architecture & Interior Design “ will introduce the works of Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik who was appointed by the first Czechoslovakian president Tomáš G. Masaryk to the title of Prague Castle Architect and made a contribution to the present-day look of the Prague Castle.

Jože Plečnik (1872 - 1957) was the most significant Slovenian architect, urbanist and one of the founding members of the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Ljubljana. He studied with renowned Viennese architect and educator Otto Wagnerand worked in Wagner's architecture office until 1900. He had a strong impact on the modern architecture of the Slovenian Capital Ljubljana. Besides in Slovenia he also worked in Austria, Serbia and Czech. In 1911, Plečnik moved to Prague, where he taught at the college of arts and crafts. The first Czechoslovakian president Tomáš G. Masaryk appointed him as a chief architect for the renovation of the Prague Castle. From 1920 until 1934 Plečnik completed numerous projects at the castle, including renovation of numerous gardens and courtyards, the design and installation of monuments and sculptures, and the design of numerous new interior spaces. He renovated the Prague Castle with the respect to the Czech history and traditions and avoided any foreign elements.  Concurrently, he also supervised the renovation of the presidential summer residence at Lány, where he mainly employed the existing furniture. Later on he moved back to Ljubljana on the invitation of another distinguished Slovenian architect Ivan Vurnik to teach architecture at the University of Ljubljana.

The photographs of an Slovenian art historian Damjan Prelovšek give us insight into the renovation works of Jože Plečnik at the Prague Castle. Damjan Prelovšek (*1945, Ljubljana, Slovenia) studied history and history of art at the University of Ljubljana. After his graduation in 1969 he spent one year in Vienna as holder of the Herder post-graduate scholarship. He took his doctor's degree in 1977 with the theses focused on Jože Plečnik. In 1971 he started to work at the France Stele Institute of Art History at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and in 1995 he become the director of the institute .  In 1990, 1991 and 1996 he lectured as visiting professor at the University of Salzburg and in 1992 at the Middle European University in Prague. Since 1992 he has been a regular member of the European Academy of Science and Art, domiciled in Austria.  From 1998 to 2002 he was posted as Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia in the Czech Republic. From 2006 till today he has been working as a director of the Department for the culture heritage at the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. His main field of research is the history of architecture from the baroque to the modern times especially the work and life of the Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, about whom he published some books in Slovenia and abroad.

 

 

Venue: Czech Centre Seoul, Castle Praha Building, 4F, Seogyo-dong 395-19, Mapo-gu, Seoul  

http://seoul.czechcentres.cz/cs/en/about-us/contact/ 

For more information please visit the website of the Czech Centre Seoul: 

http://seoul.czechcentres.cz/cs/en