Dear architects…

Ethical issues related to social and political aspects of architecture are discussed in eight video interviews between urban researchers and authors of projects which represent certain consequences connected with their implementation – the public space as a control instrument, gentrification and commodification, privatisation and commercialisation, depoliticisation and managerialism, touristification or projects in non-democratic regimes. The chosen projects and discussants are:

 

Quadrio (2014), Prague • Jakub Cigler • Petr Gibas

Náplavka (2018), Prague • Petr Janda • Barbora Bírová

reSITE (since 2012) & Manifesto Market (2018, arch. Nikola Karabcová, Lucie Červená, Elvira Islas), Prague • Martin Barry • Michaela Pixová

Dolní Břežany (since 2002) • Anna Šlapetová • Robert Osman

SC Pilsen Plaza (2007, arch. Viktória Jakubčíková), Pilsen • Jaroslav Dokoupil • Petr Matoušek

Ester (2017), Jerusalem • Martin Rajniš • Jan Motal

Eugen Horváth Park (2015), Brno • Zdeněk Sendler • Kateřina Sidiropulu Janků

Sky Walk (2015, arch. Zdeněk Fránek), Dolní Morava • Richard Novák • Stanislav Biler

 

We decided the topics first, then we chose a representative project for each one and contacted the author (we did not choose the architects directly). Out of the architects and researchers approached, almost no one refused the request for an interview. The interviews were always held at the project (except for the interview with Martin Rajniš, which was shot at his last realisation – the Doubravka Tower in Prague 14) and lasted between 50 and 100 minutes. At the exhibition, you can see the edited 13–20 minutes long versions. Professional ethics, ethics of action in practical life have become a mere superficial discussion pendant in today’s discourse. For this reason, we decided to provide the issues with enough space and more profound problematization. Each video is accompanied by a text that offers a broader context of the problem.

 

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curator: Karolína Plášková

consulting experts: Jan Kristek, Tomáš Hlaváček

camera: Tomáš Hlaváček, Vít Trunec

video editing: Tomáš Hlaváček

exhibition and graphic design: David Helešic, Karolína Plášková

translation: Ondřej Kvapil, Karolína Plášková

subtitles: Tereza Kvapilová, Karolína Plášková

production cooperation: Gabriel Kurtis

 

The project “Dear architects… — Ethics in Architecture” is financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Statutory City of Brno.