CZECHIA

1 In 1944, the Slovak people rose up in revolt against the fascist state. To honor the heroes of the Slovak National Uprising, a monumental Brutalist memorial designed by architect Dušan Kuzma was erected in Bánská Bystrica in 1969. 2 The twentieth century saw the Tatra Mountains become an increasingly popular tourist destination. The recreational boom intensified in the late 1960s and early 1970s, spurred in part by the World Ski Championships in Štrbské pleso. To host the tournament, sports infrastructure was built on a massive scale, including ski jumps, judges’ towers, and the Panorama and Patria hotels.

3 The “UFO Bridge” has hovered over the Danube in downtown Bratislava as a harbinger of the future since 1972. The 430-meter long Slovak National Uprising Bridge topped by a circular restaurant floating 80 meters overhead was designed by an architectural team led by Josef Lacko and Arpád Tesár. 4 Slovak Radio’s inverted pyramid fascinates architecture aficionados to this day. It was designed and built by Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič, and Barnabáš Kissling in 1967–1983. 5 The fascinating wooden churches dotting the Carpathian Mountains are often several centuries old. Saint Basil’s Church was built in 1750. 6 Just before the start of the new millennium, Danubiana art gallery was opened on the banks of the Danube by Dutch art collector Gerard Meulensteen and Slovak gallerist Vincent Polakovič.

02

D415

SOM Store, Bratislava

Slovak restaurant and store interiors have been elevated to new heights in recent years, as can be seen in the exquisitely designed SOM boutique. The store, which offers selected fashion from Czech and Slovak designers, is the brainchild of the architects at D415, who clad the space in steel frames usually used to build plasterboard walls. Working with the introvert/extrovert concept, the architects angled the walls so that the clothing collections would be slowly revealed as one walked through the space.

01

Grau Architects

Tea Pavilion, Český Těšín

Grau Architects, a young Slovak studio that has designed several interiors and small buildings, garnered international attention with their tiny tea pavilion on the shore of Hrabinka Lake in Český Těšín. A meditative wooden structure inspired by traditional Japanese architecture, it represents a surprising piece of public infrastructure set in nature. The simple geometric arrangement of wooden laths and plywood is topped by a textile canopy that can be illuminated at night to create a Japanese lantern effect. With their small 9 m2 structure that can seat only a few guests, the architects have fundamentally influenced the quality of the public space at this popular natural attraction.

ARCHEKTA / ARK-SHELTER

Warm Nest Centre, Belgium

It isn’t commonplace for contemporary Slovak architects to work on prestigious international projects, but Archekta got that opportunity. In collaboration with the Slovak-Belgian studio ArkShelter, they designed the Warm Nest community health center just outside Bruges, Belgium. Inspired by the spirit of Maggie’s cancer support centers, the architects designed an intimate, almost home-like interior constructed from prefabricated modules.

As we’ve recently written about Alan Prekop’s quality designs, it would be impossible not to include him in our selection of the best Slovak interiors. His superb commercial projects include Grão, a café that he designed as a brute collage of industrial materials and sculpturally bold forms. These facets can be seen not only in the bar and seats, but also in the sixteen-meter long technicolor tubular light.

Designer and artist Aneta Kurta initially made products based on what her own everyday needs were. First it was a concrete table, then a series of small plaster elements in minimalist shades of white, grey, and beige. As a working sculptor, Kurta shapes her objects by hand with a mixture of plaster and polymers. Her smooth, sculpturally rounded forms are pleasant not only to see, but also to touch. In addition to bowls and low tables, Kurta has also recently started making light fittings and lamps.

A tender to build a new town hall and library in Leopoldov was called in 2014 and now, after eight years of continuous work, Zerozero’s winning design was finally completed last year. The architects say they envisioned the project as an important cityscaping element that would not be limited to just buildings, but instead would create a democratically open space where residents and leaders could meet and communicate. It’s a place where everyday business but also special social and cultural events take place. The site comprises two different buildings. Whereas the library and café are located in a revamped late-twentieth century building, the second part containing the Town Hall is brand new. The architects achieve a sense of unity through the use of sober shades of white and formal simplicity, further underlined by the connections forged through a shared central courtyard.

Crafting Plastics

Sensbiom 2

The impact of Crafting Plastics, a Bratislava-based studio formed by Vlasta Kubušová and Miroslav Král, reaches far beyond the borders of Central Europe. This year their new project appeared at Alcova, one of the most prestigious platforms at Milan Design Week. In collaboration with DumoLab Research, the designers created Sensbiom 2, an installation composed of biopolymer components that detect UV rays and change color according to UV exposure.

MIKULAJ & MIKULAJOVA

Brick Home, Bratislava

Earlier this year Mikulaj & Mikulajova put the finishing touches on a 358 m2 home designed for a large family in Záhorské Sady, a suburb of Bratislava. Because the neighborhood was quickly developing with other houses rapidly springing up in the area, the architects opted for a solid brick design of what are essentially three independent buildings interconnected by light, transparent passages that allow daylight to reach all of the rooms.

But the design also provides the residents with plenty of privacy, even though it’s located in a densely settled area. On the exterior the architects used fired brick walls contrasting with the smooth surfaces of reflective glass and metal. Perforated brick walls impart a visual lightness to the heavy structures. Inside, brick is combined with concrete hallway ceilings and a natural wooden staircase and built-in furniture.

09

Jrkvc

Remodeled Apartment, Bratislava

Visually unobtrusive, but with a refined and innovative approach to space and concepts. These are the main qualities of the excellent residential and renovation projects undertaken by Peter Jurkovič at JRKVC. The architect is especially experienced with residential units, an area he continues to perfect – as can be seen in other projects he completed last year. The remodeled apartment is located in downtown Bratislava, inside a modernist building with elements of Cubism designed by Viennese architect Ludwig Baumann in the 1920s and redeveloped by Czech architect Klement Šilinger. In his sensitive approach to the project, Jurkovič updated the original layout and interior details to the twenty-first century, knocking out a weight-bearing wall to create a large central space. In the spirit of “less is more,” he furnished the interior with a sophisticated selection of minimalist contemporary design and a simple kitchen module.

10

Tefan Sek

Signature Vases

Štefan Sekáč, a young designer who creates under the name S.E.X.Á.Č, primarily works with pottery and porcelain. His Signature collection of vases is made up of collage-like layered forms that visually explore contemporary sociocultural topics that often polarize society. The provocative glass collages of organic swollen shapes feature pearlescent surfaces inspired by inflated balloons.

2021

Jelšava Capsules

The Coburg manor house in Jelšava recently got a new roof, but the rest of the building is in varying states of disrepair. Several arched ceilings have been demolished; some windows and doorways are bricked up, while others entirely lack glass and doors. Work is ongoing, but the finish line is still a long way off. Architects Peter Lényi, Ondrej Marko, Marián Lucký, and Lenka Borecká of Studio 2021 decided to install light, temporary structures made of metal, wood, and glass into the historical building to serve as capsules for overnight stays. The interventions are subtle and not integrated into the building, keeping the original structure open, visible, unobstructed for continuing repairs, and unconventionally accessible in this raw state. Visitors can admire the layers of history and the repairs during their stay.

Benkobenkova

Film Director’s Studio, Strekov

Jana Benková and Juraj Benko are the two architects behind benkobenkova. In 2019–2022, they designed an exceptional interior for their film director friend in Strekov, Slovakia. From the outside the house is inconspicuous, and in fact the architects did little to the front. The roughly textured exterior was smoothed over with a fine finish and the original façade essentially remained in place, except for new perforations and repairs to old openings into the courtyard. The architects’ bolder changes occurred in the rear section of the house, opening up the rooms by adding large windows facing the back yard, where a new gazebo was installed. The most interesting changes happened inside. Here the architects opened up part of the ceiling to the roof trusses in the central section, where artificial stone elements and a blue steel staircase segment the space into varying heights. The atypical blue color repeats on the steel beams and window frames.

Design Design

Patrik Illo

Iná Vase

Glass blower and designer Patrik Illo has been a standout figure in Slovak design for years now. His art objects, product design for the Slovak glassware maker Rona, and work in education have contributed to building his country’s reputation for contemporary decorative art. Last year, the doyen of Slovak glass created an artistic vase collection he calls Iná (“the other one”), which is formed by elegant curves of hand-blown glass.

Kilo Hon

Loft, Bratislava

Viktor Tabi

The Original interior

The up-and-coming Kilo Honč studio gave this apartment in a prefab concrete residential building a radical makeover. This remarkably segmented space with striking, almost velvety-smooth concrete walls is divided by just a few oblique concrete or opaque glass partitions, framing individual sections of the apartment by type and function. By selecting these materials, the architects wanted to impart a visually light, ethereal quality to the space. The interior is a complex being, where openness meets intimacy.

With every project, young porcelain artist Viktor Tabiš embarks on a procedural adventure, exploring new production alternatives. The creation process itself becomes a fundamental transformation in the final form of the object. Resembling a production line, The Original offers insight into Tabiš’s original porcelain casting technique. While a 3D printer continuously churns out plaster casting molds, a hydraulic press in the next stage breaks the plaster parts in the mold, introducing an element of randomness to the process. The customer participates in the customization of the mold by choosing the order of the individual elements, thus making it an original.