During my studies, I realized the power of architecture, urbanism, and strategy planning lies in problem-solving. Complex issues nested in various disciplines within society can be answered by one thoughtfully developed spatial response. This solution, however, will always require a coordinated approach of experts from diverse fields, which I consider essential.
Initially focused mainly on solitary buildings, my interest shifted to public spaces and urbanism. I believe architecture and urban design significantly influence human lives and behaviour, and vice-versa.
With every project I work on, I feel that understanding the context and conditions, whether or not spatial / physical, is essential. The importance of this approach is in my opinion best defined in a quote by Alejandro Aravena: “There is nothing worse than answering well the wrong question.” That involves not only analyzing various spatial conditions, but also talking to people in other disciplines, like sociologists, real-estate brokers, or politicians.
PRIMARY EDUCATION
7 / 2013 - Torbay, UK - english language course
SECONDARY EDUCATION
Architecture and building engineering
Secondary school of civil engineering, Prague, CZ
7 / 2016 - Toronto, CA - english language course
6 / 2017 - Graduated with honors
BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING
ENGINEERING
Faculty of Civil Engineering, Prague, CZ
Czech Technical University
Aquisition of merit scholarship in all 8 semesters
Studio project “Gate to Dejvice” awarded with Yellow Card for selected works
2021 - Graduated with honors
INTERNATIONAL MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
Faculty of Architecture, Brussels, BE Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
2022 - Workshop
”Conditions for economic development in the Knowledge Region by the sea 2070” Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment Technische Universiteit Delft
2023 - Graduated Magna cum Laude
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2014, 2015, 2016 - PART-TIME JOB
Pro Lumine s.r.o. (CZ)
2016 - 2017 - PART-TIME JOB
Atelier RENO s.r.o. (CZ)
2018 - PART-TIME JOB
Pro Lumine s.r.o. (CZ)
2019 - 2020 - ARCHITECTURE INTERNSHIP
Andrle Architekti s.r.o. (CZ)
2021 - ARCHITECTURE INTERNSHIP
kc arch s.r.o. (CZ)
2021 - PUBLICATION
“A Manifesto for the Just City vol. II”, coauthor of one of the manifestos written during the workshop organized by TU Delft
2022 - BOOK LAUNCH LIVECAST
LANGUAGE SKILLS
Event speaker at “A Manifesto for the Just City vol. II book launch talk” at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, as part of the “Designing cities for all” program. Czech
2022 - SUMMER ARCHITECTURE INTERNSHIP
Architectuur Platform Terwecoren-Verdickt (BE)
A1
Beginner
PERSONAL SKILLS
Learning
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Rhinoceros
Grasshoper
QGIS
Model
INTERESTS
RETRIEVING DISNEYLAND
Location: Karlín, Prague, CZ
50°05’43”N 14°27’57”E
Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven, Brussels
10 / 2022 - 06 / 2023
Supervisor: Anuschka Kutz
Master’s thesis
The housing prices in Prague have been growing rapidly for more than two decades. The city has become one of the most unaffordable metropolises in Europe. Nowadays, everyone up to and within the upper middle class struggles to participate in the exclusive real estate market. The construction of new housing is a domain of large developers whose aim is profit. This led to a commodification of housing, one of the basic rights in the Czech Republic. During recent years, more spires, invisible at first glance, have been added to skyline of the “City of hundread spires”. Prague has turned into a Disneyland, a place built for a profit, built for visitors.
Causes to this issue are are rooted in multiple disciplines of our lives, from history, legislation and politics to differences among respective social groups, investment strategies of people or tourism.
RESEARCH FINDINGS - CAUSES
HOUSING DEFICIT
Years ago, the Prague government stated a need for around ten thousand new flats annually, but construction has not met that target. The housing deficit has worsened, with varying estimates suggesting a shortage of up to 60 thousand flats in the city as of early 2023.
(finished flats in respective years)
LACK OF MUNICIPAL HOUSING
Social housing for vulnerable individuals is severely limited in Prague; in 2021, only about 4% of flats were owned by the municipality. These units are often allocated only to preferred professions like teachers, healthcare workers, or police. The scarcity of municipal housing is a legacy of privatization, which persisted in some districts until 2021. While the municipality aims to increase social housing, budget constraints and limited space pose significant challenges.
(Number of municipal flats in Prague (in thousands))
CULTURE OF OWNING
High housing prices in Prague are also influenced by the prevalent culture of ownership, which was established during the communist era and intensified after privatization in the 1990s. Despite varying attitudes towards housing tenure among different generations, these differences usually do not lead to significant generational conflicts, although understanding between age groups might be lacking.
(Share of owner occupancy in selected European countries)
Prague 2018:
Salary / mo: 1 635 EUR per sq m: 2 539 EUR
Berlin 2018
Salary / mo: 3 880 EUR per sq m: 3 706 EUR
EUR / m2
1 672 - 1 953
1 953 - 2 343
2 343 - 2 734
2 734 - 3 125
3 125 - 4 661
HOUSING PRICES
In Prague, housing prices vary greatly among its 22 districts, with the cheapest flats costing less than a third of the most expensive ones. While the price per square meter might seem low compared to other EU cities, it becomes problematic when considering the average income in Prague. Consequently, some residents are considering moving away from Prague due to the mismatch between housing affordability and their desire for home ownership. Similar housing challenges therefore might arise in other cities across the country.
(average selling prices of appartments in 2018)
LEGISLATION
The absence of national legislation that would determine and regulate social housing means every municipality does the housing policy on their own. Since Prague consists of 22 different districts, the lack of coherence is another obstacle obstructing the faster and more comprehensive implementation of solutions.
Another issues within legislation influencing housing crisis are complicated and obsolete building codes, but for example also the absence of regulation of short-term rentals such as Air-bnb in the city center.
POLITICAL DISCOURSE
The lack of politcal cohesion not only harms developing any proper solution, but rather contradicts it. During the past years, when Prague’s municipality already declared the need to increase the number of municipal housing, some districts were still selling their property.
Housing is generally a political issue, with some mayors taking antidevelopment and neighborhoodprotection stands as a political program to gain votes. Social housing is a whole other topic, as every party agrees with the necessity to do something about it, however then it gets side-tracked as an issue with risky outcome.
TOURISM
The city center of Prague, listed as a UNESCO site in 1992, experienced a tourism boom and economic growth due to capitalist market reforms. Buildings nationalized during communism were returned to owners, turning into profitable assets. Like many cities, Prague’s historic center faces issues—now primarily used for tourism and commerce, rather than housing. (map of Airbnb units in Prague as of fall 2019) (passengers at Prague airport and country’s population)
RESEARCH FINDINGS - CONSEQUENCES
SUBURBANIZATION
The unaffordability of housing triggered the movement of inhabitants, and Prague experienced massive suburbanization in the past few decades. In some areas surrounding the city, the number of inhabitants more than doubled over less than two decades. As this urban sprawl mainly consists of car-dependent development of detached houses, the consequence is the use of valuable farmland and nature around the capital.
(evolution of inhabitants in Prague and Central Bohemia region 1989 - 2020)
(change of inhabitants in respective districts between 2001 and 2018)
< 95% 95 - 105 105 - 150 150 - 200 > 200%
SOCIAL PRESSURE
Approximately a million people are already dealing with housingrelated problems in the country. Some are, for example, deciding if to have another baby, if to go on vacation, etc. Besides the problem of the size of the public housing stock, another issue lies in the authorities’ communication. Roughly 20% of households can ask for a housing subsidy, but only 5-6% actually do. Even though it is assigned to be a problem of communication of government, it can also be a matter of social status. As mentioned earlier, living in rental housing is sometimes perceived as a failure of respective people to provide for themselves. It might be the same case with asking for housing subsidies
Bohemia region
MOBILITY
Sprawl of detached houses generates another issue. That is when unsustainable commuting from these suburban areas overflows Pragu, as the city is still the only metropolitan centre in the country. Aproximately 200 thousand people commute to Prague daily, many of them using private means of transport - a car.
(Share of commuters from Central Bohemia region in 2015)
Research emphasizes that adopting a hybrid approach in housing provision is crucial to address housing unaffordability effectively. This approach necessitates collaboration
among various stakeholders, including governments, private developers, third sector organizations, and community initiatives. In an environment where private developers dominate housing construction, the key question is:
HOW TO PROVIDE THE MUNICIPALITY WITH A MORE SIGNIFICANT ROLE WITHIN THE CITY’S REAL ESTATE MARKET?
Built environment is only one of the disciplines in which the housing crisis needs to be addressed. Changes need to be made also in legislation and finance. Certain evolution shall happen within political and social discourse. Hence, the implemation of whole strategy will take several decades.
Housing estates
Development classification of subway stations: Transformative areas
Possible
Possible, not desired
In preparation
Not possible
Types of ownership in majority of development areas in the city
Transformation areas
Municipality and its districts
State and its institutions
Physical persons
Legal persons
Multiple types of owners
Transformative areas in the city are mainly owned by private developers or state. The municipality doesn’t have a strong position to influence future development. It is more suitable to harness potential of spaces that municipality already owns. Instead of looking for individual plots, the aim is to identify patterns - one solution can be applied to several locations. Two categories were identified, one of them are vacant spaces above subway stations. The other, which the project further explores, are socialistic housing estates, where municipality ownes the land inbetween the buildings.
Financing is another critical issue of any form of subsidized housing. New buildings could be financed through the participation of private investors, which has a potential to address the desire of many people to invest in real estate.
In case of a building extension, municiaplity would cooperate with the Unit Owners Association and bank, and through long-term lease the municipality can use agreed share of flats within the extension as a subsidized housing.
2 - DISTRICT
Densifying specific areas or districts can strain public transport and facilities due to increased population. To counter this, the project adopts the concept of a “15-minute city”, ensuring everyday public services are evenly distributed throughout. The challenge lies in adapting this concept to socialistic housing estates.
Multiple options of densification were considered, from minimal influence on existing spatial relations and infrastructure to those completely transforming the housing estate. Modernist urban landscapes, despite their flaws, can have qualities and shall be represented in the city. For that reason, the chosen densification strategy is the one preserving the character and essence of housing estate. Rather than entirely remodelling the area, the new buildings are positioned to better determine ‘streets’ and ‘squares’ of the 15-minute city.
Pockets of activities
Issue socialistic housing estates often face is a neglected public space. The aim is to enhance the quality and attractivness of the outdoors, even though in a smaller scale.
This is achived by introduction of socalled pockets of outdoor activities distrubuted across the estate. Ranging from a small pond or an outdoor workout gym to an anfiteathre, these functions increase the appeal of the public space for the residents.
New buildings strain existing infrastructure, including energy, water, and waste disposal. They need to be sustainable, incorporating features like rainwater harvesting, solar panels, and wooden structures.
Additionally, contemporary housing should go beyond mere apartments and hallways, providing spaces for community interaction both inside and outside the buildings.
THE BACKBONE OF THE CITY
Location: Reeshof, Tilburg, NL
51°34’26”N 4°59’37”E
Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven, Brussels
02 - 06 / 2022
Supervisor: Cecilia Chiappini, Caroline Newton
Individual project
The Antwerp province in Belgium and the North Brabant region in the Neatherlands. A hypertransformative area with innovation and technology centres, brainports, universities... The attractive economic centres are surrounded by housing developments, the urban sprawl is growing, eating up valuable nature.
The effects of climate change are already showing themselves and society will need a local provision of farmlands and mainly countryside to tackle these. This need comes in a time when the area is already challenged by other aspects.
The population of the
Netherlands is expected to rise by 4 million by 2070, nearing 21 million in total. But as the population was growing rapidly over the past 100 years, so did the cities. The maps don’t show growth of the cities, but the decrease of countryside. Can we afford to supply the demand in the same way as we did past 100 years?
den Bosch
Eindhoven
Tilburg
Breda
Turnhout
Antwerp
1920
den Bosch
Eindhoven
Tilburg
Breda
Turnhout
Antwerp
On regional scale, the current network consists of small economic centres and large dwelling areas around. There are entire municipalities made of only low rise housing. No spatial distinction visible according to the scale of the settlement makes them rather anonymous, incapable of creating specific charachter.
URBANITY - EXISTING
On smaller scale, similar scheme can be observed. In larger cities, the center is usually where all the urbanity is concentrated, while suburbs are used mainly for low rise housing. Though public transport can accommodate a lot of commuters, the car remains a necessity. Moreover, the spatial conditions of these suburbs - generous parking offer, lack of walkability, etc.support the use of car.
Breda
Tilburg
den Hertogenbosch
Eindhoven
Turnhout
The project expands the existing network of railway, making it the main intercity public transport solution. Instead of few large economic centers, the proposal aims to create a network of polyfunctional settlements ov various sizes. The new, smaller hubs would be developed alongside the existing or new railways.
URBANITY - PROPOSED
To regulate the growth of urban areas, certain policies need to be adopted. In order to facilitate growing population, urban areas need to shift to polycentric. The proposal combines the concepts of TOD and 15-minute walking city. Housing periferies are transformed to address issues of extended car use and lack of walkability. This create a network of small polyfunctional centers within the settlement.
Breda
Tilburg
den Hertogenbosch
Eindhoven
Turnhout
Reeshof
Classical circular centers expand in all the directions, which makes it relatively difficult to regulate the growth. The proposal of this project is a linear center, where only two directions of growth need to be stopped. The borders of these new developments are either new or existing, natural or artificial. A forest, farmland or a river, highway, railway, or another urban structure. The center is formed by a linear public space, providing a setting for interaction contrary to the privacy of the urban sprawl.
At the level of legislation, the need is to agree the settlement will not expand over its present borders. Such a decision was made in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands.
From low-rise development composed mainly of row and detached houses, the new centre would be made of three typologies. Two of them are newly introduced. Adjacent to the public space are the urban blocks. Their height is set to 5-7 levels. That is believed to be an appropriate height for the Netherlands. The essential element of blocks is their potential to activate the public space. The plints of the building would be used for public functions, creating destinations for the people. Upper floors would be used for private functions such as housing or offices.
The urban fabric softens with the distance from the centre. Mainly standalone residential buildings would compose the middle part of the development.
Furthest from the centre are low-rise buildings of single-family dwellings. Formed up by row houses, duplexes or detached houses.
Implemented typologies
Circular centre
Linear centre
The railway is placed underground. With the main public space placed on top of it, what used to be a barrier is now a destination.
Over the decades, the low-rise housing is replaced by urban blocks and standalone buildings. As many existing structures are kept and the transformation takes place as extension or refurbishment of buildings as much as possible. New masterplan follows the existing street pattern. That minimizes the need for change or reconstruction to the engineering infrastructure.
Existing
2035-2040
2045-2050 2025-2035
2040-2045
2050-2060
SPORTS GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Location: Stodůůůůůůůůůůulky, Prague, CZ
50°02’30”N 14°19’34”E
Faculty of civil engineering, CTU in Prague
02 - 06 / 2020
Supervisor: Petr Lédl
Group project with Michaela Sentenská & Tomáš Pchálek
The aim of urbanistic concept is to create a ‘pervious’ structure of buildings that would contrast with already built blocks of flats in the surroundings. This idea also integrates the new apartment building, which becomes the part of the new structure.
Buildings themselves are in harmony with the built development. There is no need of dominants in the wider area with defined function. The park is revitalized and several new sportfields are added.
The building of a grammar school follows the idea of contrasts used in the urbanistic solution. The concept consists of solid blocks in the north-south direction and transverse transparent atrium connecting the blocks.
The vertical spacing of longitudinal facades relates to surrounding buildings and makes the school looks higher. Frontal facades on the other hand are created with more dynamics. Glazed atrium shows horizontal footbridges to oppose the verticality of solid blocks.
On the inside, the motive is flipped. Solid blocks are divided horizontally by individual floors while footbridges in the atrium create the vertical hollow space in the center of the atrium.
revitalized park
voleyball hall
Michaela Sentenská
playground
multipurpose courts
sports grammar school Petr Lindauer
swimming pool
Tomáš Pchálek
dormitory
underground parking entrance running track recently apartmentbuiltbuilding football pitch
‘pervious’ structure
vertical solid blocks volumes
horizontal footbridges of the atrium
horizontal levels
vertical atrium
PERMANENT SPACE FOR TEMPORALITY
Location: Anneessens, Brussels, BE 50°50’42”N 4°20’41”E
Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven, Brussels 10 / 2021 - 01 / 2022
Supervisor: Roeland Dudal, Bob de Wispelaere
Individual project
‘Spaces that represent nothing can therefore become everything.’ - Toestand
The Future Places Studio focuses on how Brussels will look in 2040. What kind of new buildings and typologies should appear in the city. The clash of the poor west vs. the wealthy east is noticeable in several domains in Brussels. Neigborhoods labelled as worse are usually those with high unemployment, low education level, and the lowest income.
These neighborhoods suffer from high resident mobility. In other words, a lot of people move in and move out. That influences neigborhood deprivation and level of crime, it results in weak social structures, lack of identification and anonymity, among others.
In the most vulnerable neighborhoods the population turnover between 2014-2019 was between 30-40%.
The reasons for leaving the neighborhood can be various, so how can a spatial intervention become a reason to stay? The aim of “White space” is to provide accesible neigborhood space which is flexible as much as possible and where experiments can happen. With functions like offices and apartments and ownership through commons, residents can also profit from the building.
Several of such White spaces then form a network accomodating the needs of the whole neighborhood, in this case explored in Anneessens. This concept can be then used in several neigborhoods, of course every time tailored to the specific location and its context.
The design develops from the surroundings and the history of the place. Preserving existing structures creates a connection between past and the present. New volume is devided into several parts to fit within local scale. Facade is mostly glazed with an additional layer of wood or steel mesh. Simple materials and structure enable residents without construction skills to participate in the building procces, creating a bond with the place.
Faculty of civil engineering, CTU in Prague 09 / 2019 - 01 / 2020
Supervisor: Vladimír Gleich
Individual project
The task was to design new multipurpose gallery as a first part of the planned redevelopment of the rear area of the Holešovice exhibition centre. The gallery site itself is at the end of the ‘Brussels road’ where the Czech-Slovak pavilion from the 1958 EXPO in Brussels used to be, before it burned down in 1991. Since then, the back area of the exhibition centre has been neglected.
Three new axes add dynamics into the rear area of the convention centre and serve as a basic principle for the new development.
present day state proposed state
The aim was to build upon the history of the Brussels pavilion and use a strong potential of a wider area of exhibition centre. The concept derives from two aspects. One is the original building of 1958’s EXPO. The gallery and the original pavilion share a same principle of basic geometric forms and same materials - metal, concrete, glass. The other aspect comes from visitor’s behavior in the gallery. The observational distance is given by the size and positioning of the exhibited object. Therefore, one’s movement through the exhibition follows a polyline, not a straigh line.
The two principles give a volume derived from a rectangle, which is penetrated by angled voids. Four pavilions connected by corridors placed on composition axes. Walls of the original cuboid are made from metal cladding in anthracite color. In contrast, the voids are of whitecoloured artchitectural concrete. The design of the interior is aiming to create simple, but generous spaces. In 1st floor are additional spaces for small-scale exhibitions. Fully glazed café in 2nd floor gives the opportunity of 360° view to the surroundings.
model of the original 1958 EXPO pavilion
new axes solitude volumes
angled interior walls
height adjustment
slanted exterior walls glass corridors and 360° viewpoint
‘Brussels road’
fountain Spiral theatre forest
Neutral colours used in the interior, in form of white paint and concrete, create a background for the exhibited pieces to stand out. Evenly distrubuted lighting is secured by opaque glass placed in the ceiling covering the light source.
groundfloor
The cafe at the top of the tower provides a unique viewpoint to the surroundings, overlooking whole of convention center and the neighbouring districts.
2ndfloor
1stfloor
LOOKOUT TOWER OF BRÁNÍK - ‘BRIDGE OF INTELLIGENCE’
Location: Braník, Prague, CZ
50°01’36”N 14°23’53”E
Faculty of civil engineering, CTU in Prague
02 - 06 / 2018
Supervisor: Václav Dvoák
Individual project
castle
panorama of Pankrác
Braník brewery
Vltava - Berounka confluence
Lawyers, philosophers, doctors, scientists,... Those with university degrees and different political opinion, therefore “enemies” of the communist party, were forced to work as labourers. In the 1950’s, several infrastructure projects were built by the “inteligence”. Bráník railway bridge wasn’t an exception and later earned a folk nickname “Bridge of intelligence”.
Given only a location with strong historical reference, the task was to come up with something that is missing in this place. Main aim was to connect levels of bridge deck and river bank where is a turistic path on both levels. With option to provide unique views of the city, a primary idea of connecting the bridge and river evolved into an idea of a lookout tower.
existing: horizontal change: vertical addition: bank connection
The concept is to create a contrasting structure to the existing bridge. Primary volume is a simple cuboid hugging the bridge. Vertical element is in opposition to the horizontal structure. As an answer to the heavy concrete bridge the tower is made of light transparent steel materials. Expanded metal used for “facades” is interrupted only where the new meets the old. The tower doesn’t cover the bridge, instead, it respects it and backs its construction.
APARTMENT BUILDING ‘GATE TO DEJVICE’
Location: Dejvice, Prague, CZ
50°06’43”N 14°23’37”E
Faculty of civil engineering, CTU in Prague
09 / 2020 - 01 / 2021
Supervisor: Josef Smola
Individual project
Historically, gate served as an entrance to a town. Towers on its sides enabled to see it from the distance. If a gate is supposed to mark a town entrance, it has to be visible. For this reason it wasn’t necessary to hold the height level in the area. It was an aim to go higher.
main volume addition of cuboids
pedestrian permeability addition of balconies
The concept of a building volume evolves from a character of a place and existing development in the surroundings. Buildings from different periods create an environment without determined character. For the gate to form an integrated ensemble, the shape of the object is derived from an opposite building of the Military design institute.
Main volume spans through entire height of the building. Three added cuboids of different heights create graduating composition. The two buildings work on the same principle. Though they don’t seem to have anything in common, it is possible to see them as a unit, they supplement each other.
CONVERSION OF ‘OPEK’, LEUVEN, BELGIUM
Carlota Matos Silva, Mahtab Moradi, Parsa Jalalian, Petr Lindauer, Daniel Sucka
Tutors: Dirk Jaspert, Bruno Depré, Monika Richtáriková, Conversion in Urban Context Course, Faculty of Architecture, KU Leuven, June 2022
The OPEK is located in the north of Leuven. It sits at the end of a canal marina, surrounded by new apartment buildings. From the back it faces a wall of elevated park and a street. As most of the buildings are taller than OPEK, the roof becomes a fifth facade of the building.
The task was to convert an old factory building into a culture space revolving around two event venues. Additionaly, the new program includes a restaurant, exhibition space and facilities for artists such as ateliers, lounge or rehearsal space.
The idea is to divide building into three parts of a foyer, which is public, private area of artists, and the venues, where public and private meet. The height extension of the venues and of the atrium is done in a minimalistic way so that the volume and composition of the existing building isn’t disturbed.
OPENBAAR ENTREPOT
Preserving brutalism
Brutalist buildings have become ‘persona non grata’ in certain countries. Many valuable structures are often being demolished just because those who make the decisions either see them as ugly or have it connected with the previous socialistic era, and they look at these buildings with contempt. As it is uncertain which buildings and for how long will remain here, I decided to preserve them at least in my sketchbooks.
