Residential building in Neklanova, Prague (1913-1914), by Josef Chochol

The Residential Building in Neklanova, Prague, designed and built between 1913 and 1914 by
the architect Josef Chochol (1880-1956) has this month a moment to shine, appropriately, as it was
inspired by the idea of the diamond. This collective housing unit features a distinctive design with a
strong layout reminiscent of some of the projects that would be proposed for the American
skyscrapers of the 1920s and precursor of the dramatic aesthetics of German expressionism. Its
majestic corner column is characterised by its slenderness and evokes the late medieval diamond vault
through crystalline forms. The main cornice reveals an exceptionally ornamental character and,
Chochol would argue that these pieces that "appear to be ornamental are so necessary in the total
organism of the work that under no circumstances can it be extracted altogether, revealing Vitruvian
teachings. The general layout of the faade, of classicist inspiration, presents a clear structural grid. The
built-in balconies suggest a spatial dimension characteristic of Cubism, reinforcing the contrast
between light and shadow and marking the points where the surface of the faade is spatially fractured.
The interpretation that Czech architects gave to Cubism led it in a different direction than the
metaphysical reality that both Picasso and Braque sought in painting. Czech Cubism was more
interested in the sculptural qualities of matter and the way in which this is influenced by human action.
According to Pavel Jank (1881-1956), theorist of the Czech Cubist movement, the most perfect
embodiment of the struggle between human spirit and matter would be the pyramid, the form that de-
materializes towards the top and a powerful symbol of the conquer of gravity. Thus, the matter or
architectural mass symbolised by the orthogonal monolith was understood as a passive or dead
substance and it is the artists task, through his spirit, to invest action in the substance and reformulate
it (to give it a form). Hence, the act of architectural creation should be understood as spiritual, even if
the creator might wish to destroy the substance with which he works, as part of a process that seeks to
create another existence for the matter he wishes to transform. Besides its abstract theoretical and
philosophical concerns, Cubist architectural forms also resulted from the influence of more practical
ideas such as the appearance of the motion picture (black and white cinema), contemporary studies on
perception and from scientific findings on the optical effect of the play of light and shadow on facades.
Janak's concept of frontality in the perception of objects was materialised by Czech architects, for
example in Neklanova, in the composition of facades which have several frontal and lateral views at the
same time. There was a great concern in studying the architectural tradition, in order to understand the
universal laws and formalisations of the discipline respecting the tradition of building. For its creators,
Cubist architecture should therefore coexist harmoniously with the genius loci, being directly
influenced by the architecture of Prague, in particular the Gothic (transposed to the diamond motif)
and Baroque (the privilege of the facade instead of floor plan and the introduction of rhythm to
express the idea of movement). The Cubist movement in architecture was developed in a short period
of time, 1911-1914, but its impact was profound in the city of Prague. Its results are of great interest
for the history of Architecture.

Further Information
http://www.czkubismus.cz/en/
http://www.czkubismus.cz/en/czech-cubism-and-its-representatives
http://en.czech-unesco.org/900_414040_czech-cubism/
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Czech_Cubism

Author's Biographical Note

Dr. Arch. Maria da Piedade Ferreira MSc. is a Portuguese architect and researcher whose curiosity and
interest in Art has led to her position as a researcher and lecturer at the chair for Raumgestalt und
Entwerven at Fachbereich Architektur TU Kaiserslautern. Her work is dedicated to understanding how
the body and mind experience aesthetics and how empathy can be used as a design tool to improve
well-being. She explores ideas of embodied learning by incorporating techniques of Performance Art
and emotion measurement to the design and construction of body-conscious objects. Her MSc thesis
Cubismo Checo: Um caso nico na explorao Arquitectnica das relaes entre Esprito e Matria (Faculdade de
Arquitectura da Universidade de Lisboa, 2014) was dedicated to the topic of the Czech Cubist
experiments of Prague.