Vojtěch Vanický

The architect and academician Vojtěch Vanický remains a relatively forgotten figure of the interwar years of Czech architecture. Whilst working on design projects in Prague, he also wrote and published articles about architecture in specialist publications. However, at the dawn of the 1930s, he retreated to the periphery where he immersed himself in design work, but also dedicated time to teaching at technical colleges.

He was born on the 15th of November 1898 in Horní Sloupnice near Litomyšl into the family of a local teacher. He studied at the Technical College of Higher Education in Brno during the era when the excellent teacher and architect Jaroslav Syřiště taught there. After graduating, he gained experience working for three years for construction firms in Česká Třebová, Jindřichovo Hradec and Třebíč.

Between 1922 and 1925, he studied architecture at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts (AVU). At first, he was accepted by Jan Kotěra into his special course. After Kotěra's sudden death, he was taken on by Josef Gočár who said of Vanický when he finished his studies: “He conducted his studies with great talent and worked tirelessly. He is an excellent constructor, is perceptive – whilst keeping in mind the practical aspects of the design.”

In 1924, whilst still studying, he participated in Gočár's design project for the palace of the Anglo-československá Bank in Prague and, subsequently, the Cooperative School of Higher Education in Vinohrady.
After he completed his studies, Josef Gočár offered him a place in his studio and Vanický worked there until the end of the decade (1925-1930). Gočár regularly organized study trips abroad during which his assistant Vanický was always by his side. Together with their students they had the opportunity to study the work of W. M. Dudok, Michael de Klerk or J. J. P. Oud. It was probably here that Vanický's teaching genes emerged, leading to a subsequent career as a high-school teacher. During his time at Gočár's studio, he assisted mainly with contracts for Hradec Králové (e.g. Local and Municipal School, 1925-1927; development plan, 1925-1928; Ambrose Congregation Church, 1926-1929). In 1928, he oversaw the building of a pavilion in Brno where the Academy of Fine Arts presented their work at the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture. In 1930, he moved to Plzeň where he worked as a teacher at the First Czechoslovak Technical College and became a member of the Association of West-Bohemian Artists. At the same time, he also founded his own building concession. He then went on to teach for a short time at the college of building engineering in Děčín and, later, at the college of building engineering in Hradec Králové.

Already during his studies at AVU, Vanický had several opportunities to work on his own designs. Surviving semester projects show rapid changes in his design style. His first designs feature classic compositional symmetry together with the application of engineering brick – one of Vanický's favoured features common throughout his work. He was gradually inspired by trends in Dutch architecture and by Russian Constructivism. After his studies, he carried out several designs in the Dutch style: a school for children of the Czech minority in Moravská Třebová (1925) and the Sokol Organization building in his birthplace – Horní Sloupnice (1928). The pure mass of his buildings are complemented by unobtrusive relief work details combined with red engineering brick and smooth, rendered surfaces typical of the new Dutch style. A move away from relief ornamentation and an inclination towards Functionalism is evident in Vanický's buildings for Česká Třebová – the boys' school and a municipal apartment block, known as “Červenka” and “Červeňák” respectively. Both the “Červenka” school and the “Červeňák” apartment block built in 1929 are distinctive thanks to their un-rendered engineering brick facade. The Červenka building is a combination of Purism and Functionalism. As the 1920s gave way to the 1930s, Vanický turned to the white elegance of Purism and Functionalism, gradually moving away from the relief partitioning of buildings with cornices, pilaster strips or window frames. He occasionally applied aerodynamic forms.

During the second half of the 1920s, Vanický enriched the Czech architectonic scene with his activities on the editorial board of the Stavitel (Builder) magazine which belonged to the Architects' Association. Early in 1925, the association announced a design competition for an economical detached house and published the results in the Stavitel magazine in order to promote new ideas concerning social housing. Vanický prepared designs for a house which was to be made almost entirely of waste wood.

As vice-chairman of the Architects' Association and member of the Stavitel editorial team Vanický was present in 1926 at the instigation of the proclamation Without a Gilded Carriage. This manifesto connected the new creative method with the needs of the young democratic republic. This change of direction, towards economy, effectiveness and fulfilling the needs of the population was aimed at raising the living standards of the underprivileged class and those who had hitherto had no access to decent housing.

From 1930, Vojtěch Vanický taught at technical colleges outside the Prague area, lost contact with architectonic centres and, as a result, stopped publishing in specialist periodicals. He pursued his profession right up to 1960 when he retired. He died in Vysoký Mýto and is buried in Sloupnice.