Pavel Janák

12 March 1882, Karlín (now Prague) – 1 August 1956 Prague

Pavel Janák studied simultaneously architecture and civil engineering, at the Czech Polytechnic, under professor Josef Schulz, and at the German Polytechnic in Prague, under Josef Zítek. After graduation, he continued his studies in Vienna, where he studied in Otto Wagner’s atelier at the Academy of Fine Arts. He became a cofounder of Prague Art Workshops (1912) and the association Artěl (Atelier for Fine Arts in Prague), for which he designed the interior and fixtures. From 1921 he was a professor at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He was also a theoretician of architecture and contributed to professional magazines. After Josip Plečnik’s departure, he took the position of the architect of Prague Castle. He systematically reconstructed monuments.

Janák was a key figure of Czech architectural Cubism (Fára’s House in Pelhřimov), founder of the Czech theory of architecture (Cubist manifesto Prism and Pyramid – Hranol a pyramida) and designer. Small household items designed by Janák in Cubist style are still produced. He is a co-author of Hlávka Bridge in Prague. At the beginning of the 20^th century, he was one of the foremost representatives of the so-called Rondocubism (building of the insurance company Riunione Adriatica in Prague, crematorium in Pardubice), later accepting Functionalism (hotel Juliš on Wenceslas Square, houses in the housing estate Baba in Prague-Dejvice). His modernist sacred architecture is best exemplified by the Hus Congregation House in Vinohrady, Prague. He designed the overall plan of the housing estate Baba in Prague-Dejvice, as well as several houses on the estate. In his later years, he focused on systematic monument conservation and worked on the reconstruction of the Czernin Palace, the Old Town Hall and Hvězda summer palace; as the chief architect of Prague Castle he designed the reconstruction of the riding school, the ball games hall, the Royal Summer Palace and built the so-called president’s house in the Royal Garden.