Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The exhibition Toward A New Architecture aimed to present an overview of Czech architecture in the period between 1900 and 1940, with the largest area devoted to the First Republic period. The exhibition committee strove to attract the broadest public. Architects hoped that society would begin to notice architecture, “the most visible manifestation of the nation's culture,” more intensively, along with painting, sculpture and music. In his opening address, Zdeněk Wirth defined the exhibition's goal as follows: “Our exhibition has a threefold purpose: as a silent demonstration of gratitude toward a distant and near past, a passionate acknowledgement of the present, and a solemn confession, nay, a commitment, to the future.” [Wirth 1940, p. 106]

Quite ambitious in its agenda, the exhibition took place on two floors of the Museum of Decorative Arts and in the adjoining garden, which was adjusted for the accompanying program and simultaneously presented contemporary architecture in its full scale. Works by more than 200 architects were showcased to illustrate the period under review. Well represented were works by Jan Kotěra, Josef Gočár, Ladislav Machoň, and Bohumír Kozák. The installation also included sculptures, such as Bohumil Kafka’s busts of Jan Kotěra and Kamil Hilbert and glass reliefs by Jan Zrzavý in the garden.

Reviewers Miloš Vaněček and J. R. Marek reproached the organizers for favouring members of the participating associations around the magazine Architektura, although the exhibition committee clearly tried to avoid favouritism.

The exhibition followed the evolution of architectural types, rather than defining it chronologically. Although the introductory areas were dedicated to new architecture's prerequisites and forerunners, further halls presented the most important buildings of diverse type and purpose – cultural, sacral, educational, medical, commercial, industrial, economic, recreational, sports-oriented, and others. The artifacts, primarily photographs of buildings, were arranged in sections based on these types. In addition to photographs, the exhibition committee included a few models, such as Gočár's design for the Old Town Hall in Prague and the model of the National Theatre in Brno by Jan Víšek. To a lesser extent, the show also featured floor plans and designs.

The magazine Foto criticized the presentation of architecture through photographs. In his review entitled Největší výstava fotografických zvětšenin (The Greatest Exhibition of Photo Enlargements), František Čermák pointed out that photography as a medium was neglected at the exhibition – the photographers were not mentioned anywhere, and some of the images were of poor quality [Čermák 1940, p. 148].

The exhibition committee also focused on architectural practice, new material and technologies, urbanism, stage design, heritage preservation, theory and criticism. The reviewer for the journal Zprávy památkové péče (Heritage Preservation Reports) wrote that the section devoted to heritage monuments was very well presented and even contributed to the promotion of heritage conservation. The exhibition also featured a reading room containing the most important books about architecture published in the last forty years.

The accompanying program, an important component to the show, consisted of lectures and evening cultural events held in the museum's garden. Reviews generally appreciated them, except for Emil Edgar's text in the magazine Kámen, in which the author characterizes the stone wall around the garden as drab and the overall arrangement as a miscellaneously mixed exhibition, suggesting that it “should not be presented as a model for a modern garden” [Edgar 1940, p. 93].

The exhibition was popular with both visitors and journalists. The journal Architekt dedicated an entire volume to texts about the exhibition, and the daily press regularly reported on cultural evenings and lectures held as part of the show.

Most reactions to the exhibition were positive. Reviewers praised the accompanying program as well as the library and reading room installed as part of the show, while also appreciating the clear and comprehensible arrangement of the artifacts. On the other hand, some critics argued that the exhibition portrayed architecture in an overly idealized manner. Miloš Vaněček and the editors of the journal Architekt SIA focused primarily on formal aspects of the show. Vaněček, for example, pointed out that the exhibits were not dated. In the conclusion to his review, he suggested that the exhibition, which “summed up and closed the entire epoch of conceptual development,” simultaneously ushered in a new era of popularization in architecture. “If there is something that bothers us,” says Vaněček, “it is not the fault of the exhibition committee, but a sign of the times” [Vaněček 1940, p. 214].

The exhibition Toward A New Architecture can be understood as the first complex assessment of the evolutionary trends in Czech modern architecture, including its relationship with international architecture, represented in the section dedicated to new architecture's prerequisites and forerunners. In contrast with Jan E. Koula's 1940 book Nová česká architektura a její vývoj ve XX. století (New Czech Architecture and Its Development in the 20^th Century), the exhibition targeted broad audiences with the accompanying program further attracting the lay public. As it covered the span of 40 years, the show was able to present more trends within Czech architecture than the more specialized exhibitions from previous years such as the The Exhibition of Czechoslovak Contemporary Culture and The Exhibition of Architecture and Housing. The organizers planned to use the profits from the exhibition to publish an extensive book Toward A New Architecture, which would have certainly helped deepen and summarize the knowledge about modern Czech Architecture, urbanism and theory. However, for political reasons, this book was never published. Censorship altered the text to an extent that was unacceptable for the publisher.

Magdalena Dědičová

Works Cited

Starý 1940: Oldřich Starý, Výstava „Za novou architekturu“ zahájena. Proslovy při zahájení 30. května 1940, Architektura II, 1940, pp. 105–106

Wirth 1940: Zdeněk Wirth, Výstava „Za novou architekturu“ zahájena. Proslovy při zahájení 30. května 1940, Architektura II, 1940, p. 106

Čermák 1940: František Čermák, Největší výstava fotografických zvětšenin, Foto XXVII, 1940, no. 10, pp. 146–148

Edgar 1940: Emil Edgar, Čtyřicet let české moderní architektury, Kámen XXI, 1940, no. 7, pp. 89–93

Vaněček 1940: Miloš Vaněček, Výstava za novou architekturu (dojmy po odstupu), Architekt SIA XXXIX, 1940, no. 12, pp. 213–214

Further Reading

Architektura II, 1940 (entire volume)

Vladimír Czumalo, Česká teorie architektury v letech okupace, Prague 1991

Milena Josefovičová, Bilancování v těžkých časech, Pražská výstava „Za novou architekturu“ v roce 1940, in: Dějiny a současnost. Kulturně historická revue XXIX, 2007, no. 9, pp. 21–24  

Jan E. Koula, Nová česká architektura a její vývoj ve XX. století, Prague 1940

Soňa Koželková, Laik objevuje architekturu, Lidové noviny XXXXVIII, 1940, 16. 6., pp. 3–4 

Lucie Zadražilová, Za novou Architekturu, Prostor Zlín III, Zlín 2007, pp. 41–47

Archival Sources

Library and archive at the Museum of Decorative Arts, collection of materials concerning the exhibition, without inventory number

A. A. Š, Magická přeměna zdí a zahrady Umělecko-průmyslového musea, Expres XIII, 1940, no. 131, 8. 6., p. 5

Anonymous author, Dvě velké pražské výstavy se končí tento měsíc, Národní Listy LIII, 1940, no. 248, 12. 9., p. 4

Anonymous author, Výstava nového českého stavebnictví, Národní Listy LIII, 1940, no. 167, 23. 6., p. 3

čtk, Chystá se výstava české architektonické tvorby v letech 1900–1940, Národní listy LIII, 1940, no. 114, 26. 4., p. 3

K, Architekti zvou na výstavu, má být překvapením Prahy, Polední list XIV, 1940, no. 115, 26. 4., p. 3

Kp, Výstava Za novou architekturu, Lidové noviny XXXXVIII, 1940, no. 29, 18. 1., p. 7

Rd, Výstava Za novou architekturu, Pestrý týden XV, 1940, no. 42, 19. 10., p. 8

rk, Úspěch výstav v Umělecko-průmyslovém museu v Praze, Národní Listy LIII, 1940, no. 187, 13. 7., p. 3

vl., Velká výstava českého stavebnictví v Umělecko-průmyslovém museu v Praze, Národní Listy LIII, 1940, no. 197, 23. 7. p. 4