Zdeněk Chmel Architect
2014
Selected projects The portfolio of my selected projects is divided into four different chapters; each one shows projects which are inquiring on the same topic or issue.
Chapter 1 - The town House of arts Háječek
Chapter 2 - Building up the memory The camp Unbuilt Republic The church
Chapter 3 - The oldnew Světovar Komenského bridge Farmer’s house
Chapter 4 - Houses on their own Low energy house Theatre city
House of arts Location: České Budějovice / CZ Master thesis Faculty of architecture, Brno university of technology Year: 2012-2013 Mentor: Prof. Ing. arch. Ivan Ruller Bohuslav Fuchs prize for the best studio project Dean’s prize for the best master thesis Young architect award 2013 nomination The need of a House of Art in České Budějovice was the starting point for the development of this project. Due to the complexity of the city and to the amount of different solutions possible, the project was developed in two phases: the urban concept and the building project. The first phase had to deal with the context and brought up a selection of 8 different places which, for different reasons, are suitable for the settlement. Therefore 3 of these locations were chosen for testing on a urban scale the reaction to the new building. This preliminary work had the power to start an interesting discussion about the need
of transformation in the neglected localities and on the other hand it showed a lot of controversies, whether the historical centre should be preserved or corrupted with contemporary architecture. Consequently the second phase saw the transformation of the original urban vision into a thesis project. In this phase the main attention was paid to the building itself which was developed over these main points: new identity for the existing square thanks to the new buildings, revelation of the hidden small river in front of it, definition of a new urban space for everyday life.
The house of arts as a background for a newly created riverfront through revealing the hidden river.
Ground floor plan / 1:200
Cross section / 1:200
Urban concepts for the selected localities
Situation plan with marked localities
Háječek Location: České Budějovice / CZ Competiton Czech chamber of architects Collaborators: Lucia Pennati, Miroslav Chmel Year: 2013 České Budějovice was founded in 1265 in the swamps created at the confluence of the Vltava and Malše rivers. From the existing historical city it’s possible to learn the idea of an original rectangular grid of streets interrupted and defined by the irregular boundaries of the rivers. Afterwards in 1934 Pavel Janák interpreted this concept as a design for the paved of the famous main square Přemysla Ottakar II. The proposed design for Háječek park follows the rectangular outline of the historical Gothic city center and respects its orientation towards the North. In this way the grid, although rectangular and perfectly regular, projects itself on the curved terrain and creates a new dimension of irregularities.
Location plan / 1:1000
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Historical photography of the crowded camp in HodonĂn, 1942 Source: competition files
Chapter 2 Building up the memory With the projects collected in this section I am trying to critically analyze and understand the current economical and social difficulties of the Central Europe as a kind of result of the wild development of the 20th century. Especially in the example of the contemporary Czech Republic I try to bring back the shadow of the young, independent and democratic nation that, at its birth, was connoted by dynamic economy, high-developed architecture but also social differences. My projects can be seen as a kind of reflection of these circumstances as well as a composition based on the same reasons. Surely mine is not an attempt to hide or forget the past but it’s rather a will that takes form in a definition of a contemporary architectural project.
The camp Location: Hodonín u Kunštátu / CZ Competiton Ministry of education Year: 2013 3rd prize During the 30’s of last century, the region of Bohemia was kept under German laws. In these difficult times feelings of hate against the people who were considered -different- were easily raising. First victims of this process were Gypsies, whose different way of life based on the continuos movement from one city to another, was uncomfortable for the depressed Czech society. Because of this situation special working camps were established for people living against the society rules. One of these camps was founded in Hodonín, due to the need of people working on the construction of a new infrastructure. As in a parallel process as WW II, the working camp slowly turned into a concentrating camp and a lot of people were carried to Auschwitz. On the other side hundreds of people (including
children) died directly in the camp due to catastrophical hygienic situation and lack of food. They are buried in the forests nearby. In 1945 the camp shortly accommodated Russian and Romanian army, in 1946 there was the deportation of the German minority out of Czechoslovakia. By that time over 2 millions of people were moved out and the camp served as a place for elderly people, who were not capable anymore to move. Till 1950 the camp was used by the communist authorities to imprison opponents of the regime. At the end, in a kind of strange and at the same time, ridiculous game, this place of sorrow and death became a place for holidays and it worked as a resort till our days.
House like a wall. Wall as a spatial expression of barriers. Wall as a mean of excluding people out of the society. Wall as a vortex that draws you inside. Wall as a coffer of memory.
Location plan
Floor plans / 1:400
Sections / 1:400
Exhibition entrance spaces
Unbuilt Republic Location: Venice / IT Competiton National Gallery in Prague Collaborator: Miroslav Chmel Year: 2013 Fundamentals - the topic introduced for the national pavilions in the upcoming Venice Biennale is restricted to the last decade of XX century. This time lapse approximately corresponds to the history of modern independent Czechoslovakia. In the design proposal for national exhibition the aim tries to research whether it’s possible to talk about the young emancipated national architecture, or rather it consists mostly of external influences. The idea is to show and to explain to the public the unrealized projects with original models as a kind of representation of the former architectural thinking. Nevertheless the exhibition explores visions, trends and experiments of the Czechoslovak architecture and tries to put them in the context of the contemporary political and social situation.
The church Location: Brno / CZ Competiton Czech chamber of architects Collaborator: Miroslav MalĂ˝ Year: 2012 The project for a church takes place in the middle of a huge socialistic housing settlement. This situation is certainly something that a few decades ago nobody could have ever imagined possible. In fact big settlements built in the 70s and 80s are nowadays considered as one of the most visible remarks of the eastern block and on the other side the church can be named as a symbol of resistance against the regime. According to the assumption of this contrast the main concept of the project is to create a central space, a quiet garden, around which are located various activities belonging to the local spiritual community including the church itself. The clearly and well definied garden stands in contrast with the orderless settlements raised in the neighbourhood.
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Světovar brewery on historical postcard, 1922 Source: project research; pivovary.info
Chapter 3 The oldnew How to connect existing architecture (often guarded under the heritage protection) with a contemporary completion? The continuos path made trying to answer this fundamental question is the common ground on which the following projects are built. The main sentence is based on the capability and sensibilty of finding a concept for the new proposition that respects the current state of the area or of the building and creatively enriches it. “Just an age can not be the measure - age is not merit! But the situation is more complicated; some conversions and additions may create even greater monuments because they may be more important than the original object.” From the book Úřad kreátora - Roman Koucký
Světovar brewery Location: Plzeň / CZ Competiton Helika, a.s. Year: 2012
The proposal does not preserve the original brewery building in every detail, but the goal was to create a symbiosis of old and new in a living project of “Kulturfabrik”. It aims to create open space that will provide adequate conditions for a wide range of cultural events: from theater, concerts to dance performances and other kinds of living art. It’s a chance to create a major cultural center, which could accelerate the cultural life not only of the city itself (Pilsen) but also of the surroundings. In the same way the project brings a starting point
for reshaping its context into an attractive part of the city. The architectural concept is based on building a new underground place underneath the original brewery halls. This idea creates a continuous, generous space divided in different levels,which is offering a unique spatial interaction between old and new. This solution is also dealing with the public space by creating large entrances built on staircases and by defining at the same time an outdoor amphitheater.
Axonometry scheme
Underground floor plans
Komenského bridge Location: Jaroměř / CZ Competiton Czech chamber of architects Collaborators: Miroslav Malý, Petr Malý, Miroslav Chmel Structure planning: Leicht structural engineering and specialist consulting, GmbH. - Lutz Schöne, Jiří Vraj Year: 2013 Honorable mention The topic of the competition was to design a new bridge in a very exposed location inside the town. There is no doubt that this kind of intervention always defines a new symbol for the place. In our proposal, however, we started from this statement not in terms of wish to define an iconic architecture in opposition to the context, but as a need to create a unique element which belongs in an harmoniously and complementary whole to the urban structure. The proposal respects the original urban axis leading to the square of the Czechoslovak army towards the elementary school located on the other side of the river Labe. The bridge, with its wavy shaped in a natural way, manage to connect with the existing pillars and all the load-bearing
structure takes place underneath the deck. Moreover the size of the bridge looses one meter wideness to underline the direction going out of the city centre as it was in the original urban idea of the Komenského street. The curve of the bridge gently responds to its environment and also its subtle profile supports long-distance views towards the city’s panorama. The slim railing is designed for decreasing the impact from the city looking to the bridge and viceversa. At the same time the chosen solution provides the required height underneath the bridge for communication and safety or in case of extraordinary flood activity. With this intervention the existing Komenského street can finally continue smoothly and straightly without visible barriers.
Perspective from the top view
Plan / 1:400
Farmer’s house Location: VitĂn / CZ Concept design Year: 2011 - 2014
This project comes from the will of a young couple to rebuild their family farmer’s house for moving in. The old house consists of two parts connected with a front wall, which creates an interesting inside courtyard: this kind of layout is really carachteristical of the area. The main idea is that one of the two parts, the residential one, is kept and reconstructed as a studio and the second one (today used as a storage) is replaced by the house for the family. For more than 2 years and half I have been working side by side with this family in order to build up the house that they are looking for.
Low-energy house Location: JelenĂ Vrchy / CZ Students’ competiton ÄŒMSS Year: 2010 Honorable mention
Low-energy house is a competition project which takes place in an abandoned mountain landscape. It is located on a southern side of a slope, which creates the basic circumstances for the design. The house is revealed itself just by 2 triangular glass facades, while all the remaining part are underground. Thanks to this design the house is invisibe to the view from the upper parts of the hill. In the inside the space is divided into three vertical levels, this criteria comes according to the slope levels. The construction is based partially on concrete (foundations), then on stone (bearing walls) and on wooden trusses (roof and facade walls). The design is led according to low-energy standards.
Theatre city Location: New York / USA Competiton Archmedium student competitions Collaborators: Miroslav MalĂ˝, Mariko Okumura Year: 2011
The aim of the proposal is to revolutionize the cognition of the curtain. It can start with a provocation saying that the curtain represents one of the symbol of Broadway. The curtain is used as a separation between audience and performer, but also it can be intended as a wall between a traditional experience of the theatre and a special one. By trying to recognize this function, the curtain became the building itself in the way it tries to create different quality of spaces. In our proposition the gentle curve which the curtain creates makes an easy access from the city and establish the connection between performers and visitors.
Awards: 2013 Czech chamber of architects competition Komenského bridge in Jaroměř, honorable mention 2013 Architectural competition Roma holocaust memorial in Hodonín, 3rd prize 2013 Dean’s prize for the best thesis project, Faculty of architecture BUT 2013 Bohuslav Fuchs prize for the best studio project, Faculty of architecture BUT 2010 Student architectural competition ČMSS Low-energy house, honorable mention 2009 Design competition - Pissoir for Prague city centre, 2nd prize 2009 Czech chamber of architects competition Archeological park Mikulčice, 2nd prize 2009 - 2008 Czech chamber of architects competition Town hall in Jeseník, honorable mention 2008 Student architectural competition Revit open - Meteorological station Králický Sněžník, 3rd prize 2008 Building of the Southmoravian region 2007 - Team housing, 1st prize 2007 Design competition - New graphic identity for South Bohemian region, honorable mention
Profile: ING.ARCH. ZDENĚK CHMEL
1986 born in České Budějovice, Czech Republic 1998 - 2006 Grammar school - Biskupské gymnázium J.N. Neumanna, České Budějovice 2006 - 2010 Faculty of architecture, Brno university of technology 2010 Bachelor degree in architecture 2010 - 2011 Stipendium Erasmus: Joint master of architecture - Bern, Friburg, Geneva; Switzerland 2011-2012 Traineeship Herzog & de Meuron, Basel; Switzerland Projects: Ricola Kräuterzentrum Laufen (concept design - building application); Private residence in Tenerife (modification of the building) 2012 - 2013 Faculty of architecture, Brno university of technology 2013 Master degree in architecture Dean’s prize for the best thesis project 2013-2014 Freelance architect
Languages:
Contact:
Czech - native
Jungmannova 46, 37001 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
English - intermediate
00420 605 039 262
German - intermediate
chmel.zdenek@gmail.com
Italian - begginer
www.zdenekchmel.cz
Made by Zdeněk Chmel, texts edited by Lucia Pennati, January 2014