Josef Pleskot (born 3 December 1952 in

Písek Písek (; german: Pisek) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Písek is colloquially called "''South ...

) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. He is known mainly as the designer of the pedestrian tunnel in the

Deer Moat The Deer Moat or Stag Moat ( cs, Jelení příkop) is a natural ravine dividing the promontory of Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th ...

at the

Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for ki ...

, and administrative building of the ČSOB in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. In 2009, he was voted the most significant Czech architect of the 1989-2009 period. Volf (2009), p.2

Biography and career

From 1973 to 1979 he studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Koryčánek (2007), preface Already as a student he attended several architectonic competitions, and in 1975 he won the first prize in the Young Architects Competition. Following his studies he worked as a teacher at the same school (Department of the Architectural Theory and Development). The 1980s he spent at the ''Krajský projektový ústav'' in Prague, in the atelier ''G-16''. In 1991 he briefly came back to teach at the Czech Technical University. However, the same year he co-founded his own studio - the ''AP Atelier''. The first success came in 1993, when the ''AP Atelier'' was awarded the honorable mention in the ''Grand Prix'' competition of the Czech Chamber of Architects. Pleskot won his first ''Grand Prix'' in 1995, for the reconstruction and completion of the town hall in

Benešov Benešov (; german: Beneschau; also known as Benešov u Prahy) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle. Administrative parts Villages of Baba, ...

. In 1997 he became a member of the

Mánes Union of Fine Arts The Mánes Association of Fine Artists ( or ''S.V.U.''; commonly abbreviated as ''Manes'') was an artists' association and exhibition society founded in 1887 in Prague and named after painter Josef Mánes. The Manes was significant for its inte ...

. He works together with 12 colleagues in his team – the ''AP Atelier''. Volf (2009), p.6

Style

Pleskot focuses on architectural designs of various functions, he creates family houses (villas), big projects (his design of the ''ČSOB bank building'' was intended for more than 2500 employees), but he also deals with the projects close to

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mov ...

. His works encompass the wide spectrum of architecture. Volf (2009), p.10 In his designs, Pleskot was inspired by the Czech modern architecture. In 1980s he also studied the possibilities of the

postmodern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry ...

and architectural neofunctionalism. In 2009, the Czech magazine ''

Reflex In biology, a reflex, or reflex action, is an involuntary, unplanned sequence or action and nearly instantaneous response to a stimulus. Reflexes are found with varying levels of complexity in organisms with a nervous system. A reflex occurs ...

'' conducted a survey, in which 70 architects, theorists of architecture and art historians were asked to name the most significant personality of the Czech architecture in the period from 1989 ( the fall of the communist régime) to 2009. Pleskot convincingly won.

Awards

*1993 ''Grand Prix'' - honorable mention (the factory ''Megafyt'' in

Vrané nad Vltavou Vrané nad Vltavou is a municipality and village in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,600 inhabitants. It lies on the Vltava Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech ...

) *1995 ''Grand Prix'' - 1st prize (completion of the town hall in Benešov) *1995 ''Grand Prix'' - honorable mention (villa of the businessman

Petr Kellner Petr Kellner (20 May 1964 – 27 March 2021) was a Czech billionaire entrepreneur, the founder and majority shareholder (98.93%) of the PPF Group. At the time of his death, he had an estimated net worth of $17.5 billion, making him the wealth ...

in Vrané nad Vltavou)http://www.polednik.cz/architektura/zivotopisy/josef-pleskot.pdf *1995 ''Grand Prix'' - honorable mention (''Lion Courtyard'' at the Prague castle) *2004 ''

Brick Award DoSomething (also DoSomething.org) is a global nonprofit organization with the goal of motivating young people to make positive change both online and offline through campaigns. The organization's CEO is DeNora Getachew. History The organizati ...

'' (Award for the best Brick building in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, the pedestrian tunnel in the ''

'' at the

) *2004 ''Piranesi Award'' (Czech Consulate in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

) *2008 ''Grand Prix'' - 1st prize (the headquarters of the ''ČSOB'', Prague – Radlice) *2008 ''

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

'' - the gold certificate of the LEED Rating Systems (

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

), the headquarters of the ''ČSOB'' – the only building in Europe with that certificate (as of 2008)

Notes

References

* *

External links

Interview with Josef Pleskot in the ''Lifestyles Magazine''Archiweb.cz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleskot, Josef 1952 births Living people Czech architects People from Písek Czech Technical University in Prague alumni