THE LIMITS OF ARCHITECTURE – THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF ARCHITECTURE
Where does architecture begin and end? On what topics should architects be invited and in what social discussions should they be actively involved? These questions led Architects Without Borders to organize a series of public discussions called The Boundaries of Architecture. Two guests who are close to the topic under discussion are invited to one table – one architect or urban planner and an expert from another profession. Together we are looking for the boundaries of architecture and its intersections with other social disciplines.
Architect Miroslav Vodák and the mayor of Úvaly Petr Borecký discussed the topic Social Responsibility of Architecture.
Ing. arch. Miroslav Vodák is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University. He gained his architectural practice in the studios A8000 Střítecký Krupauer and CGA Architects in New York. In addition to his design practice focused on single-family houses, he is a member of the CBArchitektura association and is dedicated to the promotion of architecture of public buildings, public space and the organization of architectural competitions. In 2018, he was nominated for the Architect of the Year Award.
Mgr. Petr Borecký is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of Charles University. After several years of working in the legal profession, he worked in the private sector, first in telecommunications and then in renewable energy. Since 2014, he has been the mayor of Úvaly, and since 2020 he has been a councillor of the Central Bohemian Region for public transport.
Social responsibility of architecture
Martin Rajniš says: „Stupid houses make stupid children.“ Mirek Vodák commented on this statement that it is not absolute, but that there is a lot of truth in it. Especially nowadays, when we don't live in nature, but in an artificially created environment, we live most of our lives in what someone has designed. Michal Kuzemenský even claims that architecture is a humanistic discipline because the architect primarily designs space for people. However, the responsibility does not lie only with the architect, but also to a large extent with the client.
The popularization of architecture
After returning from New York, where he had worked after his studies, architect Vodák felt that people in the Czech Republic were severely lacking interest in their surroundings. During the economic crisis of 2008, he began to focus more on this topic and together with architect Tomáš Zdvihal founded the CBArchitektura association.
After an initial enthusiastic phase, their interest turned into regular work. They are dedicated to popularising architecture and highlighting the need for architectural competitions for public buildings. They point out that for every project, the discussion that precedes it is essential. The association has compiled a brief guide to public buildings built after 1990 in the South Bohemia region and Upper Austria. It shows a comparison of the building culture of these neighbouring regions.
"If it weren't for our communist past, when we didn't talk about architecture for forty years, we would be at the level of Upper Austria."
- Mirek Vodák -
Petr Borecký described the position of the mayor, who plays the role of a client in relation to the architect and at the same time represents the citizens. He said that the mayor feels like he is between the millstones and explained this with a concrete example. The City commissioned a design from an architect for a new plaza that included a reduction in parking spaces. The investment department of the City Hall expressed the opinion that it should be negotiated according to the lowest price. The public was furious, that they were being deprived of their car space. The Úval example ended up being a success; the transformation of the public space also transforms the inhabitants: they want to meet and spend time together in the square. The square was awarded the Building of the Year of the Central Bohemian Region 2019.
You can change the city you live in
The town of Úvaly is located in the Prague-East district and has 6,700 inhabitants. Petr Borecký first tried to improve the functioning of the town through a fringe association, but soon found that without the support of the town hall he could not make any major changes. So he and his friends founded the civic association Open Úvaly. Together with him, he got to the town hall, and since 2014 he has been the mayor. One of the first steps of the new town hall was an excursion to foreign cities, after which they established the position of town architect, planner, landscape designer and expert on accessibility. In 2018, the Úvaly Town Hall was awarded by the Ministry of Regional Development as the second most accessible in the whole country and the first in the Central Bohemia Region.
At the beginning of Petr Borecký's tenure, the town created a so-called stack of projects to be addressed over the next ten years. They held several rounds of public discussions where people could submit their ideas. Then the council discussed all of them and approved the outcome. For each project, it is indicated when it is to be implemented and how much funding will be needed. Each upcoming project is written about in the magazine and on the city's website, and public discussions are held with a recording available on social media. The strategy of Úvaly Town Hall is obvious - communication with the public is the basis. As Petr Borecký adds, communication is extremely demanding, but it cannot be done without it. In his experience, firm management is needed during public meetings. The moderator (mayor) must have a clear idea of what is going to be discussed and what he expects from the people. He or she must also know that everyone can never walk away satisfied.
How to involve the public in the design?
Mirek presented an example of participatory design by Michal Kuzemenský's team, who moved into a small village for two weeks while working on a project, toured the whole place and talked to everyone - during the day with the mayor and in the evening with people in the pub. The opposite approach to designing - i.e. without participation - proved successful in Litomyšl. It was based on the strong personality of the architect and the enlightened leadership of the city: a great architect could build great houses.
Petr Borecký added his experience from Úvaly to participatory design, emphasising that this principle is only suitable for certain projects. He pointed out that the crowd likes the average, and if you want to do something other than the average, you have to go against the crowd. But you always need to explain it to people.
City Architect
In Úvaly, the position of city architect was created by an enlightened decision of the city management, who admitted that they did not understand some things and that an expert should be brought in to solve them. He comments on larger buildings in the municipality, is part of the committee of architectural competitions or evaluates proposals of developers. For example, in response to the increasing number of concrete "alleys of shame", the municipality has declared a building closure on the construction of opaque fences, and the municipal architect decides whether to grant a possible exemption.
Mirek Vodák described the competencies that a municipal architect should have. It is necessary to have professional expertise, knowledge of laws (for example, on municipalities and public procurement) and diplomacy - and few people can do that. For larger municipalities, he recommends that the architect be licensed, and must know the design process. He noted that there are about a hundred municipal architects in the country, but only somewhere does the position really work. The form of the position varies depending on the size of the municipality. In Prague and Brno, instead of a city architect, we find a whole office - the Institute of Planning and Development of the capital city. Prague and the Office of the City Architect of Brno. In some municipal offices the architect is included in the structure of the office, in others he is only a part-time freelancer. His job should be mainly to define the concept of the city's development. According to Mirek Vodák, this position will save the municipality a large amount of money just by the fact that the city architect is able to define public procurement and tenders.
Petr Borecký concluded the discussion with a description of the current unfortunate setup of the system. Municipalities are forced to build with subsidies, they have no other sources. The subsidy providers are only interested in numbers and technical solutions: how much water is retained or how much energy is saved on heating. Any attempt at architecture is an extension and actually a complication. Procurement on the basis of the lowest price alone thus results in things that we often know, unfortunately, are not actually nice.
The discussion took place in October 2018 at the Scout Institute on Old Town Square. The series of public discussions and articles Borders of Architecture is supported by a grant from Nadace české architektury.