Course detail

Fine Art in Brno Architecture (1948–1989) 2

FaVU-VUBAII-LAcad. year: 2021/2022

The lectures focus on the cooperation of notable Brno-based architects and fine artists who designed both individual buildings and urban complexes in 1948–1989. Special attention will be paid to the activities of artists' and architects' unions and the legislative framework of the artist-architect cooperation. The lectures will introduce key architects and artists active in the cultural and political context of post-war Czechoslovakia. The lectures will also trace the development of this cooperation on the background of political/cultural changes: socialist realism of the 1950s, the thaw of the 1960s, the so-called "normalization" period of post-1968 occupied Czechoslovakia. Two field trips will be arranged during the semester which will connect on-site research with a guided tour in front of the "originals". One lecture will be held by an invited speaker specializing on the period of Czechoslovak socialist realism.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Mgr. Jana Kořínková, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Art History and Theory (KTDU)

Learning outcomes of the course unit

Students will be informed about the key architectonic/artistic projects in Brno dating from the periods of socialist realism, the so-called Brussels style, or the intenrational modern.

Prerequisites

General cultural knowledge. Introductory level knowldedge of developments of post-war Czech architecture and fine arts.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

A combination of lectures and excursions that aim for direct experience with buildings and art in architecture featuring in the lectures.

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Exam (written test).

Course curriculum

1. Introduction: the role of fine art in architecture, its funding, the idea of the "gesamkunstwerk"
2. Brno "gesamkunstwerks" from the socialist-realist period
3. Brno International Fairs
4. International hotels in Brno
5. The Mourning Hall in Židenice
6. The Úvoz adn Juliánov housing estates
7. Field trip 1: the mourning hall in Židenice; Juliánov; Bílá Hora
8. The Lesná housing estate, comparison with a Scottish mining town (Glenrothes)
9. The Kohoutovice housing estate
10. Research institues
11. The Bohunice Faculty Hospital and the Institue of Further Medical Education
12. The Lužánky sports stadium, the Velodrome

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The course introduces selected architectonic/artistic projects implemented in the postwar period in Brno; attention will be paind both to individual buildings and to complex development projects. These will be analyzed both through the prism of theoretical discourse of the period and though contemporary reflection.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Compulsory attendance.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Not applicable.

Type of course unit

Lecture

13 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. Jana Kořínková, Ph.D.

Seminar

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. Jana Kořínková, Ph.D.