Keith Williams welcomed Eva Jiricna as she delivered a superb Docomomo lecture last Tuesday evening, 18 June, in the latest instalment of Docomomo’s ongoing invitational lecture programme at the Alan Baxter Gallery in Clerkenwell.
Eva, with typical modesty, gave a truly inspirational review of her extraordinary career and even more extraordinary life.
As a new Docomomo UK trustee, Keith was pleased to introduce his longstanding friend Eva and moderate the ensuing discussion and question and answer session.
Eva took us through her early work with Louis de Soissons Partnership on Brighton Marina in the 1970s, which took up the first 10 years of her career in the UK, before in 1982, she founded Eva Jiřičná Architects, with projects which included collaborations with Richard Rogers on the interiors of Lloyds Headquarters building and then Joseph Ettedgui, of acclaimed fashion shops, Joseph.
Vertiginous sculptural stairs of glass and the lightest of stainless steel wires became a hallmark of her mid-oeuvre in the UK but in later decades after co-founding Prague based practice, AI Design in 1999, her work has encompassed the celebrated Orangery at Prague Castle demonstrating her boldness in introducing a highly crafted aesthetic of steel and glass in the gardens of one of Prague’s most important historic buildings.
She touched on the Concert Hall and Convention Centre in Zlin and the fantastic Hotel Joseph in Prague with its amazing glass wardrobes, and her current work with AI design partner Petr Vagner on commissions including the New Zizkov Centre, and the incredibly delicate Rohan Office Building currently under construction in Prague.
Thanks go to Ed Clark from ARUP who accompanying Eva at the top table, kicked off the post-lecture debate with a series on thoughtful insights, observations and questions.
Many of us then repaired with Eva to London architects’ favourite haunt, St.John for celebratory drinks and further discourse and debate.