IN-PERSON: Prague – Section B
Abstract
The Ethical Mirror: Poetry, Politics, and Architecture after Palach will present the story of the literal and metaphorical transatlantic dialogue that began in 1968 with the suppression of the Prague Spring uprising and the self-immolation of Czech student Jan Palach in Prague’s Wenceslas Square. His act in response to the Russian occupation and his subsequent death four days later inspired the 1969 poem/elegy The Funeral of Jan Palach by the American student-radical and poet David Shapiro. In 1986 responding to the poem (and in honor of Palach’s sacrifice), the Czech-American architect John Hejduk creates The House of the Suicide and The House of the Mother of the Suicide structures. In 1990 architecture, poetry, politics, and the belief in democracy and human rights coalesce when President Vaclav Havel invites Hejduk to erect the structures in post-Communist Czechoslovakia. This presentation (based upon a forthcoming edited volume by Hejduk, Hillyer, Shkapich, and Williamson that retells the 50-year history of this international conversation) will tell the story of this unique relationship that began with Palach’s act of defiance against totalitarianism, the poem by the renowned American poet David Shapiro, the invitation to the Czech-American architect John Hejduk by President Vaclav Havel to mount the first exhibition of an American architect’s work in the newly formed Czech Republic, and subsequent involvement of and help offered by the architectural community in the Czech Republic to help bring Hejduk’s work the newly open Czech architectural community. In January of 2016, upon the anniversary of Palach’s death, and twenty-five years after Havel and Hejduk met on the grounds of the Castle with Palach’s family, Ambassador Shirley Temple Black, and the poet David Shapiro, the City of Prague unveiled a memorial to Jan Palach designed by John Hejduk on the banks of the Charles River in Prague.
Jim Williamson is a Professor of Architecture at Texas Tech University (TTU) where he served as Dean from 2016–21. He holds a Bachelor’s of Architecture from TTU, a Master’s of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and pursued graduate studies in history and theory at the Architectural Association. Williamson taught at Cornell from 2001–16 where he directed the undergraduate and graduate programs and coordinated the freshman design sequence. He has taught design and theory at numerous institutions including Harvard University, The Cooper Union, Columbia University, Rhode Island School of Design, Rice the University of Texas at Austin, and Georgia Institute of Technology.
Renata Hejduk, PhD, is an Associate Professor of architectural history and theory in The Design School at Arizona State University. At ASU she is a faculty affiliate of The Barrett Honors College, the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, the Biomimicry Center, and the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Her research is focused on European and American avant-garde art, architecture, and urbanism and thought from around 1960 to the present. She is also engaged in research on Reggio-Emilia Early Childhood Education and has a forthcoming book to be published by Routledge.
Steven Hillyer has curated, designed, and installed numerous exhibitions presenting the work of such distinguished architects as Raimund Abraham, John Hejduk, Bernhard Hoesli, Louis I. Kahn, Daniel Libeskind, Franco Purini, Carlo Scarpa, Massimo Scolari, Michael Webb, and Lebbeus Woods, Mary Kelly, Costantino Nivola, and Robert Slutzky. Additionally, Hillyer is involved in the fabrication of the numerous publications produced by the School’s Architecture Archive.
Kim Shkapich was educated as a filmmaker, designer, and artist. She practices as both a graphic designer and editor. She was the graphic designer and director of exhibitions and lectures at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, the head of the Architectural Archive and Architectural Exhibitions at The Cooper Union, and a long-time collaborator and book designer/editor for the architect John Hejduk. She has won numerous awards and grants for her books, exhibitions, and research including the PS1/MoMA Young Architects Award for her project with Obra Architects, she was part of numerous Graham Foundation grants, she was nominated for the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, and several International Architecture Book Award from the American Institute of Architects and many other design awards.
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Wednesday 28th June, 2023