Karel Prager

24 August 1923, Kroměříž – 31 May 2001, Prague

Karel Prager graduated from an industrial school in Brno and then worked in a construction company. After the war, he began studying at the Faculty of Architecture of Czech Technical University in Prague. After graduation, he worked in the state architectural company Stavoprojekt. In 1967, he became a co-founder of the Association of Architectural Studios and a long-time director of the Gama Studio. He was a member of the Mánes Union of Fine Artists and the Union of Czech Architects. In 2000, he was awarded for lifetime contribution to architecture by the Society of Czech Architects. In 2011, he was posthumously honoured by the Czech Chamber of Architects.

In his work, Prager was influenced by world architecture, by later modernism and brutalism. His buildings have original architectural designs and constructions. He had an exceptional sense for the monumentality of modern form. In his designs, he used steel and glass and emphasised the complexity of designing buildings, seeking new constructions, shapes, materials. One of his first designs was the building of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in the Břevnov district of Prague, which was the first building with a curtain wall in Czechoslovakia and is now on the list of cultural monuments. His most significant projects include the building of the former Federal Assembly (currently the New Building of the National Museum), the New Scene of the National Theatre, as well as the Commercial Bank in the Smíchov district of Prague. These buildings, like the other Prager’s projects, attracted a lot of attention from both the public and the professionals, although the reactions were frequently negative and condemning. He has also been pejoratively described as a socialist architect, although his works reflect a good architectural concept. His works have only been acknowledged in the last several years.