We are pleased to invite you to the launch of the book Baroque Minimalism. 

The book is a visual essay—an interpretation of the architectural work of Ondřej Císler (born 1972), a prominent figure of the middle generation—presented through the author’s own texts, photographs of realized projects, and additional visual material. The motivation behind the book stems from Císler’s personal experience with the largely oral transmission of theoretical thinking by leading Czech architects (Šrámková, Přikryl, Bočan, among others), as well as from the authored texts of major international architects (Kahn, Zumthor, Caruso, Šik, among others). This oral tradition represents, for contemporary architectural practitioners, a surprisingly coherent and living source code of architectural work. An integral part of Císler’s approach is also an in-depth study of Czech architecture of the 20th century.

It is worth recalling that, with only a few honorable exceptions, the current architectural scene largely lacks authored texts by practicing architects. The quality and diversity of architectural heritage thus form both an appropriate backdrop and a commitment for today’s architects to fulfill the imperative of comprehensive architectural practice: “To build, to teach, and to write.”

Concept: Ondřej Císler, Klára Kvízová
Texts: Petr Borkovec, Ondřej Císler, Tomáš Hříbek
Translation: Marek Procházka

Published by Arbor vitae