Jiří Kroha

Vestibule of Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, designed by Jiří Kroha and Václav Roštlapil, 1950–52.

Jiří Kroha (5 June 1893, Prague – 7 June 1974, Prague) was a Czech architect, painter, sculptor, scenographer, designer and pedagogue. He was an important exponent of Czech architecture and design during inter-war period.^[1]

Biography

Kroha began his studies in Prague, but in 1904 his family moved to Plzeň. From 1907 to 1909 he gained his first experience with theatre, as a member of amateur cabaret group.^[2] In 1911, he graduated from realschule in Plzeň. The same year he began to study at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Among his professors were Jan Koula, Josef Fanta, Antonín Balšánek and Rudolf Kříženecký. In 1918 he successfully finished his studies at the Czech Technical University. At the same time he made first contacts with bohemian group of the cabaret Montmartre from Řetězová Street in Prague. Among regular guests of the performances were Jaroslav Hašek, Max Brod, Franz Kafka, Eduard Bass, Eduard Bass, Konstantin Biebl, Egon Erwin Kisch, Vítězslav Nezval, Karel Teige, František Tichý and others.^[3] In 1918 Kroha became a member of the Mánes Union of Fine Arts, and he also began his collaboration with Artěl (Atelier for Art Work in Prague).^[4]

In 1920s he designed several buildings in Mladá Boleslav and Kosmonosy. In 1926 he began lecturing at the Brno University of Technology, and two years later, in 1928, he moved to Brno with his family.^[5]

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