The studies examine themes that Švácha deals with in his work, and also his unmistakable method, consisting in the combination of formal interpretation with questions of the moral quality of architectural work. This interpretation of shapes and forms provides the background for the selection of texts by a number of prominent colleagues and pupils of Rostislav Švácha presented in this volume. Similar opinions to his can be found in Kenneth Frampton’s interpretation of the urbanistic megaform, Monika Platzer’s interest in the non-canonical use of the architectural forms of classical Modernism, Brutalism, and High-tech style in neighbouring Austria, or Henrieta Moravčíková’s contribution on Slovak Brutalism in the 1960s. The attraction and centrifugal force of Švácha’s themes are superbly represented by studies by Vojtěch Lahoda on the problem of architectural form in sculpture and by Jindřich Vybíral, whose methodological reflections on writing biographies of artists are a self-ironic reflection on the discipline. The contributions and themes chosen by Švácha’s youngest collaborators Richard Biegel, Hubert Guzik, Martin Horáček, Ludmila Hůlková, and Ivana Panochová show that powerful personalities are capable of training people who are like themselves.
Tvary formy ideje. Studie k dějinám a teorii architektury [ Shapes Forms Ideas. Studies and essays on the history and theory of architecture]. First edition, in Czech and English, 350 pp., black-and-white illustrations, Praha 2013, ISBN 978-80-86890-47-0