THE INSTITUTE OF ART AND DESIGN WILL BE BUILT IN PILSEN

13. 12. 2010

On 13 December 2010, the foundation stone was laid for the new building of the Institute of Art and Design of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. Moving the Institute to a new building, which was specifically designed for the purposes of the art school, is a necessary precondition for its further development. The investor of the construction is the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen which obtained funds from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports at the amount of CZK 190 million to implement the project. The total cost will amount to CZK 202 million (inclusive of VAT).

“The commencement of the long-awaited construction is a nice Christmas present for five hundred teachers, staff members and students of the Institute who have already been looking forward to the moment when they will be allowed to move into new spacious artists’ studios, workshops, computer studios and offices. The new building is also a well-deserved present for the Municipality of Pilsen for its successful candidacy as the 2015 capital city of European culture,” said the academic painter Josef Mištera, director of the Institute of Art and Design. “On a personal level, the laying of the foundation stone is the most astonishing present of my life which I am receiving on the day of my 55th birthday, after eight years of  the Institute’s successful existence and five years of struggling for financial assistance to construct the new building,” added Mištera.

The building of the Institute of Art and Design (IAD) is based on large halls which may be partitioned in a variable manner.  It resembles a factory building, which is ironic as – in fact – it will be a large art factory for about five hundred students and eighty teachers. It will also include an echo and animation studio for shooting animated films and video clips and also multifunctional premises for new media that may serve as a multimedia studio, studio for work with light, film studio or even a theatre. One of the walls is removable and the stage may thus be opened out towards the amphitheatre for five hundred spectators. The exits from the studios lead to a large walled-in yard where students can work on three-dimensional creations of larger sizes. Another gallery of IAD will be situated behind the entrance to the building.

The architectonic design of the building was developed by APA – Ing. arch.  Jan Štípek, an architectonic and project studio. It is a new building of roughly rectangular shape of the approximate size of 100 x 40 m. The style of the designed building is industrial, with the  interior mostly in grey where students’ expositions will come to the  fore. There will be lecture rooms, studios, teacher workrooms and relevant backgrounds inside; special chimneys for a ceramic stove and also a forge furnace will be constructed there. Barrier free access and two invalid toilets will be available to handicapped visitors to the  building.

The project documentation was drawn up by HBH atelier s.r.o., and Division 7 České Budějovice of the Surface Construction Branch of OHL ŽS, a.s. was selected as the contractor in a competitive tender procedure “I am very glad that our company will participate in developing this significant institution and I believe that the building will serve young artists and designers to their satisfaction,” said  Josef Martinovský, a member of the Board of Directors and CEO for the Surface Construction Branch of OHL ŽS, a.s.

Students and teachers also participated in preparing the ceremonial tapping on the foundation stone which was selected by the academic sculptor Jiří Beránek, the head of the Plastic Art Studio, and brought to artistic life by his students. The hammer for this festive occasion was designed and produced by Josef Hanzl, a student of the Studio.

The Institute of Art and Design will move into the new building, which will make up a part of the university campus in Bory, in about two years.

About the Institute of Art and Design

The Institute of Art and design of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen  was established in 2004 as the first university of the arts to the west of Prague. IAD has been making intensive efforts to develop its activities in the areas of life-long education and international relationships and cooperation with secondary schools. Currently, one programme of bachelor studies has already been taught here in German. Four hundred university students study in 14 bachelor and 7 master study programmes at IAD at the moment. Every year IAD also provides a chance for students from abroad with a talent for visual arts to study. At the moment, there are students enrolled from France, FRG, Slovakia, Uzbekistan, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.

The Institute specializes in applied arts and design, its specificity is also close cooperation with the other faculties of the UWB, emphasis on interdisciplinarity and internationality. A number of distinguished Czech artists work at IAD whose repute in the area of visual arts goes beyond the borders of the Czech Republic -  doc. Josef Mištera (illustration), prof. Jiří Barta (the art of animated production), prof. Jiří Beránek (plastic art), prof. Boris Jirků (figurative painting), Helena Krbcová (fashion design), prof. Adéla Matasová (the art of intermediate and three-dimensional production),  academic painter Václav Špale, doc. Milena Dopitová and others.