Mikulas novotny portfolio 2014

MIKULÁŠ NOVOTNÝPORTFOLIO 2014

ArchitectureInterior designProduct design

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ARCHITECTURE

Dwelling for Imro VaskoMain train stationHoliday houseVariable arenaMunicipal spa

DWELLING FOR ARCHITECT PROFESSOR IMRO VASKO AT A SPECIFIED PLACE

A cantilever floating above the square, serves as an extension of the staircase, which is a very popular place to sit, being oc-cupied by tourists and students for almost whole year. The task was to design a dwelling for architect and professor Imro Vasko on the stair landings in front of the Philharmonic Hall. At that time, the professor was visiting Academy only for few days a week, but it was very important for him to let people know what he was doing and why. So his house is designed as a showroom with a cafe and library curated by Imro Vasko. The shape itself represents Imro’s attitude to architecture aimed at loose thinking in projecting.

2012

NEW CONCEPTION OF MAIN TRAIN STATION IN PRAGUE

The conception of the main train station in Prague is an ex-perimental project based on applying mathematical surfaces on the purpose and design of buildings. The final results solves the problem of a huge complex of buildings with vari-ous functions, corridors and main hall, under one roof. Besides the south terminal placed above the tracks, joined with the administrative buildings and the department store and the north terminal situated under the tracks, connected to subway and tram, there is a city boulevard with shops and workshops crossing bicycle and hiking path, which altogether creates the roof of the main hall.

2013

HOLIDAY FAMILY HOUSE IN SOUTH BOHEMIA,BUILDING PLANS

The crucial question of a simple house with predefined meas-urements, masonry walls and pitched roof, was given by un-clear usage in the future. There was not clear, if the house will be used as a holiday cottage or a regular family house, which caused problems in dimensioning the heating system as well as thickness of the insulation layer. Heating system is a combination of stove and electric heat-ers which can be easily replaced according to owners needs. The facade is assambled of spruce timbers, filled with mineral wool and covered with larch planks. As for the dispositions, a scheme typical for traditional houses in the region is used. An opened living room with a spacious kitchen takes nearly nearly half of groundfloor, another half consists of staircase situated near the kitchen, bathroom with toilet and entrance hall. On the first floor, there is owners room with a balcony and a smaller room for guests. As the building stands alone on the bound-ary of forest and there is sometimes necessary to enclose the whole buiding perfectly, the facade is equiped with typical massive shutters.

2013

ARENA FOR REUSED OLD FREIGHT STATION IN PRAGUE

As many other old industrial objects, the modernist freight sta-tion situated not far from the Prague city centre becomes an opportunity for new use. A few notable events such as Prague Biennale or Designblok already took place there. This projectdeals with an idea of using old buildings as art, design and fashion studios, galleries etc. The part, that is solved is a huge space with tracks between two main buildings. The whole area is converted into a semi public space with variable arena, where all kinds of performances and events can be organized.

2013

CITY SPA FOR PRAGUE, CONNECTING RIVERFRONT PROMENADE AND HISTORICAL CENTRE

First there was a decision to change the current situation in this area, make a small square and connect the adjacent historical part of Prague with the riverfront promenade. Another idea was to continue in line consitisting of important and dignified build-ings lying as heavy stones on the riverbank. The spa as a quiet and calm place serving Prague inhabitants as well as tourist in the middle of the city, and also as a classical symbol of de-mocracy fits well into this place.

2014

HOUSE FOR VARIOUS USE ON TORSTRAßE ,BERLIN, MITTE

The house on Torstraße 74 it trying to meet all given and predictable requirements as for the construction and usage of buildings in this area, and simultaneously integrate some of the positive features of the existing building, single storey brick garage, built-in to the parterre. In the context of the street the facade should still have a memorable character. The vacancy between the buildings which was significant for this place is quoted in my project by the break between prime mass of the new building and adjoin-ing house, filled with a subtile structure of the staircase and a glazed elevator shaft.Quasi-industrial character of the building is also underlined by the interior solution, concieved as five emtpy cubes of space

2014

INTERIOR DESIGN

Furniture for chapelWooden stairacaseExhibition RED8Showroom for ACO

FURNITURE FOR PREMONSTRATENSIAN CHAPEL,TEPLÁ

The premonstratensians from the monastery in western Bohe-mia decided to move their worships from the cold and spa-cious monastery chapel to the newly renovated baroque library. It was necessary to equip the place with suitable furniture, increasing the spiritual atmosphere of the space and also meet the requirements for the comfort. Another important thing was to find the balance between the baroque space and the new ceremonial practices of premonstratensians focused on un-pretentiousness and simplicity. While the altar, tabernacle and pulpit are rather ornate, massive and traditionally conceived, rest of the furniture is almost puritanical. The armchair for the priest balances between those two characteristic. The prevail-ing used material is a sandblasted white oak, referring, inter alia, to the white religious robes of premonstratensians.

2012

WOODEN STAIRCASE FOR CAFE AND WINE BAR, PRAGUE

Requirements for the staicase in a small café and wine bar called Jen were especially style and of course cheap design. Spruce wood was used for handles, thin beech plywood as a cladding, and beech planks for stair treads. The invisible con-struction part is assambled of spruce battens and CNC cutted poplar plywood. Exposed parts are impregnated with linseed oil. The design on the second picture from the left was select-ed for the production.

2013

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN OF EXHIBITION RED8,UMPRUM GALLERY, PRAGUE

The inspiration for the curatorial selection of contemporary Czech artists works and main theme of the exhibition in Gallery of UMPRUM academy was an avantgarde magazine RED, spe-cifically volume 8, focusing on so called medias of new vision - photography, cinematography and typography.The spatial installation refers to the constructivist visuality of magazine Red8 and develops the theme of a new visual lan-guage of natural and technical objects. Only by the suspension system, consisting of orthogonal grid of steel cables new spa-tial qualities are achieved and the visitor is forced to discover actively exhibited objects and possible connections between them. Graphic designer Jan Novak participated on the exhibi-tion design.

2013

SHOWROOM FOR ACO INDUSTRIES COMPANY,PRIBYSLAV

ACO, a leading company in drainage technology, whose prod-uct portfolio consists mainly of stainless steel products, 20 years ago opened the branch in Czech Republic. Approximate-ly one year ago, ACO decided to create a representative show-room as a part of the newly renovated administrative building in the areal of the factory. Together with graphic designer Jan Novak we won the competition for the architectural and graph-ic design and since december 2013 we have been cooperat-ing with ACO on producing the instalation. The main concept of our design is a principal of cross-section, showing the most important and innovative percentage of ACO design hidden inside the products and finally under ground. Since the real products are really beautiful objects in terms of material, shape and also manufacturing, we decided to cut the real system of drainage into halves and imbed them into a massive exhibition panels. Moreover we tried to add a new value to the showroom by adding a sitting zone, because we wanted not just a lifeless exhibition of products, but also a space where you would like to sit, relax and become familiar with ACO in an informal way. A part of the installation is an interactive digital presentation on screens and iPads.

2013 - 2014

PRODUCT DESIGN

Plywood table baseFolder bike

DESIGN OF S IMPLE PLYWOOD TABLE BASE FOR DEVOTO

The design of the plywood table base for Devoto company is the result of efforts to create a simple, space-saving product using the smallest possible amount of material. The table base consists of two parts in shape of “L” and one part with shape of “T”, fitting one into another when carved into the plate mate-rial by CNC milling machine. The conjunctions are solved with stainless steel parts, glued into the plywood. These are bended metal sheet serving as a fixation when the base is folded, and two hinges with stops to prevent excessive opening.

2013

PROTOTYPE OF FOLDING BICYCLE ON 26” WHEELSFOLDER BIKE

Folder is a folding city bicycle with 26-inch tyres. Its greatest advantage is that it keeps its mobility even after folding. Within a minute it can be transformed into a compact barrow which you can take with you to the underground, bus, tram, elevator or wherever you want. Due to its large wheels, it is also possi-ble to take the bicycle up and down stairs just by pulling. This function is enabled by its unique construction and a number of innovative solutions. The folding system is based on turning the back structure around the seat post and turning the fork around its shoulder. Finally both wheel hubs are joined and fixed by a central plug. There are three quick-releases to be opened and closed. The diameters of the folded bike are 106 x 28 x 75 centimetres.

2010