April / May 2025
At Horizone Studio, we not only design, but also visit, learn and get inspired. At the turn of April and May, we participated in a three-day scientific and research trip organized by the Kraków branch of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP).
Dominik Darasz, a partner at Horizone Studio, joined a group of architects and architecture students to jointly discover contemporary and historical architectural objects in the Czech Republic – with particular emphasis on the cities of Brno, Ostrava and Zlín.
At Horizone Studio, we believe that good architecture begins with understanding the place, context and history. That is why we are constantly expanding our horizons by taking part in events that allow us to look at design from a new perspective.
The owners of the Bata company, at the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, created a model city for their employees, and we are talking about the Czech city of Zilno. A model industrial estate that was to combine work efficiency with high quality of life. Tomas Bata, the founder of the shoe empire, implementing the idea of ”better life through work”, built a complex of functional buildings: simple, modular houses, schools, hospitals, production halls and administrative buildings. Everything according to the principle of rationality, repeatability and functionalism.
The author of the general Urabist concept of the city was František Lydie Gahura. Characteristic red brick, a 6.15 m grid module and repeatability of elements – the same principles were used in both residential and industrial buildings.
The Bata skyscraper, or building no. 21. 77.5 m high, 16 storeys and the director’s office in the elevator. Director Jan Antonín Baťa had a special, fully equipped office measuring 6 x 6 m, located in the lift. The room was equipped with a washbasin with hot and cold water, a telephone, air conditioning and electrically controlled blinds. The building was also equipped with modern systems, such as Carrier air conditioning, fast lifts, a pneumatic mail system and floor electrical and telephone sockets arranged in a 3 x 3 m grid. The building is open to visitors in its entirety, and the lift is still fully functional and is a tourist attraction.
Zlín became the inspiration for similar projects all over the world – in Canada, India and the Netherlands, among others – wherever Bata founded his factories and “cities”. A walk through Zlín is like a journey back in time to a modernist utopia – a place where architecture was to serve people and urban planning was subordinated to social well-being.
⇒ We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the history of the city
We thank SARP Branch Kraków for this unique opportunity – we are coming back full of inspiration and reflection!
