Josef Chochol
Encyclopedia
Josef Chochol was a Czech architect.
Education
Chocol studied architecture at the polytechnicCzech Technical University in Prague
Czech Technical University in Prague is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic, and the oldest institute of technology in Central Europe....
in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(1908-24), then at the academy in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, under guidance of Otto Wagner
Otto Wagner
Otto Koloman Wagner was an Austrian architect and urban planner, known for his lasting impact on the appearance of his home town Vienna, to which he contributed many landmarks.-Life:...
(1907-09).
Career
He was one of three significant CubistCubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
architects, together with Pavel Janák
Pavel Janák
Pavel Janák was a Czech modernist architect, furniture designer, town planner, professor and theoretician.Janák studied with Otto Wagner in Vienna between 1906 and 1908, and worked in Prague under Jan Kotěra...
and Josef Gočár
Josef Gocár
Josef Gočár , was a Czech architect, one of the founders of modern architecture in Czechoslovakia....
; all three were members of the Mánes Union of Fine Arts
Mánes Union of Fine Arts
The Manes Association of Fine Artists was an artists' association and exhibition society founded in 1887 in Prague and named after the painter Josef Mánes....
.
Three buildings he designed (1913) in Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad is a castle located in the city of Prague, Czech Republic. It was probably built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River...
(part of Prague) are considered masterworks of cubist architecture. In 1914 he abandoned the Cubist style and began working in the internationally oriented constructivist style. Most of his other designs (cubist factory, theater) were admired but never realized.
Chochol was also active in politics: he was a founding member of the Left Front organisation and the Association of Socialist Architects, and was the only one of the Czech Cubists with strong political views.