SK / EN

Purpose and Goals of the Exhibition

To exhibit contemporary Slovak individually designed residential architecture to the general public and architectural community in Canada’s capital and other Canadian cities (eg. Toronto Montreal, Vancouver). The main goal of this project is to present Slovakia as a part of the modern cultural world by the means of an exhibition dedicated to architecture as an indivisible part of national cultural heritage. The exposition of artistically valuable architectural creations is meant to contribute to the presentation in Canada of Slovakia as a country with a great creative potential and the capability to not only adapt to cultural changes, but also export cultural impulses even within the processes of social and economic transformation.

Content and Philosophical Foundation of the Exhibition

The main motive of the exhibition is to present the architecture of individually designed Slovak single family houses which have been designed after 1989. The goal of the exhibition is to depict developments after the change of the social system and to stress that the architecture of individual residences is not only meant to fulfill basic needs but also reflect the creative accomplishments of individuals and the cultural maturity of the nation. The architecture of individually designed family houses is also a means of communication, interaction, and exporting the cultural impulses between nations of two different continents.
The collapse of Communism in Slovakia has brought not only openness to external influences, but also greater selection and easier access to building materials. The gradual improvement of economic conditions has been accompanied by a demand for higher standards and alternative designs of family houses capable of representing unique character. These conditions created the precondition and opportunity for the creation of new experimental concepts of living and individually designed family houses.
The exhibition seeks to demonstrate new trends In Slovak architecture of individually designed family houses, not only within the field of ideas and art, but also in the fields of technology and philosophy. It presents the actual range of realized houses, the concepts of which vary from above-standard luxury houses through standard middle-sized houses to economically and energetically less-demanding solutions. The presence of such a wide range is the natural response to new social and economic conditions in which specific and diverse demands for differing forms of individual housing for the various social classes have gradually emerged.
The presentation will give space especially to the young and middle-aged generation of Slovak architects who specialize in residential architecture. The selection will be focused on those designs which present contemporary, valuable, and inspirational architectural concepts, and which correspond with contemporary modern European and international architecture.
The great number and diversity of architectural expression creates the impossibility of a single classification or specific contemporary style. The exhibition will demonstrate this diversity within Slovak conditions, as well as the reality that the great majority of contemporary individual styles are mutually influencing, but all arise from the tradition of functionalism and postmodern architecture. However, at the same time, new trends and movements reflecting the actual needs of the contemporary world have emerged.
The presented works created after 1989 will represent a cross-section of the development of individually designed Slovak residential architecture in relation to social and economic transformations. The fifteen year long time period presented will allow the observer to see the transformation and development of architecture from the point of function and form, as well as mutual contextual relationships.
The exhibition of works from various parts of Slovakia will confront the tastes and social and cultural background of North American observers in Ottawa and other Canadian cities. The opportunity to observe the mutual cultural interaction between two historically and geographically different civilizations within the process of globalization will be the interesting and inspirational contribution of the exhibition. Contemporary individually designed Slovak houses not only reflect Slovak culture and specific attitudes to architectural creation, but are also an interesting reflection of Slovak lifestyle which will likely be unknown to the Canadian observer. Slovak architecture can leave in the minds of observers a feeling of the uniqueness and originality of solutions coming from the heart of Europe.