Launch party for the book PHENOMENON, The Staircases of Eva Jiřičná as an art form
On Tuesday 4th June at the DOX centre for contemporary art we launched the book PHENOMENON, The Staircases of Eva Jiricna as an art form. The book was written by Petr Volf, a journalist working in the area of art, architecture and design. The book is published by Prostor - architektura, interiér, design and the graphic layout has been created by Studio Najbrt.
The book presents the work of internationally renowned Czech architect Eva Jiřičná and describes the phenomenon of staircases and their construction. It covers in detail the history of the staircase that was originally installed in the Paris branch of Joan & David and is now a dominant feature at the DOX gallery exhibition for the exhibition titled "Jiřičná".
The fate of the Paris staircase was relatively dramatic. When in 1998 the staircase was in danger of being destroyed following a change of tenant, Jiří Kejval (founder of TECHO) stepped in, and with the help of a Leopold Bareš (owner of the firm Sipral) the staircase was dismantled and transported to the Czech Republic. The staircase then spent many years in storage at TECHO until an opportunity arose for it to be renovated. When this time came it underwent a complete renovation, which is described here. You can now see it in all its glory at the exhibition Jiřičná at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art, to which we warmly invite you.
When in 1998 I learned that the staircase that I knew from photographs in design magazines was to be removed I immediately turned my mind to how it could be saved. We only had a week to remove it from Paris to Prague. We knew that if we didn’t manage this it would be destroyed. Luckily it worked out and we were able to bring it to our factory in Hostivař.
The staircase is reminiscent of a constructivist sculpture, a beautiful and cult work of art that the exhibition curator, Leoš Válka, together with Eva Jiřičná arranged to be reconstructed on a glass pedestal to emphasise its delicateness. It gives the impression of levitating, which is precisely the magic that this architect can work. It has the effect of a magnet, drawing people close with its power of attraction.
