Introducing the New Department Heads

The new heads emphasize interdisciplinarity and the ability to respond to societal challenges, ranging from urban climate adaptation to issues of affordable housing. Their common goal is to transform the departments into respected, internationally competitive centers that shape critically thinking students.

Saman Saffarian worked as a Lead Designer at Zaha Hadid Architects in London, where he contributed to the concepts of numerous projects and collaborated with ZHA-Code on experimental installations and research exhibitions. As a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) fellow, he was part of the InnoChain research network (2015–2018), focusing on research into biomimetic and climate-adaptive building facades at the Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart. Between 2017 and 2026, he lectured and led a studio at the Technical University of Liberec, where he also served as Vice-Dean for Science and Research. In 2019, he founded the architectural studio SAFFARIAN in Prague.

In leading the Department of Architectural Modelling, he builds on the work of Dana Matějovská and strives to establish a top-tier center for computational design, digital fabrication, and applied research that responds to the challenges of the climate crisis and the rise of artificial intelligence. The goal is to educate critically thinking architects capable of addressing important social themes—from sustainable mobility to affordable housing. He places emphasis on international partnerships and linking teaching with research and practice.

Ondřej Tobola is an architect, designer, educator, and co-founder of the studio hipposdesign. He received his education at UMPRUM in Prague in the product design studio under the guidance of Michal Froňek and Jan Němeček. Since 2017, he has served as the head of the product design studio at FaVU VUT in Brno, having previously gained pedagogical experience as an assistant professor at UMPRUM. He has received numerous prestigious awards for his work, including the title of Designer of the Year 2009 at the Czech Grand Design awards and the international Good Design award. His work spans a wide spectrum from product design and furniture to award-winning interiors and architecture, such as the Museum of Mountaineering in Turnov or the interior of the National Library of Technology.

He takes over the leadership of the department from Marian Karel. He emphasizes a clear spectrum of studios—ranging from those with links to architecture to technologically oriented workplaces utilizing the facilities of CTU. Key points of development for him include updating the curriculum within the framework of re-accreditation, strengthening cooperation with industry, and the ambition to place the department alongside top European institutions. The goal is to build a department with transparent management and active communication that will be perceived as a relevant actor with international reach.

Jana Zdráhalová graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at CTU, where she also obtained her doctoral degree and later habilitated. She worked as an assistant in the Jehlík and Klokočka studios. She focuses on teaching urbanism, collaborating with colleagues from landscape architecture and spatial planning, and since 2015, she has coordinated doctoral studies at the FA. As part of her teaching in the Klokočka studio, she collaborated on urban projects with TU Dresden and has also participated in research projects in the fields of urban environment, heritage care, cybernetics, and artificial intelligence. She is active in the professional organization European Network for Housing Research and has been the chair of the construction commission for Prague 16 since 2022.

She replaces the long-standing head Jan Jehlík at the helm of the Department of Urbanism. She intends to emphasize the ability to read and create the city, where urbanism is not just about designing objects but about shaping the overall structure and links between public space and the everyday life of inhabitants. Her goal is to build an academic team based on a diversity of competencies and to develop studio teaching that reflects current challenges such as housing affordability, climate adaptation, or the transformation of brownfields. She aims to link teaching with expert data analysis and also to strengthen international research partnerships.