The Faculty of Architecture of the CTU will newly manage the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery and is launching an international selection procedure for its management

The JFG is one of the few institutions in the Czech Republic that has long focused exclusively on architecture. It was established following the reconstruction of the Bethlehem Chapel complex and was named in honor of the chief architect of this reconstruction, Jaroslav Fragner. In the pre-revolution period, it belonged to the Union of Czech Architects and organized significant exhibitions, such as the Urbanity series or the Středotlaké (Medium-pressure) exhibition. After 1989, it became involved in the international scene and established itself as a space for monographic exhibitions as well as current architectural topics. In 2020, the Czech Technical University in Prague acquired the gallery building from the Czech Architecture Foundation. The subsequent period was associated with the transformation of its institutional background and the search for its further direction.

The current step follows up on the initiatives of the Faculty of Architecture aimed at an expert debate on the functioning and future direction of the gallery, which the faculty opened in the past year, among other things, with a public letter from the Dean and the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Architecture addressed to the then management of the CTU. Thanks to constructive cooperation with the new management of the university, headed by Rector Michal Pěchouček, a solution was found that creates conditions for the long-term stable and professionally strong operation of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery.

"The Jaroslav Fragner Gallery is an exceptionally important institution for us for the presentation of architecture and public debate on its social significance. We have worked intensively to ensure that the gallery regains an adequate institutional background and can fully develop its role as an open platform connecting the university environment with both the professional and general public. I am glad that a new chapter of its operation and further development is now opening," says Dalibor Hlaváček, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the CTU.

The gallery will now report directly to the Dean of the FA CTU, and its activities will be managed by a Director selected on the basis of an open selection procedure. A Gallery Board will also be part of its management as an expert advisory body. The new statute defines the institution's mission as a public exhibition space focused on architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, heritage preservation, and other related fields. The gallery will contribute to interdisciplinary expert and public debate and, in addition to exhibitions, will also develop educational, research, and popularization activities.