Eva Jiricna Architects is an architectural and design practice based in London with an international portfolio of residential, commercial and retail interiors; furniture, products and exhibitions; private and public buildings. The practice is at the forefront of innovation in form and technology, with highly crafted and detailed designs employing classic materials - glass, steel and stone - in a thoroughly modern language.
As a multi-disciplinary practice, EJA provides a comprehensive service including the design of new buildings and public spaces as well as detailed interiors, products and furniture. The practice has won numerous international design awards and its work is regularly published in magazines, books and periodicals. Its clients include major corporate and public organisations such as Amec plc, the Jubilee Line Extension, Andersen Consulting, Boodle & Dunthorne jewellers, the Royal Academy of Arts, Selfridges, the Victoria and Albert Museum. EJA has a strong collaborative track record, working closely with clients and other members of the design team, including engineers, landscape architects cost consultants and urban designers.
EJA is run by its founder, Eva Jiricna, a Czech born architect who has been based in London for over 30 years. The London office currently employs ten architects and designers, with a satellite office operating in Prague. Jiricna's wide experience includes working at the Greater London Council on her arrival in the UK in 1968 followed by the Louis de Soissons Partnership and the Richard Rogers Partnership - where she was responsible for the interior design packages for the Lloyds Headquarters building. With Jan Kaplicky and his practice Future Systems, she designed the Way In store at Harrods, an award winning scheme that influenced a generation of retail interiors. Over the last decade, Jiricna's contribution to architecture and design has been recognised with personal awards, including being made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), a CBE (Commander of the British Empire), election as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Arts, and Hon Fellow A.I.A. (American Institute of Architects). She holds honorary doctorates and professorships in several Universities, participates on international juries (e.g Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum, new Arts wing for Goldsmith's College, London), and lectures internationally on her work.
Lightness, transparency and truth to materials are the hallmarks of EJA's design approach. The shop interiors for Hugo Boss, Joseph, Joan & David in New York, London and Paris reflect the robustness of this integrated design strategy. Glass is used as a structural and decorative material to both optimise transparency and bring daylight deep into unpromising retail locations. Stainless steel details, from hinges and fixings to door handles and brackets, are crafted to reflect their structural integrity. Stone floors provide continuity, solidity and interplay with the sparkle of the glass and steel. Jiricna's dramatic staircases, delicately fashioned but sturdily engineered with glass treads and steel cables - central features of both retail and residential schemes - possess sculptural qualities that add to the fluidity of the internal spaces.
Recently, EJA's holistic design approach has been applied to the 110 bedroom Hotel Josef in Prague. This project follows EJA's completion of a glass and steel structure for the new Orangery in the grounds of Prague's Castle, a thoroughly contemporary addition to a unique set of heritage buildings. Also in Prague, EJA has been responsible for residential projects, including a sensitive refurbishment of a 17th century loft in a town palace, and a feasibility study for a new rail terminus for the developers ASK. The practice has a strong track record with its high-level clients, such as the Royal Academy of Arts and long established jewellers Boodles, and is frequently invited to repeat commissions (eg, Andersen Consulting for whom EJA designed offices in the landmark Gehry building in Prague, as well as locations in Warsaw, Moscow and Budapest, Harrods of Knightsbridge where the Fine & Designer Jewellery Halls have recently been re-designed and refurbished).
In the UK, EJA has worked on numerous proposals for the London Docklands Development Corporation and was responsible for the elegant transport interchange at Canada Water, one of the prestigious Jubilee Line Extension developments. In 1999, EJA designed the Faith Zone as part of the controversial Millennium Dome exhibition, delivering the project on time despite severe logistical, technical and management problems. Other exhibition schemes include a subtle intervention in the Grade 1 listed Sir John Soane's Museum in London, and an exhibition design for the Mendel Institute in Brno. The practice has worked on numerous residential schemes in London, a series of penthouse flats in Canary Wharf, and a pedestrian bridge in London's Docklands. Also recently completed is the design of new entrances for Selfridge's flagship store in Oxford. Prestigious projects are currently underway in the Czech Republic for both private and corporate clients. Most recently, Eva has designed the Modernism Exhibtion for the Victoria & Albert Museum, to much critical acclaim, and the practice is currently engaged in the development of the V&A masterplan, including the new Jewellery Gallery, scheduled for opening in 2007.
Eva
Jiricna
Born
Zlin, Czechoslovakia
Qualifications
1973
Royal Institute of British Architects Diploma in Architecture
1963 - 1967
Postgraduate Degree Prague Academy of Fine Arts
1956 - 1962
Technical University of Prague : Architect / Engineer
Experience
1962 - 1968
Research Institute of Fashion and Industrial Design, Prague
1968 - 1969
GLC (Greater London Council), department architect
1969 - 1980
Louis de Soissons Partnership, associate / project architect for Brighton Marina scheme (ten year development, value £150 million)
1980 - 1982
Richard Rogers Partnership, group leader for Lloyd's Of London HQ building (all interior packages)
1982 -
Principal of private practice
Awards
1990
Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art
1991
Royal Designer for Industry
1993
Honorary Fellow, Royal Society of Arts
1994
C.B.E (Commander of the British Empire) - awarded for Services to Interior Design
1996
Honorary Fellow, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
1997
Elected as Academician to The Royal Academy of Arts
Member of RA Council
1998
Inducted into US Hall of Fame Interior Design
2000
Honorary Doctorate of Technology, Southampton Institute
Honorary Doctorate of Technology, Technical Institute of Brno, Czech Republic
Professor of Architecture & Design, University of Applied Arts, Prague
Honorary Degree, Doctor of Letters, University of Sheffield
Excellence Award for contribution to International Design (University of Guanajuato, Mexico)
President of Architectural Association, London
2005
Commissioner for CABE (Commission for Architecture &
the Built Environment)
Trustee and Founder Member of London Open House (charitable organization for the promotion of architectural education)
Advisor to Civic Trust National Awards Panel
Member of Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal Jury
Jury Chair for RIBA Regional Awards 2005
2006
Elected Honorary Fellow American Institute of Architects
Website links
Royal Academy of Arts
www.royalacademy.org.uk
Architectural Association
www.aaschool.ac.uk
Royal Society of Arts
www.rafocus.org.uk
London Open House
www.openhouse.org.uk
.
