Zdeněk Gryc

Zdeněk Gryc was born into a clerical family in Brno on 15 May 1934. After graduating from the grammar school in Brno-Židenice, he entered the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering at Brno University of Technology (BUT), where he studied under Bedřich Rozehnal and attended lectures by Bohuslav Fuchs. From 1958, when he graduated from BUT, he was working in Jihlava and became one of the most prominent figures of Jihlava’s architecture in the second half of the 20th century. After completing his studies, he was first employed by Agroprojekt Jihlava, though only for two years. From 1960, he joined Stavoprojekt in Jihlava, where he worked long-term until 1991, spending several years as head of the studio. After the de facto dissolution of Stavoprojekt, Zdeněk Gryc unsuccessfully applied for the position of head of the Jihlava Building Authority, and in 1992, he briefly worked for the Stapos construction company in Jihlava. He took early retirement the same year.

Housing estates occupy an important position in Gryc's architectural portfolio, and include Březinovy Sady, Jihlava's largest prefabricated concrete residential complex. He was very thorough in his design of residential areas, always trying to document the original landscape and integrate the proposed buildings into it as well as possible. He also emphasised the preservation of as much green space as possible. No less important in his work are large administrative buildings, of which the Jihlava headquarters of the District Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (OV KSČ) and the building of the same function in Žďár nad Sázavou stand out in terms of quality. The two secretariats consist of a tall administrative building and a low projecting wing with a skeleton structure in front of it. In contrast to most of the buildings in the housing estates whose design was bound by the compulsory use of panel technology, the lessons drawn from functionalism are clearly visible in these projects. The combination of pale plaster and ceramic tiles in brownish-red shades, which the architect chose here, is very typical of Gryc's buildings. It can already be seen in his first big project – the extension to the District National Committee (ONV) building in Třebíč.

Gryc was also involved in renovation projects. He designed, for example, the award-winning adaptation of the Sklípek restaurant on Masarykovo Square. In the spirit of the work of his teacher Bedřich Rozehnal, he also designed several smaller medical facilities. Gryc's unrealised projects include a tender study of the Jihlava crematorium from 1967. He set his projects in a generous landscape concept with the motif of a Latin cross. As part of his proposals for the historic centre of Jihlava, he advocated for the preservation of Krecl on the square.

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