Tomáš Brix

   

  • architect, builder

    Tomáš Brix

  • Date of birth

    3. 3. 1945 Prague
Tomáš Brix was trained as a machine fitter. After completing his studies at the Secondary Technical School of Mechanical Engineering (Střední průmyslová škola strojní), he enrolled at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in 1966. During his student years, he had the opportunity to travel abroad and spent three months at a student work camp in northern Kazakhstan and travelled through Russia in 1967. He went to France in 1968 and the USA in 1969 on a scholarship. His brother, the architect Michal Brix, was also in New York at that time. Fascinated by the contemporary theme of space flight, they jointly proposed a design concept for cylindrical modules that would make it possible to implement the futuristic idea of a lunar settlement. After Brix's return, the project resonated at the Faculty of Architecture, and although it also aroused interest abroad, its presentation outside Czechoslovakia was prevented by the onset of normalisation.

After completing his studies in 1973, Tomáš Brix joined the GAMA studio of the Project Institute of the Construction of the Capital City of Prague (Projektový ústav Výstavby hlavního města Prahy) headed by Karel Prager. He was mainly involved in cooperation on the National Library project and the central bus terminal in Prague-Karlín. In 1977, he moved to Ivo Oberstein's Atelier 7, where the employees, who were of a similar age to his own, were planning Prague's South-West Town. The projects Tomáš Brix was involved in at Atelier 7, primarily with Václav Králíček and Martin Kotík, bear the hallmarks of postmodernism with its emphasis on architectural archetypes and local tradition. One example is the joint project of the Na Brance pub, where the architects based their design on a study of the characteristics of Czechoslovak restaurant facilities in the third and fourth price categories. Brix recorded his experience in the construction of the South-West Town in his essay On the Theory and Practice of the Architectural Concept,which is just one of his many theoretical texts.

The cooperation with Králíček and Kotík, which had begun during the construction of the South-West Town, was followed by the joint establishment of the Omicron-K studio in 1990. Still in the spirit of the work of the 1980s, the architects implemented two key buildings in the first half of the 1990s – the Horácké Theatre in Jihlava and the Stock Exchange Palace (Burzovní palác) office centre on Rybná Street in Prague. Following the postmodern approach, the architects let the function of both buildings permeate their external architectural concept. Between 1990 and 2001, Tomáš Brix enriched his work by teaching as head of the design studio at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University. In 1996, he founded his own studio, B.R.I.X., where he and his son Tomáš are engaged in the design of low-energy, low-cost, and eco-friendly buildings to this day. In addition to architecture, they also focus together on the creation of solid wood furniture that takes into account the latest findings in ergonomics and, following ecological principles, is created from leftover building materials.

AB
Selection of further buildings 
Literature and other sources 

Objects