Architect Ladislav Kuba on the Black Cube, Ostrava and the Life of an Architect
66 ǀ POSITIV 4/2025
ARCHITEKTURA
Architect Ladislav Kuba
on the Black Cube, Ostrava
and the Life of an Architect
What was once the new building of the Research Library in Ostrava, beer known to the public
as the Black Cube but now ocially called the Centre for Digitalisaon, Science and Innovaon,
nally saw its foundaon stone laid on 29 April 2025, aer an incredible 21 years. All the strange
and unbelievable twists that have appeared throughout the story of this immensely important
project for the enre Moravian-Silesian region could undoubtedly serve as an excellent basis, if not
for a gripping novel, then at least for a suspenseful comic book.
How did you feel when the foundation
stone of the Black Cube was finally laid
and its construction formally launched?
I’m genuinely pleased, because the project
had been put on hold for an extraordinarily
long time. We won the competition back
in 2004 and swiftly prepared all stages
of the project up to the implementation
documentation. However, the contractor
selection took place in August 2008 –
at the worst possible moment, when
construction bids were peaking far above
budgeted prices. That changed rapidly after
the fall of Lehman Brothers, and within
a year construction prices were dropping
again. But then, for eight more years, there
was no political will. We experienced this
with several projects that were halted after
elections, for example the Gallery of West
Bohemia in Plzeň.
It’s almost a miracle that in 2018 the new
regional leadership revived the project.
When the procurement process for
the contractor was launched again last year,
all the bids came in below the budgeted
cost – the market keeps shifting year
by year. I must express my thanks to all
the people in Ostrava who tirelessly
supported the library throughout the entire
period, because without their persistence
the project would have been forgotten.
That determination and support were
immensely important and encouraging,
and ultimately they led us to the goal. But it
is also a responsibility, and I hope that this
time we will truly see the project through
to a successful end.
Now, whenever I travel to the centre
of Ostrava, it genuinely delights me to look
into the construction pit – I’ve never been
so happy about an excavation on any other
project.
Your studio, Kuba & Pilař Architects,
one of the most acclaimed architectural
practices in the Czech Republic,
is based in Brno, yet your work extends
far beyond the Moravian capital. Your
buildings can also be found in Prague,
Plzeň, Pardubice, České Budějovice,
Litomyšl and many other places. How
do you explain your success, and what
philosophy guides your work?
We design buildings across the entire
country, with a very diverse range
of typologies – from libraries, galleries
and ecclesiastical buildings to residential
and office complexes, and even chemical
laboratories. This is probably linked
to the fact that we have won most of our
commissions through architectural
competitions, which naturally results in a
variety of locations and thematic diversity.
When designing, the typology itself
Architektura je velmi specifická disciplína,
má úžasné možnosti, ale i limity. Úspěšná
realizace nezávisí jen na architektovi, ale
i na shodě s investorem – co musí stav-
ba obsáhnout, jak má vypadat, z čeho
bude, ale i kolik má stát a jak nákladný
bude provoz. Další kapitolou je pak sa-
motná realizace, co je schopen dodavatel
provést, jak chce věci přizpůsobit svým
možnostem, zda zpochybňuje návrh atd.
To všechno musí architekt ustát, aby věc
dotáhl do konce.
Svoji roli jistě hraje vlastní tvůrčí práce, ale
také vytrvalost, možná až jistá umanutost.
Práce architekta není žádné peříčko...
Jakým způsobem pracuješ, aby ses
vyhnul stavu vyhoření?
Naše práce je opravdu náročná, kromě
každodenní průběžné práce na projek-
tech děláme soutěže, což je vždycky stres,
a hrozně moc práce přijde vniveč, vyhrát
se podaří jen někdy. Času je málo, ale
taky je třeba vypnout. Řeším to o víkendu
jízdou na koni, to je ideální nástroj na vy-
čištění hlavy, v létě hlavně plaváním,
v zimě jezdím na hory na snowboard.
Děkuji za rozhovor.
Rozhovor pro magazín POSITIV Business
& Style připravil Tadeáš Goryczka v rámci
Kabinetu architektury, nezávislého projek-
tu pro architekturu, umění a design.