Otakar Pokorný

Otakar Pokorný was an architect and builder in Prague. He was a member of the generation of Kotěra’s first pupils, although he isn’t regarded as one of them. He probably joined Kotěra’s studio right after graduation in 1902 and worked there until 1913. In the studio, he was the executive designer of the National House in Prostějov (he worked on the project together with Richard Novák and managed it from 5 June 1906) and the museum building in Hradec Králové. The latter project was first managed by Josef Gočár and taken over by Otakar Pokorný on 27 June 1908. After the completion of the museum building, Pokorný left Kotěra’s studio and worked independently. In the 1920s, his independent architectural office at 996 Korunní Street, Prague-Vinohrady, was still registered in the Directory of Builders in the Czechoslovak Republic. In 1907–1908, he independently designed the local Sokol gym in Prostějov in the late Art Nouveau style. In 1909, he joined Jan Zázvorka, who studied architecture under Jan Kotěra in 1901–1906 and was his employee until 1914, to take part in the competition for the regulation of Letná, which was eventually won by Antonín Engel. In 1920 he was mentioned as the author of the extension of the house at 1209 Klimentská Street for the Czechoslovak Union of Agricultural and Forest Workers. Probably the most important remains his work in Kotěra’s studio in the 1910s and 1920s, when he was significantly involved in the design, administration and communication of the projects of the National House in Prostějov (1905-1907) and the Museum in Hradec Králové (1909–1913).

 

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