Josef Fňouk

 Josef Fňouk was born into a Protestant family on 12 January 1884. After studying civil engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, he worked in a construction company in Prague – Smíchov. Between 1910 and 1914, he was a co-owner of the building office “Liska –architekt, Fňouk – stavitel” (Liska – Architect, Fňouk – Builder). In this office, he worked on several family and tenement houses designed by Oldřich Liska, a Protestant church in Hradec Králové, a Protestant church in Pečky, and a primary school in Nechanice. Besides his cooperation with Liska, Josef Fňouk also worked with builder František Maria Černý, Alois Čenský and Josef Novotný on the construction of the U Beránka Hotel in Náchod. After World War I, he worked on several buildings in the newly established hospital complex in Hradec Králové (e.g. the entrance pavilion) and a number of tenement houses, especially in the rapidly growing Prague Suburbs (Pražské Předměstí). As an architect, Fňouk designed the tenement house of the Vlček company with a glass tower, built by Josef Vyleťal. Together with entrepreneur Jaroslav Novák, he built multi-level garages with purely functionalist strip windows and amenities and services for motorists in 1932. The object was highly appreciated by historian of architecture Marie Benešová: “Although we do know of projects based on his own designs that show the author’s respect for progressive trends, for example, the 1929house with a glazed corner in Dukelská Street, none of the buildings meets the standards of the Palace garages that make the author one of the most important architects of the modern city of Hradec [Králové].”[1].

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Notes

[1] Marie Benešová, František Toman, Jan Jakl, Salón republiky: Moderní architektura Hradce Králové, Hradec Králové 2000, p. 98