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Chochol, Josef
(b Písek, 13 Oct 1880; d Karlovy Vary, 6 July 1956). Czech architect. He studied architecture at the Technical University, Prague, and later at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna, under Otto Wagner. In 1911, together with Josef Gocár, Pavel Janák, Vlastislav Hofman (1884–1964) and others, he founded the Group of Plastic Artists, Prague, which sought to develop a more artistic approach to architecture. He subsequently became one of the leading exponents of CZECH CUBISM in architecture, which concentrated on the sculptural articulation of façades with abstract, prismatic forms. He designed four houses (1911–13; for illustration see PRAGUE, fig. 6) below Vysehrad Hill in Prague with faceted façades that are among the best examples of Czech Cubism. At about the same time, however, he produced drawings for austere, geometric, undecorated façades that anticipated the later development of Czech Purism. Buildings he designed in the Purist style included an office building (1920–21) in Jindrisska Street and a building (1923–5) for the Engineers’ Union in Dittrichova Street, both in Prague. In the 1920s Chochol became a member of Devetsil, the group of avant-garde writers, artists and architects centred on the figure of Karel Teige; he was also a member of the Architects’ Club (from 1925) and the architectural branch of the Left Front (from 1929). During this period he was influenced by Constructivism, as seen in his design (1926; unexecuted) for the Liberated Theatre, a composition of clean shapes and construction worked out in the spirit of mature Functionalism. He was present at the foundation of the Union of Socialist Architects (1933) and was active in the Czechoslovak group of CIAM. Chochol was particularly interested in the provision of affordable housing, and in 1935 he won awards for his work at the Exposition Universelle in Brussels.
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