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Novotny, Otakar
(b Benesov, 11 Jan 1880; d Prague, 4 April 1959). Czech architect, designer, teacher and writer. He graduated (1903) in architecture from the Academy of Applied Arts, Prague, where he studied under Jan Kotera. He worked for a year in Kotera’s studio, then set up his own practice. Novotny was a notable member of the generation that laid the foundations for modern architecture in Czechoslovakia. He was initially influenced by the Viennese Secession style, as seen in his finely decorative Otto villa (1909), Zbraslav, but at this time he was also developing an individual style using bare brickwork with great skill. Perhaps the best examples of this modern, rationalist approach are found in the Stenc house and publishing offices (1909–11), Prague, for which he also designed some elegant black-and-white furniture, and in his clubhouses (1911 and 1912) for the Sokol national physical education movement in Holice and Rakovník. He was less influenced by Czech Cubism, although he did design three houses (1919) in Prague in this style and a Rondocubist building (1921), Kamenická Street, also in Prague. He later arrived at a Functionalist style as seen in his hostel (1926–7) in Cernozice, an austere yet sculptural design. His finest work was perhaps the building (1927–30) for the Mánes Union of Artists in Prague, a poetic building arching over a branch of the river Vltava. Novotny was Professor of Architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague from 1929 to 1954 and was for many years President of the Mánes Union of Artists. He produced many writings on architecture including a major work on Kotera.
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