{"id":8050,"date":"2026-09-15T22:54:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sovamm.cz\/wordpress\/?page_id=8050"},"modified":"2026-09-15T22:54:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T20:54:46","slug":"jiri-skabrada","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sovamm.cz\/wordpress\/en\/exhibitions\/historical-architecture-not-only-vernacular\/jiri-skabrada\/","title":{"rendered":"Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada"},"content":{"rendered":"

(*20.\u00a02.\u00a01946 Prague<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he studied architecture (1969). He continued his postgraduate studies there, focusing on vernacular architecture as a reflection of, and a source for understanding medieval building practices. His first short-term position was at the Institute of Archaeology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences – this period was recalled by Zden\u011bk Smet\u00e1nka in his book Hled\u00e1n\u00ed zmizel\u00e9ho v\u011bku<\/em> [Searching for a Vanished Age].<\/span><\/p>\n

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Creation of a clay reconstruction model showing the settlement layout of the lost mediaeval village of La\u017eany (\u010cernokostelecko Region) at the Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University, in 1973. The model is being constructed by the then-students Petr Chot\u011bbor and Zden\u011bk Frynta, under the supervison of Zden\u011bk Smet\u00e1nka and Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada looking on. J\u0160 1973<\/em><\/p>\n

Between 1974 and 1986, Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada worked in the Vernacular Architecture Studio, a section of the Research Centre of the State Institute for the Reconstruction of Historic Towns and Buildings.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jaroslav Vajdi\u0161 and\u00a0Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada (on the right) in the studio at the New Town Hall at the beginning of the 1980s.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Petra Cibulov\u00e1, Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada, Zde\u0148ka N\u011bmcov\u00e1, and\u00a0Petr Dost\u00e1l in the vernacular architecture studio in the attic of the Portheimka Villa in Sm\u00edchov; a photograph from the 1980s. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Between 1986 and 1989, preparations for the designation of village conservation areas and zones followed at the then State Institute for Monument Care and Nature Protection (S\u00daPPOP), where Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada headed the Department of Vernacular Architecture, Archaeological and Technical Monuments.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Department of Vernacular Architecture, Archaeological and Technical Monuments at S\u00daPPOP: From left Helena Osvaldov\u00e1, Zuzana Syrov\u00e1 An\u00fd\u017eov\u00e1, Eva Dvo\u0159\u00e1kov\u00e1, V\u011bra Ku\u010dov\u00e1 Vod\u011brov\u00e1, and Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada, with Lubo\u0161 Kavka standing in the background; a photograph taken by Vladim\u00edr Hyhl\u00edk in 1988<\/em><\/p>\n

Subsequently (until 2012), he worked at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he established courses in Vernacular Architecture and Historic Building Techniques within the Departments of History of Architecture and Monument Preservation. He was also invited to lecture at other universities that were expanding their activities to include historic building research. Between 2003 and 2020, he taught in this capacity at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pardubice.<\/p>\n

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Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada lecturing to a circle of his students in Zubrnice; a photograph taken by Jan Pe\u0161ta in 1993 <\/em><\/p>\n

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Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada (seated, bottom right) with Zden\u011bk Dragoun at a session of the Arbeitskreis f\u00fcr Hausforschung in Blankenberge, Belgium; a photograph taken by Ulrich Grossmann in 1993.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a specialist in vernacular architecture – ranging from the study of the earliest rural structures to the challenge of designing new-build houses that respect the context of the Czech countryside – he is the author of numerous books and scholarly texts. His work focuses on traditional building techniques and the study of historical structures within the field of historic building research.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A lecture on the spatial layout of a late mediaeval rural house. Presentation of a publication on the earliest rural houses in eastern Bohemia in Litomy\u0161l in 2021. <\/em><\/p>\n

He supervised numerous doctoral students who have since become leading experts in the field (Michael Rykl, Martin Ebel and others). He served as a member of the editorial board of the journal Pr\u016fzkumy pam\u00e1tek [Monument Research] from its foundation in 1994, and was a co-founder and organiser of the D\u011bjiny staveb [The History of Buildings] conferences in Ne\u010dtiny. Between 1999 and 2007, he organised scholarly activities at the stronghold in Sud\u016fv D\u016fl near Pacov, including research courses and workshops for heritage preservation professionals, as well as student placements and summer jobs. He was a founding member of both the Association for Historic Building Research<\/a> (2001) and the Association for the Renewal of the Village and the Small Town<\/a> (SOVAMM, 1991). <\/span><\/p>\n

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Members of the SOVAMM board at the assembly in Trstenice in 2004. From left Radim Urb\u00e1nek, Ji\u0159\u00ed Syrov\u00fd, Roman Tykal, Jan Pe\u0161ta, Karel Ku\u010da, Ji\u0159\u00ed \u0160kabrada and\u00a0Zuzana Syrov\u00e1 An\u00fd\u017eov\u00e1.<\/em><\/p>\n

Historic-building survey projects:<\/span><\/h3>\n

See\u00a0the overview of historic-building survey projects conducted by SOVAMM members and co-investigators in the SOVPIS project (<\/span>P\u0159ehled stavebn\u011bhistorick\u00fdch pr\u016fzkum\u016f \u010dlen\u016f SOVAMM a\u00a0spolu\u0159e\u0161itel\u016f projektu SOVPIS<\/u><\/a><\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\n

Publications:<\/span><\/h3>\n

See also selected publications by SOVAMM members (<\/span>V\u00fdb\u011br publikac\u00ed \u010dlen\u016f SOVAMM<\/u><\/a><\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n