Atelier Štěpán

The architect Marek Jan Štěpán founded his own studio in 1997, with his wife Vanda Štěpánová cooperating with him from the very beginning. Marek Štěpán was born in 1967 in Frýdek Místek, and graduated at the University of Technology in Brno in 1991. Parallel to his architecture work, he also devotes time to art – painting, creating sculptures, organizing Plein Air events and happenings in the Beskydy Mountains, the results of which are the wayside shrines at Pražmo. Vanda Štěpánová was born in Brno in 1970, and graduated at the School of Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in 1995. She worked at the Tišnovka design studio in Brno up to the end of 1999.

We can find examples of sacred architecture already among the earliest work of the studio (Chapel of the Holy Spirit in Starý Zubří, 2000 or St. Florian Church in Kozmice, 2002) and Atelier Štěpan has given preference to this type of architecture to the present day. However, we can find many examples of housing, reconstructed historical buildings, public spaces, exhibition displays and furniture designs in the studio's portfolio. Significant sacred architecture designs carried out by Marek Štěpán's team are for example: the Church of the Holy Spirit in Ostrava (2007) utilizing basic geometric shapes, the Church of the Holy Spirit in Šumná (2008) reflecting early Christian buildings or the cylindrical Saint Wenceslas Church in Sazovice (2017). The church in Šumná in the Znojmo region was awarded the 2010 prize for new buildings in historical environments by the Klub za starou Prahu (Club for Old Prague). Marek Štěpán often cooperates with artists, with the most obvious example being the modifications to the Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross in Litomyšl, featuring a glass cross by Václav Cigler in its centre, and the newly built Saint Wenceslas Church in Sazovice, featuring drawings by Vladimír Kokolia.

In Klentnice in the Pálava region, the interwoven new and old mass of the Café Fara building (2011) combining a guest house and a café, has been amply publicized. A very specific project has been the so-called Freedomky, fully-equipped mobile housing units but of minimalist dimensions, and designated for recreational purposes (first type 2010).

Two park projects in Brno also deserve mention - the relaxation park Tišnovka (2016) with its wooden gazebo, and the forest park in Nové Lískovec with its concrete view-tower, water features and bridge across the gorge (2014).
 

2002
Additional building of spire, St. Florian Church, Kozmice

2007
Church of the Holy Spirit, Ostrava

2008
Church of the Holy Spirit, Šumná

2009
Modifications to the north entrance to Prague Castle and the Lion Pylon

2010
Freedomky (first type)

2011
Café Fara, Klentnice

2012
Permanent exhibition in Jurkovič Villa, Brno

2014
Forest Park Nový Lískovec, Brno

2016
Relaxation Park Tišnovka, Brno-north

2017
Saint Wenceslas Church, Sazovice