ellement

The “ellement” architectonic design studio was founded in Zlín in 2002 by the architect Jitka Ressová together with the architects Hana Maršíková and Helena Víšková and the designer Jan Pavézka. The studio produces designs for public spaces, housing and interiors. Jitka Ressová was born in 1970 in Zlín and graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering (1993) and the Faculty of Architecture (1999) at the Brno University of Technology. From 1994 to 1995, she was an assistant to Ivana Linhartová at the Studio of Design at the Zlín branch of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (VŠUP), later she lead the Department of Design for one year. In 2012, at the VŠUP, she defended her doctoral thesis which concerned the rehabilitation of Baťa's houses in Zlín and was later published as a book under the title Můj baťovský domek (My Baťa House). She undertook her practical training at architects Hrůši and Pelčák's studio Ateliér Brno (1994 to 1996), later she worked with Petr Všetečka at the Transat studio.

The ellement design studio (from “elle” – she) was founded between 2001 and 2002 thanks to cooperation on a design project for the entrance building of the Sporten company in Nové Město na Moravě. Subsequent work concerned the reconstruction of flats and detached houses, with the advantage that the studio employed a designer as well as an architect in the team. A notable example is the construction of Baťa's sem-detached house in the Lesní Quarter of Zlín in 2013. Other buildings designated predominately for housing are the reconstruction of the house and pharmacy in Litomyšl (2012 and 2014) or the detached houses in Žďár nad Sázovou (2008), Olomouc (2011) and in Prague-Kbely (2012). Other projects carried out include the new brewery built in Kroměříž in 2012 taking its design cues from industrial buildings built out of engineering bricks.

The revitalization of the Gahurova Prospect in Zlín was a great success, here the designers managed to retain the original urban idea of František Lydia Gahura centring on a greenbelt descending from the mountains to the town, which they managed to interweave with a network of pathways. The kerbstones of the footpaths, which are sunk below the level of the meadow, also serve as benches. The artificially created undulating terrain offers a certain degree of privacy. An integral part of the new appearance of the Gahurova Prospect is the artistic contribution by Jiří Valoch – on the kerbstones you can see the text “pokaždé úplně jiná slova” (completely different words every time). Ellement has also been cooperating with Kateřina Šedá, for example on the design project Dva v jednom (Two in one) in Puttershoek in the Netherlands (2013) or on the revitalization of the village green in “Bedřichovice on the Thames” (2013-2015).

The ellement design studio takes its cues from local Baťa Modernist traditions and merges its rationality with an individual approach, more subtle shapes, varied materials, accent on detail and a restrained sense of humour. The architects and designers at ellement are also active in the aArchitektura association, which popularizes, among other things, architecture in Zlín.
 

2002
Entrance building to the Sporten company, Nové Město na Moravě

2008
Detached house, Žďár nad Sázavou

2011
Detached house, Olomouc

2012
Detached house, Praha-Kbely

2012
New brewery, Kroměříž

2013
Revitalization of Gahura Prospekt, Zlín
Revitalization of semi-detached building in Lesná Quarter, Zlín

2014
Bus station Michalovce, Slovakia

2014
Weekend home, Leskové, Velké Karlovice