Gabriela Fukatsch: Foreign awards are like surfing a big wave
She has many prestigious foreign awards to her credit. Her buildings based on functionalism and minimalism have impressed several international juries and Gabriela Fukatsch claims that even in Slovakia we can produce buildings of European superiority.
“Somehow we Slovaks don’t know how to brag and we tend to underestimate ourselves,” she says, saying that it is an amazing feeling to jump out of one’s bubble.
In one of your interviews you said that you don’t see architecture as a service or a business, but as art. So how would you describe your work, how is it specific, what is the art behind it?
It’s very difficult to evaluate myself. As a creator you can say what you probably wanted to achieve, but to rate yourself – I would leave that to others. And why art? We were taught that architecture is the mother of the arts, and somehow I have that ingrained in me. Only yesterday there was a client who told me that architecture is not art. So we had about an hour-long discourse about it (laughs). Today, many people see architecture as a service: the client commissions something, you draw it for them as an architect, and you stop there. But I reject that as an architect. I think we create art and we also have the right to self-expression.
So let’s not talk about evaluating your work, but rather about leitmotifs, about what you consciously put into your designs…
Just as my studio is also called modulor, it’s mainly modern, functionalist basics. That’s also how we were brought up at school. Modernism without pretensions, without ornaments. Functional, simple layouts, white, plain facades, houses without sloping roofs, and if you can, get down to minimalism. Some people think this trend is past its
zenith, but I think functionalism can be beautifully combined with minimalism. Of course, if the client has other needs for self expression, we don’t forcefully push them into functionalism, we meet individual requirements.
Which factors are key for you at the beginning of the design process, the ones that will most influence the future form of the building? How
much is the client’s vision and how much is your desire to move it closer to functionalism?
For example, with tenders, the field is very open at the beginning. You get the brief and the official doesn’t give you any input from an architectural point of view. That’s what I love about public competitions: we get the brief and then we have a free hand. That’s the nice thing about it. In these public buildings, then, the only factor that comes into it is the opinions of the chief architect’s department. These are always fruitful and enjoyable discussions. In the private sector, we probably never experience a clash with a client anymore because those who approach us like our previous work. They choose us based on our portfolio.
Nowadays there is a great emphasis on individuality, warm minimalism, reflection of the owners’ personality not only in the interior, but also in the form of the building itself. Is it possible to combine this with functionalism? Don’t these two principles clash?
No, it just complements each other beautifully. That’s the beauty of the functionalist principle, that it is timeless, ageless. We have houses that have been finished for ten or fifteen years or more, and they can communicate beautifully with the times. By being without pretensions, without period constraints, they don’t age. Last year, in Germany, we received an award for a house that was completed eight years ago and was judged to be innovative. This shows the power of simple design. A simple, unencumbered layout can be beautifully complemented by warm trends, and perhaps in five years’ time by trends of a different kind. That’s why I prefer to do buildings instead of interiors – I find their legacy more enduring. The building remains. When you see those beautiful modernist houses from the 1930s, they are fantastic and still work today.
You mentioned awards. You have many prestigious awards to your credit, including the BIG SEE Architecture Award, the Iconic Award and the German Design Award. What do you consider to be the greatest benefit of such awards for an architect?
I have been receiving invitations to competitions for years. I started responding to them about three or four years ago. The first thing we entered was the BIG SEE Architecture Award in 2021, 20323, 2024. I didn’t know any more from friends or colleagues, so it was kind of a leap into the unknown for me. The good thing about it is that you suddenly jump out of your bubble. We have some Slovak society here, at most you go to Prague. Suddenly you’re pulled abroad, where you meet other colleagues, architects from other countries. BIG SEE in particular is a great thing, because it’s an architecture festival. You make contacts, professional friendships, and suddenly you see your work from a different perspective and in a different context. It’s not about whether you win or not. It’s about getting on that wave. Like when you’re surfing and suddenly a big wave comes in. It’s an amazing feeling.
Without degrading the award itself: can it be said, then, that contacts and insight are equal to the gain of the award itself?
Yes. That is exactly the point. The prize? Well, it’s right there on the shelf, including the nominations I stopped counting at ten. It’s about getting into an international architectural community of people, which is fulfilling, and that community looks up to you. Here in Slovakia I felt like I was this invisible, no name architect. You may win a few public competitions, but you get “slapped” by officials in local governments with things that are not even related to architecture. And suddenly you’re standing on a stand and you have the opportunity to present your project. I don’t want to brag, it’s more like self-fulfilment. I love this work, I live it, and when suddenly somebody listens to you and perceives what you are saying, it’s amazing. That’s why I’m doing it and I’m moving on, currently to Paris, where we got an honorary mention.
So was there an interesting idea or approach at these architecture festivals that particularly resonated with you?
There are all sorts of cool lectures by world-class architects. For example, there were the Norwegians who are doing a light show at the North Pole right now. That’s maybe not even primarily related to architecture. They are modelling different installations in space with laser lights. I was completely amazed by that. I was just sitting there and I realised where we are in Slovakia and where Norway is. Not only in creation, but also in thinking.
If you saw yourself as a bit of an invisible architect before, has that changed after winning these awards?
Yes, it has changed. Slovakia works a bit strangely in this respect. I have been a member of the Czech Chamber of Architects for many years, and there they call you immediately – come to the Architect platform. Come to the jury of the student competition, and so on. They are so active, they like to involve others. Slovakia doesn’t work like that. Over here, everybody starts smiling and then they start asking subtle questions (laughs). But yes, it has changed. For example, now my colleague and I have been invited to Nitra to give a lecture on how a Slovak architect can make it in the world. Other Slovak architects
started coming to me asking how to do it, how to do it. I’m glad, because maybe I’m such a pioneer in this direction. I would be happy if we, as Slovak architects, had more courage to present ourselves in this way. At least in Europe.
Have any specific foreign collaborations arisen for you from your participation in these competitions?
Yes, we were approached by an Italian multinational studio about cooperation. Now there is also an invitation to the Venice Architecture Biennale, to do an exhibition that will run from May to October. The approaches and nominations are coming in and I’ll see how I deal with it.
Do you think that such awards can help to raise the profile of Slovak architecture abroad?
Yeah. I think that nobody in Slovakia is doing sustainable construction. Let me put it simply, they are really serious about sustainability abroad. Even when they start designing a house. For example, we do a lot of remodelling and I often get sick of how many investors want to completely demolish these buildings. In Slovakia, it is natural to demolish buildings and build new ones. Demolishing buildings and replacing them with new ones – even though the new ones will have energy savings – is not sustainable. We should renew what we have. In Europe, it is the absolute alpha and omega, that is just the way people think. And they listen to the architect, whether it’s the investors or even the authorities.
So, in your opinion, do the works of Slovak architects have the potential to be successful on a European or global scale?
Definitely. It is neither shame nor insolence, but a perfectly natural thing. It’s just that we Slovaks somehow don’t know how to boast and tend to underestimate ourselves. We can certainly produce a European average here, and I dare say even an above-average one.
What do you think a building must have in order to be able to impress on a European or world scale, to step out of the grey average?
The jury always includes international architects. And they obviously evaluate it globally, not always in a trendy way. I have the feeling that in our country architecture is evaluated very trendily. What is a trend is good. A lot of things in terms of sustainability, for example, are done a little bit too strongly. But the world is looking at many
issues from a different perspective, and maybe the fact that our studio has simple houses resonated there.
If you mention sustainability – do you perceive that the discussion on this topic is already at different points abroad than in Slovakia?
Yes. I think that nobody in Slovakia is doing sustainable buildings. I will put it simply, they are really serious about sustainability abroad. Already when they start designing a house. For example, we do a lot of remodelling and I often get sick of how many investors want to completely demolish these buildings. In Slovakia, it is natural to demolish buildings and build new ones. Demolishing buildings and replacing them with new ones – even though the new ones will have energy savings – is not sustainable. We should renew what we have. In Europe, it is the absolute alpha and omega, that is just the way people think. And they listen to the architect, whether it’s the investors or even the authorities.
What needs to change so that we also get on that path of real sustainability that you are talking about?
I think it has to do with the overall maturity of society. However, this will be the case perhaps 50 years from now, perhaps even a hundred years from now.
In retrospect, is it possible to say what kind of garbage your work has evolved through? In what ways has the experience of international events changed you or your approach?
I started to take pride in my work. That there is no fault in me when I feel invisible. One only has to knock on another door and suddenly one is accepted and appreciated, which is very soul-stirring. And it’s not about building monuments to myself, it’s about enjoying the work and wanting to share it with someone. And if you don’t get heard at home, then you need to move on.
