Historic Preservation Podcast #29: Pavla Melková on Bringing Monuments to Speech by Columbia GSAPP

In advance of her Fall 2020 lecture in the Historic Preservation Program, Program Director Jorge Otero-Pailos interviews Pavla Melková. Melková graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) in Prague, where she also received her habilitation and PhD degree. She is a practicing architect who is also involved with theoretical writing, independent artwork, and teaching.

They explore one of Melková's recent projects, the Monument to Jan Palach in Všetaty, and the choice to introduce an expressive treatment rather than perform a traditional restoration. This case is used to consider the notion of communicative power and symbolism in relationship to abstraction and figuration. They also discuss the transmission of content about life, as the active relationship between monuments and people.