Cucumber Lookout Tower
Building in an open landscape is an unusual architectural discipline. However, thanks to the local mountains in Northern Bohemia, it has a long tradition that we love to build upon.
Location:
Heřmanice, Czech Republic
Client:
Municipality of Heřmanice
Status:
Completed
Year of completion:
2012
Height:
12 m
Budget:
3,6 mil. CZK
Authors:
Jan Mach, Pavel Nalezený, Jan Vondrák
Photography:
Roman Dobeš, Radek Petrášek
One of our very first projects was born shortly after our office was founded. Just a week after graduating, we moved into an abandoned cabin on the Ještěd ridge and spent two weeks thinking about what we actually wanted to do as architects. An idea for a lookout tower matured in our heads, so we drew it up and started approaching mayors of surrounding villages to see if they would be interested.
Within a month, we found an enthusiastic mayor in Heřmanice, Mr. Stříbrný, who made the project his own. After a slightly delicate presentation at the town council meeting, we slowly began moving toward realization. The municipality managed to secure EU funding, and despite devastating floods that swept through the region during the design process, four years later we were standing on-site with the mayor, looking at our shared achievement.
"We loved the shape.
When we drew it all those years ago, we traveled around the region pitching it to local mayors,
hoping to find someone who would want it."
Jan Vondrák
Author
Tower
Touch the sky and look over the trees,
a forgotten landscape weathered by the wind.
A tender beauty emerges from the dark,
unchained from the shadows of coal-filled clouds.
