City of Dreams
Jan Vondrák, 1/23
When we decided to found our studio, we knew it would be in Liberec. We didn't care that there wasn't as much work here as in Prague, nor that the capital was a more prestigious address. We decided to live here, work here, and shape the city so that we'd feel good in it. We felt the accumulated energy, the crazy history of the Sudetenland, Hubáček’s Stavoprojekt, and the industrial tradition that stinks right out of the plaster of every second building. When people hear "Liberec," most immediately think of the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd. But that isn't Liberec—those are just its backdrops, the reason it isn't merely a gutted city with a decaying culture. Liberec isn't a city of dreams, a crystal valley, or a mecca of architecture. It's an aging porn star dreaming of shooting his ultimate career masterpiece. We are that battered adult film star too. There might be nothing here, but that only makes it easier to actually do something. So we just do things ourselves.
We started a punk bar, a film festival, running races, and we take care of a local swimming pool that might leak like a sieve and can't hold water in the summer, but we know that one day we'll manage to get it together. The great thing is, we're not alone in this. It's a joy to watch things around us changing from the bottom up. It's not politicians who create a city. It's the people who actually live in it. They are the ones who can improve their own surroundings, and maybe they even have more drive to actually make things happen. Sure, this suicidal naivety and enthusiasm rarely come without consequences, but they don't come without results either. And so, old cinemas are being restored, bistros and new bars are popping up, and it almost seems as if it's being boosted by someone. It's not. Around here, everyone does everything on their own. And so that old porn star keeps stumbling through the scrapyard, waiting for his agent to call. But out on that scrapyard, flowers are starting to grow. Prettier and stronger than the ones in manicured garden beds. Terribly colorful and brutally beautiful.
