From Biography to a Net of Interpretations: The Plurality of Approaches to Vladimír Karfík’s work

Abstract

The aim of this study is to justify a partial shift from the biographical approach in the author’s ongoing research into the work of architect Vladimír Karfík’s, especially if that research is directed towards raising present-day appreciation of his output. The inspiration comes from pragmatic aesthetics, as understood by philosopher Richard Shusterman, which considers the possibility of appreciating a work of art and architecture without the premise of one universal truth. The “net of interpretations” metaphor suggests that different interpretative lines can be perceived as equivalent in all their diversity, and there is no single “true” image of the work that lies underneath. The proposition of the study is argued both on a theoretical level and through the analysis of existing publications devoted to Karfík’s work and personality.