Vladimír Dedeček: Život architektúry
Vladimír Dedeček: The Life of Architecture
This book is Slovakia in images. Few people have shaped the appearance of Slovakia as much as Vladimír Dedeček. He designed the National Gallery, the National Archive, and university campuses, such as the one in Nitra. However, the author of the book, Ivana Palečková, did not aim to photograph monuments that “smile at the camera.” Her goal was to capture architecture in the process of life—as people use it, with all its imperfections. Using 35-millimeter film, she photographed 10 buildings in cities such as Bratislava, Modra, Nitra, Zvolen, and Ostrava.
The book contains nearly 400 photographs of 10 of Dedeček’s buildings, which I shot on film. Besides the photographs, I also created the book’s design. The design is subtle and supports the photographs. The book cover quotes the most typical detail of Dedeček’s buildings: the mosaic. Like on the buildings themselves, the mosaic on the cover has slightly eroded over time, creating a random pattern of cut fragments on the paper.
Visual conception of photographs: Ivana Palečková and Dominika Jackuliaková
Graphic design: Ivana Palečková
Pre-press: Ivana Palečková and Vratko Tóth
Texts: Peter Szalay and Dominika Moravčíková
Location management: Ivana Palečková and Štefan Cipár
Publisher: Čierne diery
Product photographs: Leontína Berková
2025