From Minecraft to Olověný Dušan: An Interview with Matěj Čepička

Who is Matěj Čepička

Tell us a little about yourself. What do you enjoy doing, and what do you do outside of school?

I don’t have much time these days, but I used to really enjoy playing video games and playing sports. When I do have time, I try to travel. And sometimes I even manage to work out and play games when I find the time.

And what kinds of games did you enjoy?

All kinds—often shooters, then various survival games where you can build things. I’d say the most famous one is Minecraft. That’s probably what really got me started.

Minecraft? Tell us a little about it for those who don’t know it.

It’s a world made entirely of blocks. You can mine them, reshape them, and build things out of them. You can play in survival mode, but there’s also a creative mode where you have unlimited resources and can build whatever you want. I always preferred creative mode.

And do you think that shaped you toward architecture?

To a certain extent, probably yes. I always enjoyed games when they had that option, that creative, building part. Minecraft actually steered me in that direction.

The Path to Architecture

But what was the key moment when you said to yourself: I’m going to study architecture?

In eighth grade. We had a civics class, and the question came up about where we wanted to apply next. At that moment, it just clicked for me. I originally wanted to be a pilot, but in eighth grade, it seemed more realistic to go the construction route and keep my feet a bit more on the ground. Plus, it runs in the family—my dad does finishing work as a self-employed contractor, so I grew up around it. And suddenly it dawned on me that architecture is actually something I’d enjoy too.

So after elementary school, straight to a technical high school for construction?

Yeah, a four-year program in Ústí nad Labem, majoring in civil engineering. I knew I wanted to do architecture, but architecture wasn’t offered as a major at that technical school in Ústí. I saw that as an advantage, though. If I’d later decided not to go to college, I’d at least have a specific focus. After high school, I’d be worse off without a college degree.

Studying at the Faculty

I studied economics, so a technical school is a bit of a mystery to me. How does studying at your faculty actually work?

We have it divided into two parts. On one hand, there are traditional subjects like civil engineering, structural mechanics, building services, and the like. And then there are studios where we design buildings. Every semester we choose a studio, which gives us an assignment, and we work on an architectural design based on it.

You’re writing your bachelor’s thesis now. What does that entail?

In my thesis, I’m translating my studio project into a technical plan. I’m figuring out how it would be feasible in reality. So I’m getting into the design work.

You’ve been studying for three years. Was there ever a moment when you thought it was the wrong choice?

No. I mean, you complain along the way about how much there is to do, but I guess every student does that. I enjoy it.

And what’s been the hardest part of your studies so far?

Hard to say. Since I went to a technical high school, I already knew a lot of things. The practical courses weren’t a problem for me. What was new to me were things like math, which high school students had already covered, but I hadn’t. On the other hand, they hadn’t seen a lot of the technical subjects that are covered very quickly in college. What we covered in a whole year in high school is covered in a single semester at the faculty. So anyone hearing it for the first time had a harder time.

Olověný Dušan

Let’s talk about the competition. What exactly is Olověný Dušan?

It’s a competition organized by the Architecture Students’ Association, which is a student club. They invite Czech and Slovak architects to serve as jury members; they come, walk through the entire school, and select projects that catch their interest. From those, they choose the nominees. There were about six or seven of us in the architecture category, and there are also categories for design and landscape architecture. And from the nominees, they then select the winners.

Did you have to present your project to the jury in some way?

It wasn’t a traditional presentation. We had to film a short profile, a video about a minute long, introducing our project. That was then screened at the gala evening.

What was it like to film a video about yourself and your project?

An interesting experience. I had to learn the software, figure out how to direct it, and write a script. It’s not my natural style to present my work in a way I’m not used to, but in the end, it turned out better than I expected. Actually, I didn’t know what to expect from it, so I was afraid it would be worse.

Winning Project: A Hotel in Sušice

Tell us about your winning project. What was the assignment?

The assignment was the city of Sušice. At the beginning, everyone chose a plot, and I chose one by the water. A river flows right through Sušice, but the city isn’t really well connected to it. That was the main theme I wanted to work with.

Why a hotel, specifically? That’s not exactly a typical student assignment, is it?

I didn’t want to design another residential building. I’d already designed several of those during my studies, so I wanted a change. A hotel seemed like an interesting opportunity to work with a slightly different typology.

What was the biggest challenge you had to overcome?

Mainly the site’s profile. The plot is narrow and long, and fitting a functional hotel layout—especially its operational areas—into it wasn’t an easy task. I was looking for the right form that would fit the site and also work operationally.

The project is by the river. Did you address flood protection?

I’m addressing that right now in my bachelor’s thesis. In the design, I have a large window from the wellness area that’s right above the water. During a hundred-year flood, the entire window would be underwater. So I looked for a solution and eventually solved it using tilting gates that close in front of the window to protect it. I also found a German company that does this, but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get the technical documentation from them yet.

And what inspired that concept? Did you have any specific references?

No single specific one. It came more intuitively, from various references I had stored somewhere in my head. It all came together organically.

Where to next

What is your dream goal? Where would you like to go professionally?

I’d like to work for myself. I actually enjoy anything related to scale, but I want to stand on my own two feet.

For now, though, you’re gaining experience elsewhere.

Yeah, while I’m studying, I’m working at a small studio in Prague. I do the design work there, which is pretty similar to what we do in the studios at school. So the transition from theory to practice wasn’t that dramatic for me.

Internship at Equator

The grand prize for winning the Olověný Dušan competition is an international internship at the Equator studio in Stockholm. Are you looking forward to it?

Definitely. I’m curious to see how things work there. I’m used to a small team, so I assume the work there will be completely different.

In what specific ways do you expect it to be different?

For me, mainly the company structure. Equator is a larger studio and they work on a different scale than what I’m used to. And then I think the Scandinavian approach to work is different from the Czech one in some ways. I don’t know exactly how yet, but in general I expect there to be a difference.

Were you familiar with their work before?

I’ve looked at their projects. They seem to be of a decent standard. It’s developer work to a certain extent, but the architecture is generally high-quality. The projects are nice; they’re decent and dignified.

Have you ever been to Stockholm?

No, as far as Sweden goes, I’ve been to Malmö once. So Stockholm will be a new experience. I haven’t had time yet to figure out what architecture to check out there; right now I’m focused on my bachelor’s thesis. But I definitely want to see what their architecture looks like in practice.

Do you have any concerns about the internship?

Not really. My studio director’s wife apparently did an internship at CASUA and Equator, and she said it’s a great place. So I have positive expectations and I’m open to whatever comes my way. I think it’ll be a good experience.