Why did you choose architecture as a career?

I chose it for several reasons, but I think architecture also chose me. I was born into a construction family, with both of my parents being educated in this field. 

When I was 11 years old, I visited a public library in my hometown and saw a project by an architecture student redesigning the city’s main square. This was in 1996, in the mid-90s, in the Czech Republic. 

At that time the country was undergoing significant development after 40 years of Communism, which had left it devastated. The student’s project uncovered the potential beauty of the square, and something about it felt like magic to me.