National Gallery Prague, together with its partners, will present a new generation of Czech architecture in Frankfurt
The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM) in Frankfurt am Main will host the exhibition More is Now! New Czech Architecture from 19 September 2026 to 17 January 2027, which will showcase 28 award-winning projects from across the Czech Republic and highlights how contemporary architecture responds to climatic, social and technological challenges. The project forms part of the Year of Czech Culture
in German-speaking countries, marking the Czech Republic‘s status as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The main partner is the Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds, and the Tugendhat Villa is featured here in collaboration with the Brno City Museum.
“National Gallery Prague has long sought to present contemporary Czech culture in an international context. The More is Now! project proves that Czech architecture has much to offer; it connects the past with the present, searches for original solutions and holds its own in dialogue with the European and global scenes,” says Olga Kotková, General Director of the National Gallery Prague.
The exhibition showcases the work of a generation of Czech architects – both men and women – born mostly in the 1980s and 1990s, the so-called millennials, who have been significantly transforming the Czech architectural landscape over the last decade. The title More is Now! refers to the famous modernist motto ‘less is more’ of the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who was born in 1886 and who in 1928, at the age of 42, secured his most prestigious commissions – the Tugendhat Villa and what became known as the Barcelona Pavilion. The Tugendhat Villa remains to this day the benchmark for the most progressive architecture of its time. The exhibition poses a question how today‘s architects follow up on a century of modernism and how they interpret its legacy in the context of the 21st century.
“The exhibition highlights a twin trend in contemporary Czech architecture. ‘Less’ refers to a minimalistic, or perhaps an ethical approach motivated by moderation. Conversely, ‘more’ today means multiplication in the sense of seeking richer spatial, sensory or complex socio-historical contexts. And it is in this openness and capacity for critical reflection that we see one of the most valuable legacies of modernism for the present day,” says Helena Huber-Doudová, the exhibition‘s curator.
The selection of projects focused on aspects of structural innovation (including the reuse of structures and prefabricated elements), the use of transparency and space, experiments with materials (bricks, clay, composites), sustainability considerations, the integration of greenery into public space, and the reinterpretation of the connection between nature and architecture. The methodology of the selection was consulted with expert representatives from the project partners (ČKA – Markéta Zdebská, Pavel Martinek; Czech centres – Osamu Okamura; Karolína Vránková – editor-in-chief of EARCH.cz).
Peter Cachola Schmal, director of the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), comments on the exhibition: “The Czech Republic remains a relatively little-known architectural landscape to an international audience, and the region of Central Europe is still something of a blind spot. Yet, some neighbouring countries have succeeded in attracting the attention of the international architectural community, namely Slovenia, Poland and, to a lesser extent, Croatia. The exhibition More is Now! will introduce contemporary Czech architecture to German as well as international public.”
Architecture in Prague and the regions, from Nový Bor to Brno
The exhibition showcases 28 award-winning projects, many of which were created outside Prague. It thus highlights the fact that many of the most interesting architectural projects of recent years have emerged from public competitions, often in the regions outside Prague.
In 2025, a total of 72 public competitions were held in the Czech Republic. Over the past decade, these have contributed significantly to the improvement of architectural culture and made the Czech architectural scene more open to international inspirations. Another aspect is a heightened sensitivity towards the existing construction environment; there is less greenfield development and greater emphasis is placed on using existing resources.
The displayed projects include the new Lasvit headquarters in Nový Bor (OVA), which uses traditional construction forms and materials in an innovative way. The Winternitz Automatic Mills project in Pardubice (Prokš Přikryl) is an example of the sensitive adaptive reuse of a historic industrial complex for new cultural and social purposes. The exhibition also displays the Štvanice Footbridge in Prague (Petr Tej, Marek Blank, Jan Mourek), which has attracted attention for its progressive use of ultra-high-performance concrete, and the Kloboucká lesní‘s headquarters from the Mjölk studio, one of the most striking examples of contemporary sustainable construction projects in the Czech Republic.
Tugendhat Villa has its own chapter
The exhibition pays special attention to the Tugendhat Villa, the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe‘s masterpiece and the only monument of modern architecture in the Czech Republic on the UNESCO World Heritage List. And it was the Tugendhat Villa that became one of the project‘s main sources of inspiration. Even though Ludwig Mies van der Rohe would have celebrated his 140th birthday this year. “The Tugendhat Villa is one of the most significant symbols of modern architecture as well as a testament to an exceptionally fruitful cultural dialogue between the Czech Republic and Germany. The fact that it is featured in an exhibition on the current generation of Czech architects proves that its legacy remains alive and inspiring even almost a century later,” says Iveta Černá, head of the Tugendhat Villa at the Brno City Museum.
The main partner of the More is Now! New Czech Architecture project is the Deutsch- Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds. “The exhibition ‘More is Now!’ reveals a side of the Czech Republic that may yet not be familiar to everyone in Germany – one that is young,
contemporary and innovative. And it is such new perspectives on our neighbouring country that we in Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds wish to advance. Today through architecture, and in October at the Frankfurt Book Fair through books, stories and meetings. As a long- standing partaker in Czech-German collaboration, we not only bring people and institutions together, but also offer our experience and long-term perspective on the development of relations between the two countries. That is why we invite you to discover the Czech Republic and Germany at the book fair from new perspectives under the motto ‘Böhmische Dörfer verstehen’,” says Susanne Sehlbach, Executive Director of the Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds.
The exhibition is part of the extra programme marking the Czech Republic‘s status as Guest of Honour at this year‘s Frankfurt Book Fair (more information here), co-ordinated by the Moravian Library. From 7 to 11 October, 75 authors will be introduced as part of the guest of honour programme at the world‘s most important gathering of the book industry. The NGP exhibition is one of ten major exhibitions to accompany the book fair programme. Martin Krafl, programme director for the guest of honour programme says: “I appreciate the trust given to this exhibition project showcasing a new generation of Czech architects by the DAM Museum. The collaboration with all the culture institutions from both countries involved in the project has been highly professional, and I believe that the established contacts will help further projects to be born in the future.”
The exhibition More is Now! New Czech Architecture is accompanied by a catalogue, which will be launched at DAM on 26 October at 7 pm. It was edited by Helena Huber-Doudová and includes texts by Peter Cachola Schmal (DAM), Karolína Vránková (EARCH.cz), and Markéta Zdebská (ČKA). It showcases 28 exhibiting architects as well as a newly created photo series of the Tugendhat Villa by the German-French photographic duo Schnepp Renou.
Why “More is Now!”?
The title of the exhibition refers to the famous motto ‘less is more’, which is usually attributed to the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Mies himself probably never actually uttered these words. The phrase became widely known particularly in the aftermath of his retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 1947. Over the decades, a number of variations of the motto have emerged, for instance Robert Venturi‘s postmodern ‘less is a bore’ or Danish architect Bjarke Ingels‘ ‘Yes is More’. The exhibition More is Now! poses a question how today‘s generation of Czech architects reflects upon the legacy of modernism.
MORE IS NOW! NEW CZECH ARCHITECTURE
19 SEPTEMBER 2026 – 17 JANUARY 2027
Curator: Helena Huber-Doudová
Organisers: Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM), National Gallery Prague Supported by: Deutsch-Tschechischer Zukunftsfonds
Foto: Moritz Bernoully
