Sípek, born in 1949 in Prague, wanted to be an architect or chef and has almost become both. He is an expert architect and an excellent cook. He began by studying interior design at the school for Arts and Crafts in Prague (1964 ­ 68). Then moved to Hamburg where he studied architecture. He also turned his attention to theater, stage design and philosophy and forgot about architecture for a while to concentrate on theory because he wanted to be an art and design critic. After his philosophy studies in Stuttgart he was an assistant professor at the institute of Industrial Design at the Hannover University (1977-79). In 1979 he graduated from Technical University in Delft, The Netherlands. On the topic ‘Relation between Architecture and Semiotics’. Sípek’s first commission was by his sister in 1983 to design her house in Hamburg, which lead to an honorable mention for the ‘German Architecture Prize’ and acclaimed him international recognition. This was also the year he moved to Amsterdam and opened his architecture and design studio. In 1989 he received the highest Dutch design award: ‘Kho Liang le Prize’. A few years later (1993) Sípek received the Prins Bernhard Fonds prize for Applied Arts and Design. The prize money - $50,000 ­ he used for the restoration of ‘the Castle’ in Prague. Appointed by President Václav Havel as architect, Sípek was in charge of the ‘Castles’. Restoration, which he co-ordinated from his Prague architecture and design studio. Following his passion as a cook in 1999 he opened a design shop including a Thai / Japanese restaurant in the center of Prague named the Arzenal. This is now the city where he lives. Work is included in the collections of the following museums: Museum of Modern Art in New York, US Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Switzerland. ‘Kunstmuseum’ in Dusseldorf, Germany. ‘The Sedelijk Museum’ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Museum for Decorative Arts in Lyon and Paris, France. Museum for Decorative Art in Prague, The Czech Republic. The Corning Museum of Glass in New York, US. The Hague Municipal; Museum, The Netherlands. Design Museum in London, United Kingdom. Denver Art Museum in Denver, US. Het Kruithuis in Den Bosch, The Netherlands. Over the past twenty years Borek Sípek was not only become one of the worlds most respected architects, but also one of it’s most sought after designers. Glassware, ceramics, furniture, porcelain, picture frames, posters, graphic design ­ there is not a design field in which the Czech is not actively involved. Sípek does not hesitate for a moment to cross forbidden boundaries and operate in areas most of his colleagues only dare dream of. He is an intuitive designer, gathering impressions from all over, whether in the royal treasury in the Prague castle or in a jolly restaurant in Paris. He combines style elements from the Baroque with forms borrowed from nature. He alternates symbolically charged features with aspects taken from everyday life. Some of his designs are produced using modern technology, for others he calls in the help of surly Bohemian glass blowers or silent wood carvers from Japan, employing ancient time-honored skills. Paramount to this modest alchemist is the stirring of emotions in whoever drinks from one of his glasses or nestles into one of his chairs. It is not the object, which is subject to humanity, but the other way around according to Sípek. Wim de Wagt At a time when many companies are advancing with caution and favoring the saleable and the safe, Borek Sípek continues to design china and glassware that overturn expectation and defy all precedent except for his own. (…) As a designer, Sípek inhabits some dark fairytale landscape of his own imagining. His pieces are ceremonial trappings imposed on the ordinary routines of everyday life. The vigor of handcrafting informs all his pieces. (…) Borek Sípek likes to combine precious materials with humble ones, working in metal, wood, marble, glass, iron, and ceramics, brass and silk. He can forge metal, blow and etch glass, cast in bronze, upholster and do woodwork, setting up within each piece "a dialogue between geometric and organic form". Arata Isozaki   VIEW DESIGNS               RETURN TO CATAGORIES PAGE
	BOREK SÍPEK
	MACAO	HONG KONG	BORNEO
	BALI	CHAO PRAYA	DENPASAR
	PATHAN	KJU SHU	HOKAIDO
	DHAULAGIRI	ANNAPURNA	NAGANO
	MADRAS	JAIPUR	SESHUAN
	SHANGHAI	KRABI	KATHMANDU
	LOMBOK	KASHMIR
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