Since time immemorial, man has felt the need to defend what belonged to him. Guarding property, protecting his life and the way he lived it, and taking care of the safety of his wife and children. For this purpose already in prehistoric times, fortified settlements began to emerge. They were used for defensive purposes, but another equally important function was their tendency to impose order on society. They were the centres of administration, craft production and trade, creating the most primary structure or the foundation stone for the construction of the world. The natural development of settlements and later planned establishment then gave rise to a specific residential unit, i.e. the city.

It emerges as a closed world, often able to exist on its own without the desires and need of external intervention. It is protected against the environment, affecting it and overwhelming it by its grandeur and a certain stillness. Inside, however, there is a living organism which surprises by its diversity and contrasts with compactness reaching the observer when viewed from the outside. Through the changes of the scale of the man against his surroundings, it surprises by this difference in the exterior and interior, opening up a colourful world of smaller and larger buildings, streets, and nooks. Each building has its own clearly defined position due to the function which it serves; based on different levels of importance, there are differences in the location of the building, its appearance and materials used. One of the most important parts of the street network consists of public spaces, i.e. the square, which can serve as a marketplace, a transport hub or a simple gathering point, thus has an important social function. Outside the internal structure, on the foot of the castles, and outside the city walls then grow other small residential units in symbiosis, lively attached to the inner functional mechanism.

We have decided to use the principle of the fortified settlement, a symbol of safety, home and prosperity, a vibrant city behind solid walls, applying it to the building of the Czech Embassy. The building could become a stronghold of Czech Republic in the USA. In any case, not in the significantly fortification sense, but as a slight overstatement, it should affect clearly and yet distinctly its surroundings, while its interior design and layout offers vicariously the sense of safety and comfortable environment for its employees who have ended up working far away from home. Through its overall effect, the building may then outline to all its visitors a part of the rich cultural and historical tradition of the Czech state, presented in a modern way.

The building programme fits with our intention and directly promotes the application of the principle in the case of urban land stratification and internal structure of the “city”, i.e. the embassy building.

Washington D.C., USA