Folk architecture - A

Catalogue number	0674
Date of issue	23.2.2011
Face value	A
Print sheets	á 100 stamps
Size of picture	19 x 23 mm
Graphic designer	Jan Kavan
Engraver	Bohumil Sneider

A simplified general kind of summary of nationwide folk architecture, featuring characteristic gables and gates across all regions of the Czech Republic: a South Bohemian gable from the Blatensko region (front); a North Bohemian gable (left); a gable shutter common in North Bohemia as well as North Moravia (right); a West Bohemian half-timbered gable (back).
Both architectural landmarks built in major styles and exceptionally rich countryside architecture abound in the Czech Republic. Throughout the history, the regional and natural diversity contributed to the creation of numerous specific areas, both in terms of the technology and aesthetics used in the structure of folk dwellings. Its morphology lets us feel the remarkable afterglow of famous epochs of art combined with an ancient tradition, the latter endowing the ordinary outbuildings with as much practicality as possible.
Thanks to the historical circumstances, the countryside can offer a large number of superb examples of folk architecture preserved on their original site. Such buildings make a significant part of our everyday cultural life; as such, they should rightly get more attention from the general public. The fact that they are mostly located outside any protected or museum area means that they frequently face the risks associated with lack of knowledge or sensitivity. The lack of an official protection - with the exception of several protected areas declared by the government - has fortunately been compensated for by numerous examples of an excellent care provided by their owners holding them as a summer house for hobby. This natural spontaneous protection would, like the institutional one, deserve certain support, at least of a moral kind.
The natural, material and cultural conditions in the small territory of the Czech Republic created locations with typically autonomous features of folk architecture. The intimate space of a stamp face might be sufficient to feature, e.g. a comprehensive series of the different forms of gables.

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