Jiri Lev

Lev was born in the Czech Republic, then part of Czechoslovakia,[1] to parents Jiri Loew, architect, academic and politician and Lydie Loewova, architect. He was educated at a grammar school in Brno, Moravia.[7]

He first established his multidisciplinary design practice in Prague in 1998. In 2005 he moved to Sydney, Australia.[2]

Lev studied architecture at the University of Newcastle under Richard Leplastrier and Kerry and Lindsay Clare.[7] During studies he founded ArchiCamp,[8][9] a grassroots architecture festival focused on invited architectural intervention in disadvantaged or disaster stricken rural communities.[10][11][12]

In 2014 Lev started his own practice Atelier Jiri Lev. His first commission was Gulgong Holtermann Museum, a volunteer driven community project involving adaptive reuse of two historic buildings featured on Australian banknotes as well as four new multi-purpose pavilions.[3]

In response to the 2019-20 Australian bushfires Lev established Architects Assist,[13][14][15] an initiative of Australian architecture firms providing pro bono disaster recovery assistance to disaster victims, as "a platform for equitable access to sustainable and resilient architecture." In 2020 the initiative had over 600 participating architecture firms.[7][16][17]

In 2020 Lev's practice revealed plans for two model ecovillage developments in Tasmania, addressing the concurrent housing and environmental crises.[18][19] The settlements were inspired by the cohousing and ecovillage movements and traditional European settlements. Lev's vision was a network of small, compact urban forms surrounded by shared agricultural land and well-managed wilderness. A working prototype modular home was completed in 2021.[20]

After the 2021 South Moravia tornado Lev founded Architekti Pro Bono, an initiative of Czech architects assisting the victims.[21]

Lev advocates for localised, regionally specific architectural styles.[22] In his work he references and interprets local vernacular architecture. He claims that globalised design trends are highly destructive to the identity and spirit of places where they are introduced.[2][23][24] He often refers to the principles of new urbanism.[18]

Lev's works rely on natural, near-raw and locally sourced construction materials, avoiding or minimising the use of chemical treatments, plastics and synthetic paints, making his buildings "almost edible." His approach has been described as "design for an economy of means, a generosity of ends."[25]

Lev's practice delivered a number of pro bono and community projects via workshops and student engagement.[26] It occasionally publishes architectural plans for sustainable homes into the public domain free of charge.[4][27]

The practice is known not to publicise their commercial projects or enter awards.[28]

• Sustainable architecture
• Vernacular architecture
• Contextual architecture
• New urbanism
• Australian architects

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• Divisare