Tastemakers – janek jaros
words by Bethan Ryder
The founder of Modernista, a Prague boutique specialising in 20th-century Czech design, tells us what inspires him
Prague’s Modernista boutique was founded by Janek Jaros with his wife, Deidre MacBean. This gallery-cum-store stocks originals and reproductions of furniture and decorative arts in styles such as Czech Cubism, Bauhaus and Art Deco. Modernista is a champion of Czech design and acts as design consultants, offering furnishings for hotels and restaurants such as The Icon Hotel (pictured left and above), U tri korunek (the Three Crowns) hotel and the Jet Set restaurant and bar.
Where do you live in Prague and why do you love it?
Prague is yet to develop neighbourhoods with their own distinct identity. The old communist regime’s system of property management was not conducive to like-minded people concentrating in certain areas and transforming them according to their interests and tastes. So in Prague almost everything happens in the centre, that’s where most good restaurants, bars, galleries and shops are and where visitors spend the majority of their time.
I live in the district of Nusle/Vysehrad in Prague 4, which is a typical example of an early 20th-century residential area just outside the centre – four- or five-storey apartment blocks with Art Nouveau facades peppered amongst 1920s and 1930s buildings. During the 1990s the empty attics of these buildings attracted the emerging generation of young professionals – such as myself – who wanted spacious and individual places to live without having to decamp into the suburbs and beyond. The last 15 years have seen most Prague attics converted into apartments or even penthouses, sometimes of exceptional style and proportions. What I like about our building is the little park with large trees outside it and the spectacular view across the Nusle Valley.
Why did you open Modernista?
I worked in the music business throughout the 1990s – first in London then in Prague – and became interested in design and architecture by default when I bought my first flat in London in 1993 and started searching for furnishings. This interest intensified when my wife and I decided to convert an attic in Prague, that was when I realised what a wealth of homegrown design there was and my future outside the record industry started popping up on the horizon. I left my job in 2000 and opened Modernista in 2001, as a place where Czech design of the first half of the 20th century came to life again.
Which architect or designer do you admire most?
Frank Lloyd Wright for his consistency, intelligence and boldness. As regards Czech architects, I like bits of what they did. My favourite 20th-century building in Prague is the villa designed by the sculptor František Bílek for himself in Prague 6, near Prague Castle.
What’s the greatest treasure you’ve ever sold?
A desk by Czech architect Jaromír Krejcar, designed for his first wife Milena Jesenská – the Milena of Franz Kafka’s love letters.
You’ve worked on several commercial interior projects.
Of which are you most proud?
I am glad the Old Town Hall (pictured top right) was bold enough to go with the mixture of Vlastislav Hofman Czech Cubist chairs and modern lighting for their registry office. I wish my wife and I could have another wedding!
Which one attraction should a visitor to Prague not miss?
The restored Grand Café Orient at the House of the Black Madonna (a department store) – both designed by Josef Gocar – and the Museum of Czech Cubism it now houses.
What is your favourite product or piece of furniture?
I love the crystalline box by Pavel Janak – the symbol of the Czech Cubist movement. We always stock it. It sums it all up in the palm of your hand.
Please recommend a fabulous restaurant and bar!
Café Savoy is a traditional Prague café-restaurant like they don’t make any more. It’s across the river from the National Theatre, and is excellent for breakfast, lunch or coffee and cake any time of day. (Vitezná 5, Prague 5, +420 257 311 562, www.ambi.cz).
My weekly favourite restaurant is Oliva; it serves international cuisine in a family-run friendly place off the beaten track, but only a few minutes outside the centre. (Plavecká 4, Prague 2, +420 222 520 288 www.olivarestaurant.cz). Also, Aromi, a top-notch Italian with the best service in Prague (Mánesova 78, Prague 2, +420 222 713 222, www.aromi.cz)
What’s your philosophy for life?
I notice that it changes every 10 years or so, but the ever-present undercurrent is: change is the blood of life.
Modernista is open 11am-7pm daily at Celetná 12, Prague 1 (Staré Mësto), +420 224 241 300, www.modernista.cz
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