Tomáš Jančařík:
Zdeněk Rosák, Corporate Artist in Normalization-era Karosa

Abstract

This work recapitulates the career of industrial designer Zdeněk Rosák in Karosa, Vysoké Mýto factory, based on his memories obtained in interviews with the author and information provided in other primary and secondary sources. Rosák’s specific career was at key moments influenced by important events in Czechoslovak history of the 20th century (1939, 1948, 1968, 1989), but also by opportunities present in the long-term trends of national and factory culture. His artistic contribution to design was influenced by the factory tradition, but also by wider international trends, filtered by contemporary ideology and practice, and Rosák’s formative education in Zlín. As we focus most on the design of the buses that had the widest impact, we also monitor and analyze wider contexts and influences.

Language: czech

Keywords: transportation design; Karosa; Sodomka; Zdeněk Rosák; Czech history of the 20th century