JINDŘICH HALABALA (1903 – 1978)
[jɪn-drɪx ˈhɑlʌ’bʌlʌ] was born into a family of cabinetmaker which likely affected his career choice. As a youngster, he started out in apprenticeship for United Art & Craft Workshops (UP Závody). In 1922, he was admitted to Architecture and Interior Design in Pavel Janák’s atelier at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
In 1930, shortly after graduation he became a chief designer for UP Závody, steering a company in a new direction of product design, assortment structure and advertising.
During the fruitful cooperation with Vladimir Mareček they gave a birth to the specific form of Art-Deco combining elegance of Modernism with unique shapes of Czech Cubism.
Halabala put emphasis on mass production while maintaining hi-quality traditional craftsmanship techniques. This enabled his great designs to be popular not only in the country of origin.
Media Source: Davint Design, 2015