# Jiri Lev

Jiri Lev (born 1979, /ˈjɪrɪ ˈlɛv/, Czech: Jiří Lev) is a Czech-Australian architect and urbanist, active in the field of residential, sacred and public architecture, disaster recovery and humanitarian development. He teaches on sustainable and resilient architecture in lectures, workshops and writing.
Lev's work are known for their highly varied, regionally specific architectural style, often inspired in traditional architecture, prolific use of natural, raw and locally sourced construction materials and avoidance of synthetic treatments, paint and plastic. His open source designs have been widely published, adopted and replicated thousands of times.

## Early life

Lev was born in Brno, Moravia, Czechoslovakia (today Czech Republic) into a family of architects and was educated at a grammar school there.
He was inspired growing up in a household filled with his parents' architectural drawings, models, natural science collections, books and plants, just before the proliferation of the internet and social media.
He first established his multidisciplinary design practice in Prague in 1998. In 2005, he moved to Sydney, Australia. He completed his master's degree in architecture at the University of Newcastle under Richard Leplastrier and Kerry and Lindsay Clare.
During studies he founded ArchiCamp, a grassroots architecture festival focused on invited architectural intervention in disadvantaged or disaster stricken rural communities.

## Career

Lev first opened his practice, Atelier Jiri Lev, in 2014, with first commission the Gulgong Holtermann Museum. A volunteer-driven community project, it involved adaptive reuse of two historic buildings, also featured on Australian banknotes, and new multi-purpose pavilions.
In response to the 2019-20 Australian bushfires, Lev established Architects Assist, an initiative of Australian architecture firms providing pro bono assistance to the victims, as "a platform for equitable access to sustainable and resilient architecture." In 2020, the initiative had 600 participating architecture firms.
In 2020, Lev's practice revealed plans for two model cohousing ecovillage developments in Tasmania, addressing the concurrent housing and environmental crises. Inspired by traditional European settlements, a network of small, compact urban forms was proposed, surrounded by shared agricultural land and managed wilderness. A prototype residence was completed in 2021.
After the 2021 South Moravia tornado in the Czech Republic, Lev founded Architekti Pro Bono, an initiative of Czech architects assisting the victims.

## Practice

Lev advocates for localised, regionally specific architectural style. In his work he references and interprets vernacular architecture. He claims that globalised design trends are highly destructive to the identity and spirit of places where they are introduced. He often refers to the principles of new urbanism.
Lev's works often use natural, raw and locally sourced construction materials and avoid or minimise the use of chemical treatments, plastics and synthetic paints. His buildings have been called "almost edible" and his approach described as "design for an economy of means, a generosity of ends."
Lev's practice has delivered a number of pro bono and community projects, often as part of organised workshops and student engagement.
During the 2010-20s housing crisis the firm released a number of free construction plans for sustainable dwellings open source into the public domain. The designs became popular for their extreme economy and traditionally inspired style, and have been adopted and replicated several thousands of times in Australia and North America.
The firm is known not to publicise client projects or enter awards. Published works include Holtermann Museum (2015), Courtyard House (2018), Tasmanian House (2021), Tasmanian Homestead (2023).