The National Style and Crime

This study explores the impact of visual culture and architectural theory on the formation of national identity in early Czechoslovakia, with a particular focus on the interwar period and the debates surrounding the so-called “national style.” It examines how key figures such as Pavel Janák and Karel Teige articulated aesthetic frameworks that either reinforced or challenged nationalist discourse. Janák’s attempts to define a distinctively Czech architectural style reflected a synthesis of vernacular inspiration and modern formal language, demonstrating the tension between cosmopolitanism and local tradition. By contrast, Teige’s classification of architectural trends, particularly his advocacy of Jaromír Krejcar, reveals an ideologically charged attempt to canonise modernist principles. The article also considers the broader cultural and political context, particularly the use of architecture to legitimise the newly founded Czechoslovak Republic. Ultimately, the study emphasises the intricate relationship between politics, identity, and aesthetics in the cultural development of a post-imperial nation-state.