I could never say goodbye to my native town of Brno
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Ivan Ruller was born in Brno on 17 November, 1926 in the family of a builder named Čeněk Ruller. The environment he grew up in formed him since his childhood and brought him to architecture and fine arts. He studied with world-famous architects; for ex. at Bohuslav Fuchs or Bedřich Rozehnal. Ruller strictly disagreed with the communist regime and political processes, which ran in 1950s and obviously he got persecuted later in 1952. He was kicked out of the architecture faculty and for many years he became an undesired person for the former regime. Despite all that he is an author of many appraised and worthy buildings. From Brno realisations it is mainly the building of Ingstav and the sports hall Rondo. From later realisations he participated in the construction of the pavilion E in the exhibition areas and he is also an author of an architectonic solution of a gravestone of the poet, Jan Skácel. Ivan Ruller gained his first experience in the Brno company Potravinoprojektu. He changed then many projecting institutes such as Stavoprojekt, Chemoprojekt or Elektroprojekt Brno. In 1968 - 1979 he worked in the Institute of the main architect, later he worked as a freelancing architect. He participated in a number of projects and in domestic and international competitions. He also assisted at drafting refineries in Sri Lanka or Pakistan. Building a museum of history in the Libyan Tripoli he cooperated with UNESCO. Abroad he was and is a well-acknowledged professional. He was not favoured at home for his attitudes and disagreement with the totalitarian practice during the former regime. In 1970 - 1989 he was forbidden membership in the Architects´ Club and he was banned publishing and teaching for more than twenty years. Yet he managed to keep his distance and was not afraid to work with the “forbidden” artists, such as Vladimír Preclík or Olbram Zoubek. After revolution he could return to the High Technical College in Brno, where he was a dean of the Faculty of Architecture for four years. He is a holder of the merit medal in the field of arts. He received a golden medal VUT, award of Vladimír Karfík for the pavilion E in the Brno exhibition grounds and „For major contributions to urbanism and architecture”. He received Grand Prix of the Architects´community for lifetime work. Ivan Ruller passed away in March, 2018.
