Napoleon said he preferred lucky generals to smart ones.

Štěpán Popovič, the CEO of AGC Flat Glass Czech, sees the Little Emperor as a role-model, but, with all due respect, he prefers to make his own luck. “I always tried to be a step ahead and I tried to be at the right place at the right time,” he says. “Several times I was appointed to managerial positions in which it was necessary to solve quite serious problems. I was always successful, but I am not sure if I can call it good luck – rather, I had to work hard.” Read more…

Josef Pleskot is one of the most important architects working in the Czech Republic today, and is featured on the cover of this issue. Pleskot’s design of buildings and structures include the new headquarters of ČSOB in Radlice, the Palmovka Park and BDO buildings in Prague, the Consulate of the Czech Republic in Munich, and a tunnel (“the pathway through the deer moat”) at Prague Castle. He is also renowned as a designer of luxury villas, family houses, and loft apartments. He directs a team of twelve architects and designers at the AP Atelier, picturesquely housed in a former factory in Holešovice, Prague 7, once owned by his great uncle. Josef Pleskot sat down recently with Lifestyles to talk about his work and about the direction of Czech architecture.

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