Otakar Diblík (19 August 1929 – 12 February 1999) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

er.

Life

From 1948 to 1952, Diblík studied architecture and civil engineering at the Technical University of Dr. E. Beneš (now

Brno University of Technology Brno University of Technology (BUT; Czech: ''Vysoké učení technické v Brně'', VUT) is a university located in Brno, Czech Republic. Being founded in 1899 and initially offering a single course in civil engineering, it grew to become a maj ...

). He was a pupil of

Vincenc Makovský Vincenc Makovský (3 June 1900 – 28 December 1966) was a Czechs, Czech sculptor, industrial designer and university teacher. Biography Vincenc Makovský was born on 3 June 1900 in Nové Město na Moravě. After he graduated from the high schoo ...

. While at school, he began to devote himself to design. He began his work at Karosa Vysoké Mýto, where he collaborated on the design of the

Škoda 706 RTO Škoda 706 RTO is an urban bus produced by bus manufacturer Karosa and Škoda in Czechoslovakia between 1958 and 1972. It was succeeded by Karosa ŠM 11 in 1964. Construction features 706 RTO was built on frame of Škoda 706 trucks. The en ...

bus. He notably designed the interior of the De Luxe version for Expo 58 in Brussels. Beginning in 1959 he worked at Tatra, where he worked with other designers on the modernisation of the Tatra T-603. When the project was moved to the new Tatra department in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, he collaborated with that team as well. However, none of his work at Tatra was realised and mass-produced. He designed the Electric Locomotive 230 with a body made of

laminate Simulated flight (using image stack created by μCT scanning) through the length of a knitting needle that consists of laminated wooden layers: the layers can be differentiated by the change of direction of the wood's vessels Shattered windshi ...

. His other work for Czechoslovak companies included designing the interior of the

Let L-200 Morava The Let L-200 Morava is a two-engine touring and light passenger aircraft of the 1960s, designed and produced by Let Kunovice in the Czech Republic. Development The Let L-200 Morava light twin-engine transport was preceded in production a ...

aircraft and designing the Zetor Crystal tractor. In 1968 he emigrated and settled in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Starting the following year, he worked as a designer at the studio of his friend Rodolfo Bonetto, who helped him after emigration. In 1983 he became the chief designer of the studio. From 1990 he worked as the head of the design studio of the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (AAAD, , abbreviated VŠUP, also known as UMPRUM) is a public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. The university offers the study disciplines of painting, illustration and graphics, ...

(VŠUP). He died of heart failure in the studio at VŠUP in 1999.

Work

* Interior of

Brussels * Interior of the aircraft

* Škoda 440 Karosa * Caravan Dingo * Tractor Zetor Crystal * Electric Locomotive 230 * Romayor printing machine * FLU lamp * Offset machine Polly 74 * Public payphone Rotor

Gallery

File:240 113-1 ZSSK Bratislava 2006-08-07.jpg, Electric Locomotive 240 File:100RIES 30, Zetor Crystal 12045.jpg, Tractor Zetor Crystal File:Let L-200A Morava. Cockpit (3801511730).jpg, Interior of Let 200 Morava

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diblík, Otakar Czech industrial designers 1929 births 1999 deaths Brno University of Technology alumni Škoda people Tatra (company) 20th-century Czech people Academic staff of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague