Designer · Czechoslovakia · 1909–1989
Ludvík Volák
Ludvík Volák (1909–1989) – Czech architect, head of Dřevopodnik Holešov and designer of its wood-laminate furniture for IKEA in the 1960s.
About the designer
- Lifetime
- 1909–1989
- Country
- Czechoslovakia
- Manufacturers
- Holesov
Ludvík Volák was an architect and headed the enterprise Dřevopodnik Holešov in Moravia. According to the Museum of Art in Olomouc, he combined the Czech furniture-making tradition with Scandinavian inspiration. The production of wood-laminate furniture was developed in Holešov – lamellas glued from veneer waste; the plant was the only producer of such furniture in Central Europe.
In the early 1960s, the enterprise expanded rapidly and began working with IKEA, for which the first laminate models were made. Furniture from Holešov was shown at trade fairs in Brno, Ostrava and Liberec; it furnished Czechoslovak pavilions at world exhibitions, embassies, Prague’s InterContinental Hotel and Kotva department store, as well as the Thermal Hotel in Karlovy Vary.
The history of Volák and Holešov was revisited by the exhibition “Malá architektura / Small Architecture” at the Museum of Art in Olomouc (19 June – 12 October 2025), accompanied by a book on bent furniture production.
