UP Závody (The Associated Arts and Crafts Enterprises)

Products from this producer offered by Prague Art & Design

The Associated Arts and Crafts Enterprises (Spojené uměleckoprůmyslové závody, famed under the legendary abbreviation UP) were established in 1920 by the fusion of the company called Artistic, Furniture and Construction Cabinetmaking, Ltd. (Umělecké, nábytkové a stavební stolařství s. r. o.) of Karel Slavíček from Brno and the Arts and Crafts Workshops (Uměleckoprůmyslové dílny) of Jan Vaněk from Třebíč. To 1925, the company – focused on cabinetmaking – collaborated with both local and German as well Austrian designers and architects. In the following years, however, the given collaboration was partially limited for economic reasons and it was eventually halted. In 1927, the enterprise managed by Vladimír Mareček already fully switched its focus to the serial production of model furniture. The diversity of its assortment was based on encompassing the entire range of home furnishings which combined perfect design and practicality. One of the most significant figures active in the UP Enterprises was Jindřich Halabala. He started as the manager of the company’s shop in Prague, but gradually worked his way up to UP’s chief designer. He not only himself designed certain furniture items but was also directly responsible for the composition of the product range and the promotion of products. He mainly deserves credit for the fact that the highest quality furniture possible could reach wider strata of customers via serial production, thus offering high-quality living for favorable prices – which also became the UP motto. The UP Enterprises gained fame not only in Czechoslovakia, but also in England and New York during that period. In the latter city, UP introduced their production in the framework of the World Furniture Exhibition. And although the company managed to survive the Second World War, the post-war nationalization dealt it a heavy blow and threw it to the mass production for the Russian and Mongolian markets, which went hand in hand with a considerable drop in quality. At present, the UP brand returns with the effort to revive the tradition of the Associated Arts and Crafts Enterprises as one of the most significant cabinetmakers in the Czech Republic.