Dramatic mountain viewpoint series by Mjölk Architects celebrates Czech nature

Four mountain viewpoint structures, high above the town of Rokytnice in the Czech Republic, provide spectacular platforms from which to take in the densely forested slopes and valley below. The sentinels stand watch on the Stráž mountain, or Strážník, once a regional look-out for those tasked with detecting approaching enemy forces.

A family of four mountain viewpoint structures

The four new guard towers have a thankfully peaceful brief. Designed by Jan Mach and Jan Vondrák’s studio Mjölk (also see the studio’s glass cabin project), with input from Pavlína Müllerová, the structures have been shaped to symbolise four forms from Rokytnice’s coat of arms, each in turn representing the four villages that came together to originally form the town: the Fox, the Bear, the Sheep, and the Miner.

The project’s origins date back to 2014 when the studio built some stopping points along the mountain trails. Originally, the municipality wanted a ‘classic lookout tower’, but this was eventually adapted into four steel structures strung along a trail following the mountain ridge. Each steel form is made up of a kit of parts that could be transported up the mountain and assembled without the use of heavy machinery.

Deep steel anchors, drilled 8m into the rock, keep the four lookout points in place. They share the same architectural details, from the oak cladding panels to the black-painted steel handrails and stainless-steel mesh guardrails.

Each structure visually evokes its namesake. The Miner is perhaps the most dramatic, a towering presence that’s reached by traversing a footbridge. Unsurprisingly, the name references the region’s mining past, as well as being the symbol of the village of Rokytno. Overlooking the Jizera valley, The Miner is like a figure standing alone above the landscape.

The Fox is cantilevered out across a ridge, sat atop a rocky outcrop with a spectacular view to the town below. The symbol of the village of Františkov, the structure represents the animal’s long ‘body’, with a big tail that sticks out into the valley.

The Sheep is set deep in the woods, as if it has ‘wandered onto the Stráž from the meadows of Horní Rokytnice’, You’ll encounter this structure on the route to The Miner. Raised up on four legs and accessed from a central ladder, the platform takes you up into the trees.

The Bear is more robust, tucked away in the woods above a rocky outcrop, and representing the village of Dolní Rokytnice. A hefty structure with solid, ursine legs, it makes an excellent spot from which to observe the local wildlife.

mjolk.cz