The dissertation explores the history and activities of the Brno-located Town and Country Planning Department of The Research Institute for Building and Architecture (RIBA) since its foundation in 1954 until its abolishment in 1994. As a part of the department functioning, a description of its main research tasks and publications, which had played an essential part while formulating theory and methodology of urban planning after the 2nd World War in Czechoslovakia, are introduced. Special attention is paid to tasks and publications whose authors and research workers applied interdisciplinary approaches and – in spite of the prevailing totalitarian regime – managed to apply their experience acquired abroad to produce highly influential works such as The Principles and Rules of Spatial Planning. Another objective of the dissertation is the creation of a complex bibliography of texts that were produced by the department (books, reports on the outcomes of research tasks that had been explored at the Town and Country Planning Department and that were released internally as handbooks serving research workers of the institute and other institutions focusing on building and architecture). Depictions of the Brno department of RIBA from the perspective of two of its significant representatives who have outlived the institution they had witnessed to be founded and to the functioning of which they had significantly contributed, become a key part of the text: Ing. arch. Vladimír Matoušek, CSc., the second head of the Town and Country Planning Department of RIBA and Ing. arch. Dušan Riedl, CSc., a theoretician of architecture and urban planning and a top expert on Czech national herritage. As the topic has not yet been subjected to scholarly research, the main objective of the work is to create the very first complex text on the Brno department of RIBA and its activities. The circumstances surrounding the constitution of RIBA in the context of other similarly functioning research institutes are pursued with a special focus on the fields of building, architecture and urban planning as well as legislative embedding of its foundation and functioning, its organization structure, staff, definition of taskmasters and the way the tasks were approached, relations to other institutions in the field, publishing activities and transfer of theoretical research outcomes to practice. The text also deals with the state of present-day research of architecture and urban planning. Archive material and publications released by the institute represent a predominant source of information about RIBA activities. They are now stored at the archive of ABF Foundation in Prague (the foundation has been administering both the archive and library of the Prague department of RIBA since its abolishment), at the library of The Institute for Spatial Development in Brno (the institute administers the library of the former Brno department) and at the Moravian Land Archive in Brno. Both of the archives have been thoroughly researched by the author. Critical reflections upon the urban-planning department of RIBA occurring in contemporary publications and periodicals are another important source of information which help to specify the character of its activities (recent literature mentions RIBA scarcely, a complex evaluation is still missing). Oral history reported by former employees of RIBA, who had contributed to the first-rate quality of its research activities.

The thesis has been written on the basis of main architectural concepts and their application in real life within a historical context investigation. Main architectural concepts are represented in a harmony of architectural composition that deals with relations among form, structure and space in the unique art work. Genius loci play very important role in the architectural creation - it represents a special and extra-ordinary urban locality and its architectural value in the historical, geographical and cultural context. The origin of Ostravice village within the historical frame concept of Moravia domain is the topic of this thesis. Other historical documents gave information about Bruneswerde as the Brno Castle. That means Brno Castle had to be founded not in Brno (as it has been consid-ered for many years) but it was located in Beskydy at Ostravice. The sacred city – Civitas Dei had been located in Bruneswerde region in early ages as the centre of European culture, education and spiritual life. Civitas Dei – divine Jerusalem in the transcription of St. Augustine's book De civitate Dei – is not only glorification of God and religious fantasy. It is also one of significant clues for recognition of historical architecture. The depiction of unknown settlement from the book of unde-fined origin is a superb testimony about extinct architectural works. They are legible from cadastral maps. Brno Castle - residence of nobility and power served shelter to St. Vojtěch, St. Prokop, St. Václav and St. Ludmila as it is obvious for the mentioned picture. Three major temples, three com-position axes symbolized by three towers on coins are in analogical relation to Brno triangle of four saints - the Saint family of Brno temples. Powerful ambitions of Brno City principals and clergy are inscribed into the urban structure in the way of composition relations which are legible to them who devoted themselves to the mystery of harmony. The absence of historical continuity affects personal attitudes and also identity of the whole community. The architecture truly reflects the past state of polis and it is eloquent even after its death. The architectural composition relations influence the natural environment for long time, longer than the architectural work existence. The geometric order of Renaissance Brno existence has not been in attention of architects so far. The features were discovered in characteristic paintings by Albrecht Durer. They are evidently secret works of the genius. A meaningful collaborator and follower in the extensive project was also his friend Jan Čert from Brno and lately from Vienna. His noble genealogy played a significant role in history of Silesia and Moravia for centuries. It is tendency to consider him as Austrian or even German architect. It is because of the fact that the genealogy tree of his noble family had roots in Moravia. It is supposed that Durer with Jan Čert´s support created the extraordinarily monumental architectural and urban works in Brno. A remarkable consensus in the urban composition of two squares and transition of traditional urban structure of Ostravice Civitas Dei into the modern Brno is also confirmed due to the identification of noble creators and owners, who were at the foundation, transformation and extinction of elements of the Moravian urban structure.