Ten centuries of European architecture & heritage
Architectural modernism embraces a number of widely-differing styles which nonetheless share an emphasis on function and construction. From the 1920s onwards, developments in materials such as pre-stressed concrete, steel and industrial glass led to a huge shift away from the decorative towards the miminal, as well as a fresh understanding of spatial composition.
Today’s Police Headquarters in Vinohrady (Prague 10) started life as the dispatching centre for the state energy provider České Energetické Závody (ČEZ). It was constructed between 1948 and 1952 according to a design by the...
The banks of the Vltava contain a rich heritage of industrial architecture, from water towers to breweries, from weirs to watermills. The island known since the 18th century as ‘Kampa’ (possibly from its use as...
Radio broadcasts in Czechoslovakia began on 18 May 1923, making the fledgling state only the second country in Europe after Britain to enjoy such a regular service. For the first two years, programmes were broadcast...
On the eastern slopes of Letná hill, overlooking the Vltava, this unusual modernist pavilion looks as if it has been teleported from some future time into its present location. In actual fact that’s not far...
On its plain white pedestal, the graceful ‘Dívka s holubicí’ (Girl with a Dove, 1979) by sculptor Jiří Kryštůfek is a strikingly elegant work of public art. The simplicity of the piece conceals the skilful...
Prague is a city full of stories of artificial human beings, from the Golem, a mud-man devised by the 16th century Rabbi Loew to protect the Jewish community, to the bizarrely mummified remains of Klement...
In 1887, a small group of Czech artists and writers came together to found the Mánes Society of Fine Arts. In the context of their country’s desire to break away from the Austro-Hungarian empire, ‘S.V.U....
In 1928, the city of Brno hosted the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Czechoslovakia. For the main pavilion, the design of Josef Kalous was selected: a V-shaped cathedral of reinforced concrete, its two naves terminating...
Predating Mies van der Rohe’s nearby Vila Tugendhat by two years, this house — commissioned by textile manufacturer Alfred Stiassni and his wife Hermine — was built to the design of local architect Ernst Wiesner...
The first trains passed through this northern suburb of Prague in 1850, but it was not until 1873 that a station was constructed to service the coal industry that had grown up in the loop...
