Ten centuries of European architecture & heritage
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...
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...
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...
The classical-style frieze above the entrance to this residential building in Prague’s Vinohrady district presents an idealized portrait of domestic life in communist Czechoslovakia. Typically for a work of socialist realism — the only approved...
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...
Thirty years before the foundation of the modern Olympic movement, the German-born art historian Miroslav Tyrš revived the ancient ideal of physical and spiritual improvement in the Czech lands. His brainchild, the Sokol (‘Falcon’) organization,...
In 1999, a statue of the British statesman and wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was unveiled by Margaret Thatcher in the square in Prague that has borne his name since the Velvet Revolution. Hunched and...
Vítkov Hill, due east of Prague’s historic centre, has always been an important strategic site. It was here in 1420 that Jan Žižka, scourge of the Holy Roman Empire and zealous warrior of the Hussite...
This impressive modernist villa was designed in 1928 by the celebrated architect Adolf Loos for the the family of civil engineer František Müller, co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company. A clean white cube set on...
