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Current AffairsNational Library to have a new building by Kaplicky
Prague is famous for its mix of architectural styles, and you can sometimes
meet centuries of different architecture in just one street. The city is
not particularly well-known for modern architecture - but that should
change in a few years, with the completion of an extremely unusual
building by the Czech-born, London-based architect Jan Kaplicky. More
Current AffairsZizkov TV Tower celebrates its 15th anniversary
One of the most controversial buildings in Prague, the futuristic Zizkov TV
Tower, is this week celebrating its 15th anniversary. Long before that
date, many people in Prague opposed the idea of such a tall and
out-of-place building being erected in a largely residential area. But 15
years later, it now seems that Praguers are slowly but surely getting used
to it.
More
One on OneArchitectural historian Zdenek Lukes - on Prague Castle, the Communists'atomic bunker and the Rolling Stones
In today's One on One Jan's guest is Zdenek Lukes, one of the country's
most respected architectural historians, employed at the Office of the
President's heritage section overseeing Prague Castle. Mr Lukes first
began working there in 1990 and in our interview recalls changes that he's
seen, the fate of a secret atomic bunker, and a famous visit by the
"world's greatest rock n' roll band". Jan began by asking him
first what coming to the Castle was like. More
Czech ScienceOld Prague to come to life in 3D computer model
Looking at old photos of quaint parts of downtown Prague that were
demolished at the turn of the 19th century to make way for fashionable
apartment blocks, one easily gets nostalgic. But thanks to modern
technologies, one day soon it will be possible to walk through the streets
and lanes of the old Jewish quarter of Prague - but of course, only in
virtual reality.
More
PanoramaDaniela Hammer-Tugendhat: our Villa was stolen and now has to be returned
The Villa Tugendhat, a functionalist family home designed by Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe, is the Czech Republic's only 20th century UNESCO site. The
city of Brno is considering whether or not to return the valuable
architectural treasure to the children of the original owners. The
Tugendhat family, who are Jewish, lost possession of the house in the late
1930s, after only eight years living there.
More
ArtsExhibition & detailed "guidebook" highlight Cubist architecture
The Czech Republic has many claims to fame but one of its greatest and most
curious regarding the arts is the country's unique history of Cubist
architecture, celebrated in an exhibition and recent new book named
"Czech Architectural Cubism". Both book and exhibit provide a
comprehensive and fascinating overview of the brief periods before and
after World War I, which saw notable Czech architects inspired by Cubist
principles. In fact, Czech architects were the first and only ones in the
world to ever design original Cubist buildings. A look at their legacy in
today's Arts. More
Current AffairsMucha's masterpiece may be in Prague by 2008
The Art Nouveau "Slav Epic" is considered the magnum opus of the
artist Alfons Mucha. But for decades the paintings have been housed
"temporarily" in a chateau in a small Moravian village which is
difficult to reach. The city of Prague has long wished to build a home for
the paintings, and a spokesman now says construction of a permanent gallery
could start in a little more than a year.
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SpotlightProstejov's enchanting Art Nouveau house of culture
The house of culture in the Moravian town of Prostejov is one of the
country's best examples of the art nouveau style. Built by the famous
architect Jan Kotera, it celebrates its 99th birthday this Friday. Dita
Asiedu takes a tour around the newly renovated structure with the house of
culture director Alena Spurna:
More
Letter from PragueFarewell Vinohrady
There were the émigrés coming back, and us colonists of the early 1990s,
and there was Vinohrady, one of those magical districts of Prague. As it
was then. Vinohrady rises above the Old and New Towns. Its name simply
means The Vineyards, and once its slopes were covered with Royal vines -
appropriately facing the Castle crowning the hill on the other side of the
river. The Prussians bombarded from here in the 1750s, proving once and for
all that artillery had rendered the town walls redundant. Soon after they
were demolished and Prague started to move up the hill, and by the later
nineteenth century Vinohrady was being developed.
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