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Czech architecture, or more preciselyarchitecture of theCzech Republic orarchitecture of Czechia, is a term covering many important historical and contemporary architectural movements inBohemia,Moravia, andSilesia. From its early beginnings to the present day, almost all historical styles are represented, including many monuments from various historical periods. Some of them areUNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Althoughlate Baroque in the Czech lands is mainly associated with the reign ofMaria Theresa (1740–1780), after her death, this style was more and more often replaced byNeoclassical architecture, and ultimately byEmpire style. The transition from Baroque to Neolassicism is announced by the reconstruction ofPrague Castle by the Viennese architectNicolo Pacassi. He andKilián Ignác Dientzenhofer were followed byIgnác Jan Nepomuk Palliardi, in whom the already high Baroque tradition is combined with Classicist decor.Antonín Haffenecker, another architect who went from Baroque to Classicism (Estates Theatre), is associated withPacassi andJohann Bernhard Fischer.
In the entireAustrian Empire, i.e. in the Czech lands, there were no suitable conditions for the equally successful development of classical architecture as inFrance orRussia. In the Czech Republic, it is difficult to find a building from the early Classicist period. The reason for the slow development was the ideals of the Enlightenment, which were more restrictive of the old than the new.
During Maria Theresa's reign, compulsory schooling was introduced, which clearly contributed to the education of the empire's population. Her son,Emperor Joseph II, initiated the so-calledJosephine reforms, during which hundreds of churches and monasteries were abolished throughout the Empire, entire orders were dissolved, and the abandoned buildings were transformed into offices, public hospitals or barracks. In Austria thebourgeoisie developed slowly, which was not strong enough to push through the changes and put an end tofeudalism because it feared the atrocities that took place inrevolutionary France. That's why classicism in the Czech lands was lagging behind and manifested itself sporadically in less important buildings. The evolution of Classicism from the Baroque period is quite evident, as figurative ornaments are gradually being abandoned and the richness of the ornamentation gives way to late Classicism buildings, which have been transformed into strict empire-building lines.
Examples might includeDuchcov Chateau,Karlova Koruna Chateau,Kynžvart Castle.
The period ofimperial style is mainly associated with theFirst French Empire under Napoleon I. Typical for Empire buildings are clean, regular shapes with minimal decoration, lines are straight to raw. The main feature of Empire architecture is a frequent use of characteristic columns and triangular facades of larger buildings.
The most important building in the Empire style isKačina Chotkov Castle, but also interesting are Fryštát (Lottyhaus) castle inKarviná, Boskovice, Pohansko (Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape) andKostelec nad Orlicí Castle. An interesting example of the transition from classicism to the Empire style is the new chateau inDačice.
The wave ofArt Nouveau at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was significant in Czech architecture. Typical are Art Nouveau buildings, especially as private villas, hotels or public buildings (town hall, schools, crematoria), as well as several churches or castle buildings.
The most important Czech architects of this period areAntonín Balšánek,Osvald Polívka,Josef Fanta,Jan Letzel,Alfons Mucha.
Important monuments includeMunicipal House,Vršovice Savings Bank Building,Prague station,Brno station,Villa Bílek,Šaloun Villa,Hotel Paris (Prague),Vinohrady Theatre,J. K. Tyl Theatre,City of Prague Museum.
Cubism appeared at the beginning of the 20th century as an avant-garde artistic movement based on completely new ideas. The term "Cubism" was first used by the French art criticLouis Vauxcelles in 1908.
The principle of Cubism is based on thespatial concept of a work of art, in which it captures objects not only from one angle but from several angles at once. The presented object has been distributed into basic geometric shapes (mainlycubes). Therefore, Cubism had to solve new problems of perspective and create new spatial relations between the objects. Three-dimensional objects created many views with unusual angles.
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Cubism directly or indirectly influenced the development of new artistic styles (futurism,constructivism, andexpressionism). However, unlike other movements, Cubism had no expression in literature. It manifested itself mainly in painting, sculpture, and partly also in the architecture of the formerCzechoslovakia, where it became an independent artistic style.
Cubism manifested itself primarily in the fine arts (Picasso,Braque,Cézanne), which strongly influenced some architects, but one cannot speak of pure cubism, because of course, they had to be primarily functional. The architects working under the influence of Cubism created characteristic objects that seem a bit strange. Cubist architecture in Czechoslovakia has been operating since around 1911. In the 1920s, it developed in Prague. Its most prominent representatives gathered in the Manes Fine Arts Association. They include paintersEmil Filla,Antonín Procházka andJosef Čapek, sculptorOtto Gutfreund, architectsJosef Gočár,Josef Chochol,Pavel Janák, and others.
The Cubist style is unique in the world and nowhere else has Cubist architecture reached such a boom as in the Czech Republic.
Architects:
Rondocubism is an independent local formula of Czech architecture. It developed as an independent branch of the Cubist style after World War I in the newly establishedCzechoslovakia, where it became the national style for a short time.
Rondocubism, as the name suggests, is characterized by the use of round shapes such as arches, circles, and ovals, which are based on Cubist foundations. These were to commemorate nationalSlavic traditions. Rondocubism was most evident in Prague, but also in other places, especially in the form of industrial architecture. The highest buildings in the world of Rondocubism are considered to beLegiobanka byJosef Gočár and Adria Palace byPavel Janák in Prague.
Rondo-Cubism has also manifested itself in art, for example in the paintings ofJosef Čapek and Objectdesign. Furniture created byBohumil Waigant and Josef Gočár is still preserved.
Rondocubism in architecture tried to contain characteristic Slavic elements. The use of national colors: red and white should also help. The shapes of rondocubist buildings are usually massive, cylindrical, round, similar to annual wooden rings.
The seat of theLegiobanka in Na Poříčí Street is a rondocubist monument from 1921-1923. Its facade was decorated byOtto Gutfreund andJan Štursa. The stained-glass windows in the hall and decorative bricks are the work ofFrantišek Kysel.
The Adria Palace, built in 1925 by Pavel Janák and German architect Josef Zasch from Prague, on Jungmann Square for the Italian insurance company Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtà. The sculptural decoration is the work ofJan Štursa and Karl Dvořák. In 1926, during a conference in Prague, when the French architectLe Corbusier saw the Adria Palace, he called it "a massive structure with anAssyrian appearance".
The Rondocubist furniture in the house on Kamenická Street inHolešovice is the work of Otakar Novotny.
FunctionalistVilla Tugendhat is one of the most famous examples of Czech architecture of the 20th century and is aUNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since the 1920s, architecture has been striving for functionalism, an architectural style that primarily applies the criteria of functionality, usability and practical purpose. This direction is guided by the motto "form follows function", which in practice manifests itself in simple, sometimes even austere lines.
The main representatives of this direction in the Czech lands were architectsJan Kotěra andJosef Gočár, as well as the prominentSlovenian architectJosip Plečnik. He was the author of theChurch of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Prague. Another important foreign architect working in Czechoslovakia wasLudwig Mies van der Rohe, author ofVilla Tugendhat.
Important monuments include:National Gallery Prague,Baťa's Skyscraper,Tomas Bata Memorial,Barrandov Terraces,Hus Congregational House,Agudas Achim Synagogue (Brno),Smíchov Synagogue.
In the 1950ssocialist realism (also called sorela) was required as an official style. Characteristic buildings in its spirit are the Jalta Hotel onWenceslas Square or thePoruba housing estate inOstrava. A specific branch of Sorela was the so-calledStalinist neoclassicism, which representsHotel International in Prague'sDejvice.
However, in the late 1950s, the new style, known as "Brussels", became popular in architecture (and of course in design), as it was presented atExpo 58 inBrussels. It was characterized by round shapes and glass facades. A typical building in the Brussels style was the Czech Expo pavilion (no longer existing) and the building of the Czech restaurant (currently inLetná Park, Prague). Other important buildings in the Brussels style are the Z pavilion in theexhibition center in Brno, theswimming pool in Podolí and therailway station inHavířov.
In the late 1960s, the Czech version ofbrutalism replaced the Brussels style. The projects ofVěra Machoninová and her husband Vladimír Machonín (residential community center in Prague, Hotel Thermal inKarlovy Vary,Kotva in Prague, the Czechoslovak embassy in Berlin) are particularly appreciated.
Other buildings include theCzechoslovak embassy in London (architectsJan Bočan, Jan Šrámek andKarel Štěpánský), theIntercontinental Hotel (Karel Bubeníček and Karel Filsak),Karel Prager buildings (formerFederal Assembly building, New Stage of theNational Theatre). However, the most valued building of that time was a transmitter and hotel onJeštěd, byKarel Hubáček.
TheDancing House of Frank Gehry and Vlado Miluň in Prague, which was initiated directly byVáclav Havel, is often referred to as a symbol ofpost-modern architecture.Jean Nouvel (Golden Angel in Prague'sSmichov) orRicardo Bofill were among the most important architects in Prague at that time.
Others include the project of transforming thesurroundings of the Masaryk station, which was prepared by thePritzker Prize winnerZaha Hadid. Among other projects, theNational Technical Library in Prague'sDejvice district received the greatest recognition. The widely-discussed design of the new, modern building of theNational Library by Neo-Futurist architectJan Kaplický, remained only on paper. Among the successful contemporary Czech architects isEva Jiřičná, who designed, for example, the Orangery at Prague Castle, Zlín Congress Centre and other buildings abroad.
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