Post-war architecture shedding communist stigma

Architecture from all periods deserves to be preserved, says Vladimír Brož, but especially what is left in the Czech Republic and Slovakia from the countries’ decades under communism.

Brož, who went from having a personal, if enthusiastic, interest in post-war Czechoslovak architecture to being one of its greatest champions, says time is running out to save the best buildings from the communist period.

And he fears that architecture from 1958 – the year then Czechoslovakia’s exhibition pavilion at the word exhibition Expo in Brussels made international headlines – to 1989 when the country’s totalitarian regime fell, may not be granted proper heritage protection either in the Czech Republic or Slovakia before it completely shakes off the stigma of the ideology it was linked to.

He points out that some iconic buildings from those decades have been already pulled down, including the Hotel Praha in Prague and the Istropolis cultural and congress centre in Bratislava.

“If we as a society fail to preserve at least what is left of the quality buildings from the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, part of our history and cultural memory will be erased once and for all,” says Brož, who is also a rapper and prominent figure in the Czech hip-hop scene and also known as Vladimir 518.

The Slovak Spectator spoke with Brož about architecture in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for the opening of his project, ‘Architecture 58-89. The Dramatic Story of Czech Post-War Civil Engineering’, at the Slovak National Gallery.

Why does the architecture from between 1958 and 1989 deserve protection? What’s special about it?

Architecture from all periods deserves to be preserved. Even socialist realism (Sorela), which we can be very critical of because it is Stalinistic architecture, should be protected because it’s a legacy of those times, an imprint of them. And the more time that passes since the era, the more important its material aspect becomes. Meanwhile, the ideology is gradually washing out of this architecture. Only buildings remain.

There is no doubt that architecture after socialist realism should be preserved because it is a story of the fight for international context, freedom and future. Actually, the architecture that was created between 1958 and 1989 was very futuristic, brave and experimental. Its incredible quality is in that very courage and innovativeness. Today’s architecture is much more tied up. One of the typical characteristics for the period between 1958 and 1989, among others, was that formally there were no limits. The contracting authority was the state and while there were some limits in terms of budget and technology, formally it was possible to experiment. The moment somebody decided to try to put a pyramid upside down, as was done with the Slovak Radio building in Bratislava, it just happened. Buildings constructed during this period are huge achievements. There was a lot of energy, enthusiasm and money invested in them and it would be a shame to lose them.