The refurbished SNG (source: Sme - Jozef Jakubčo)
Recently, the French architecture magazine d'a published an issue dedicated to Slovak architecture curated by Natália Peťková, a Slovak architect working in Paris.
Her goal for the extensive edition was to show how architects of the "young country", as the French view Slovakia, deal with the tempestuous history of the region and respond to new challenges.
In addition to a number of theoretical articles explaining the context, the issue also shows in great detail 13 structures in which certain tendencies in contemporary Slovak architecture can be observed.
Five of the selected structures are located in Bratislava. In addition to the reconstruction of the Slovak National Gallery, the restoration of which has already received international recognition, the French were also interested in the transformation of the Družba fountain on Námestie Slobody (Freedom) Square, offering a completely new view of this public space.
The issue d'a dedicated to the Slovak architecture. (source: Katarína Jakubjaková)
Slovak context 101
d'a magazine is among the three most important French periodicals focused on architecture. Although often covering architecture outside of France, the magazine is mostly concerned with its neighbours Belgium, Switzerland and Spain.
"I came up with the idea of publishing an issue about Slovak architecture," says Natália Peťková, a regular contributor. The editor-in-chief gave her "carte blanche"; she could cover the topic at her own discretion.
She herself observes Slovak architecture mostly from afar. "I learned about many things from publications, that's why I approached several well-known theorists," she explains. "That was before I personally met the architects and visited the structures."
One of them is architecture theorist Henrieta Moravčíková, who wrote a piece on Friedrich Weinwurm, a prominent architect of the first half of the 20th century. "His troubled fate is linked to the region's history, while the modern Central European avant-garde is quite unknown to the French except for its main protagonists, such as Adolf Loos and Otto Wagner, and their work in Vienna," explains Peťková.
