OD Center

The First Republic was not such an idyllic place for architects as it might seem to us today. Voices against bold functionalist initiatives were also heard here. As an example, we present the criticism from the left-leaning magazine Index against the excellently participated competition for the then tallest building in Europe:

The Baťa skyscraper in Brno was accepted too kindly as a "generous initiative" by the Czechoslovak economic conqueror and the building authority of the city of Brno. Yet it was clear from the beginning to anyone who has an understanding of modern urban principles and knows the location where it is being built that it is nonsense. Cramped between narrow streets, one of which is one of the main traffic arteries of the city, already today overwhelmed and unsatisfactory in terms of traffic, it poses a serious threat to transportation. If we imagine what its surroundings will look like when hundreds or thousands of employees pour out of it after work, what problems will arise for transportation, and if we further realize how it will endanger the surrounding area hygienically (by overshadowing), we see the entire urban nonsensicalness of this project. And this urbanist blunder was committed entirely without reason, as there are no substantive reasons why a building of such great height should stand in this location when a multi-story building would suffice entirely for the company's commercial needs. The whole issue was solely about the barnum-like advertisement of the company that "can afford" to build skyscrapers, even though it represents an outright urbanistic nonsense, violating the most basic principles of modern urbanism.
The Baťa shoe in Brno is somehow endangered. It is said that construction has been temporarily halted. Experts have found that the foundation is not sufficiently stable. The shoe will be shorter.