Watchtower on Závist
About the lookout tower at Závist
The building is located on the edge of the former acropolis of the Celtic oppidum on the Hradiště hill, which also extended onto the opposite hill of Šance, making it the largest oppidum in Bohemia. The site is a popular destination for tourists from nearby Prague. The acropolis was completely explored by archaeologists in the past, down to the bedrock, and was then covered with soil again. As a result, the site lost much of its original attractiveness. The lookout tower should reverse this unfavorable situation.
This place benefits from a rational, simple structure with nothing extra. The three-sided supporting structure of the lookout tower is made up of pressure-treated larch logs joined with steel joints. The columns are arranged in a triangle with sides of 4m and interconnected with logs and steel ties to ensure the entire structure functions as a trussed, 28-meter-high beam. This is complemented by "sails" with steel ties, stabilizing the tower against wind forces.
In the center of the tower hangs a spiral oak staircase, and above the wooden structure rises a mast equipped with a flag and a signal light.
To prolong the lifespan of the structure, the horizontal elements are covered with metal sheets.
The lookout tower structurally builds upon a number of our towers designed from wooden logs with a typical spiral staircase. The whole world is seeking a way to better harmonize with nature, minimize carbon footprints, and emerge from the deep crisis that architecture is experiencing. This building is our response to many of the questions mentioned.
About towers in general
The Czech Republic is a beautiful country, and one could say it is also a land of towers. It is very interesting; Czechs simply love towers. I am also Czech, and I must say that in this regard, I perfectly understand the people in the Czech Republic. It is not so obvious; for example, in France, towers are hardly ever built. There are other countries where few towers are constructed. Occasionally, there may be a viewpoint on a rock, but having 360 towers, as we do, must have some special reason. There are as many lookout towers as there are days in a year, and they keep increasing. I feel that there is a certain magic in lookout towers. This magic is very understandable. Towers usually stand in beautiful elevated places, which gives them their first wave of power. Designing a lookout tower is a beautiful task, and we architects do it with immense enthusiasm, which is the second wave of energy involved. But we must have a good day for it to succeed. Unfortunately, there are also unattractive towers. But the most important thing is that people who come to the lookout tower feel the urge to climb it; it is the destination of their journey, and the desire to look around the landscape perhaps replaces old pagan rituals, a sort of special connection to the earth. We, the nation of nonbelievers, and I relate to Czechs in this, reach a different dimension of life at the top of the lookout tower. Suddenly we feel that we are part of a vast landscape, we feel the gusts of freedom, the gusts of courage, and these are things that are very rare in the Czech Republic. A classic would say – as rare as saffron. And when we, as architects, draw and build lookout towers, it is not work; it is a service, as Karel Čapek might put it. And we hope this service is visible in these buildings. It is a state of full strength and maximum concentration, where one creates a piece of work with joy because one feels that the tower will become part of a beautiful piece of land. That it is worth being here, that we are here and will be for a long time, and essentially, it is something where we acknowledge that despite all possible difficulties and unfriendliness, we really love this country.
Perhaps one more addition: a special group among towers is wooden towers. Wooden towers are not eternal. Wooden towers will eventually fade away, and in that, they resemble us. They resemble us in their material because wood is a part of nature just as we are part of it, and that is why I believe we have a special, almost tender relationship with wooden towers. The moment they fade away, people will have two options: either they will like it to the extent that they will build a copy of it, or they will say, we can build an even better tower and construct something more beautiful in its place. So we wish future creators kind investors, courage, and the desire to build good towers.
The building is located on the edge of the former acropolis of the Celtic oppidum on the Hradiště hill, which also extended onto the opposite hill of Šance, making it the largest oppidum in Bohemia. The site is a popular destination for tourists from nearby Prague. The acropolis was completely explored by archaeologists in the past, down to the bedrock, and was then covered with soil again. As a result, the site lost much of its original attractiveness. The lookout tower should reverse this unfavorable situation.
This place benefits from a rational, simple structure with nothing extra. The three-sided supporting structure of the lookout tower is made up of pressure-treated larch logs joined with steel joints. The columns are arranged in a triangle with sides of 4m and interconnected with logs and steel ties to ensure the entire structure functions as a trussed, 28-meter-high beam. This is complemented by "sails" with steel ties, stabilizing the tower against wind forces.
In the center of the tower hangs a spiral oak staircase, and above the wooden structure rises a mast equipped with a flag and a signal light.
To prolong the lifespan of the structure, the horizontal elements are covered with metal sheets.
The lookout tower structurally builds upon a number of our towers designed from wooden logs with a typical spiral staircase. The whole world is seeking a way to better harmonize with nature, minimize carbon footprints, and emerge from the deep crisis that architecture is experiencing. This building is our response to many of the questions mentioned.
About towers in general
The Czech Republic is a beautiful country, and one could say it is also a land of towers. It is very interesting; Czechs simply love towers. I am also Czech, and I must say that in this regard, I perfectly understand the people in the Czech Republic. It is not so obvious; for example, in France, towers are hardly ever built. There are other countries where few towers are constructed. Occasionally, there may be a viewpoint on a rock, but having 360 towers, as we do, must have some special reason. There are as many lookout towers as there are days in a year, and they keep increasing. I feel that there is a certain magic in lookout towers. This magic is very understandable. Towers usually stand in beautiful elevated places, which gives them their first wave of power. Designing a lookout tower is a beautiful task, and we architects do it with immense enthusiasm, which is the second wave of energy involved. But we must have a good day for it to succeed. Unfortunately, there are also unattractive towers. But the most important thing is that people who come to the lookout tower feel the urge to climb it; it is the destination of their journey, and the desire to look around the landscape perhaps replaces old pagan rituals, a sort of special connection to the earth. We, the nation of nonbelievers, and I relate to Czechs in this, reach a different dimension of life at the top of the lookout tower. Suddenly we feel that we are part of a vast landscape, we feel the gusts of freedom, the gusts of courage, and these are things that are very rare in the Czech Republic. A classic would say – as rare as saffron. And when we, as architects, draw and build lookout towers, it is not work; it is a service, as Karel Čapek might put it. And we hope this service is visible in these buildings. It is a state of full strength and maximum concentration, where one creates a piece of work with joy because one feels that the tower will become part of a beautiful piece of land. That it is worth being here, that we are here and will be for a long time, and essentially, it is something where we acknowledge that despite all possible difficulties and unfriendliness, we really love this country.
Perhaps one more addition: a special group among towers is wooden towers. Wooden towers are not eternal. Wooden towers will eventually fade away, and in that, they resemble us. They resemble us in their material because wood is a part of nature just as we are part of it, and that is why I believe we have a special, almost tender relationship with wooden towers. The moment they fade away, people will have two options: either they will like it to the extent that they will build a copy of it, or they will say, we can build an even better tower and construct something more beautiful in its place. So we wish future creators kind investors, courage, and the desire to build good towers.
Martin Rajniš
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
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Michal Fišer
06.06.22 12:14
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