Slovak Radio

The Slovak Radio building in Bratislava is one of the most representative examples of the rise of Czechoslovak architectural and construction creativity during the 1960s and 1970s. The Bratislava "inverted pyramid," as it is commonly referred to, is a work whose generosity, cultivated architectural solution, as well as structural and technological excellence, transcend the boundaries of local production.
A long 22 years passed from the first projects to the completion of the extensive radio center's construction. The radio building itself was preceded by two rounds of competitions. The first took place in 1962, parallel to the competition for the design of the radio and television center in Prague. Unlike the Prague competition, which sought specific architectural and structural solutions for a "media" center, the aim of the Bratislava competition was primarily to select the right location within the city. Among several options for situating the building, the jury chose a location in the city center near today's Freedom Square and the intersection of Mýtna, Štefanovičová, and Fazulová streets, where architect Miloš Chorvát, architects Ďurkovič, Svetko, and Talaš, and architect Bárta proposed to place the radio complex. The reason for preferring this location over construction in the broader surroundings of the city (1) was "to utilize the intended investment for the reconstruction of the central area of the city and thus contribute to the completion of the urban-architectural image of the city." (2)
The jury's decision was influenced by the concept of the so-called Bratislava transverse axis, conceived by the significant Czech urbanist Emanuel Hruška. Hruška's vision of a representative urban class that would lead along the edge of the historic center from the main train station to the banks of the Danube actually began to be realized in this competition, as a year later a competition was announced for a specific plot of land with a detailed construction program that included not only recording studios and administrative spaces but also concert studios, "which require close contact with the audience." (3)
The competition jury, which included the award-winning expert on radio buildings, architect Tausenau, did not award a first prize. However, similarly to the first competition, the project by architect Miloš Chorvát placed second, who, in the spirit of contemporary trends, conceived the complex in three parts: a tower, a horizontal slab, and a sculptural, lens-shaped hall, similar to the one architect Dedeček was currently realizing at the Nitrian Agricultural University. The collective of architects Štefan Ďurkovič, Štefan Svetko, and Stanislav Talaš placed third, and according to the competition reporter Emanuel Hruška, they designed the radio in "stereometric-sculptural terms that subordinated its functional links." (4)
Hruška's critical characterization of the competition project awarded third place also anticipated the path the project's further development would take. The interest of the investor in building an unusual work is evidenced by the fact that the realization of the project was entrusted not to the highest awarded work but to the competitors from the third place. Since the end of the competition, not only did the team of architects change, with Barnabáš Kissling replacing Stanislav Talaš, but the design itself changed as they sought to avoid the "flat-tower" concept with which the highest award recipient, architect Chorvát, worked in the competition. As architect Svetko recalled, "We kept correcting the design due to the need for an expressive statement. This building was not supposed to look like just any other institution." (5) In 1969, the authors suddenly changed the project fundamentally, transforming the original triangular floor plans of the administration and concert hall into a sculptural form of the inverted pyramid.
It is uncertain whether the architects drew inspiration for the radio's shape from the Canadian pavilion at Expo in Montreal in 1967, yet Maria Topolčanská wrote "Bratislava, through this transfer of architecture 'the paradox of the inverted pyramid,' became a laboratory of experiments that remained only signs, theories, or representations at architectural exhibitions even in a global context." (6)
Designing and realizing such a complicated building required great effort, with specialists from various fields involved. Engineer Bustin from the Vítkovice Ironworks led the entire project structurally and statically and introduced several new experimental solutions. The radio center consists of two parts: a ground structure housing recording studios and concert halls. This part is logically isolated from its surroundings by a specially designed soundproof wall without openings to ensure that the surrounding traffic does not affect the work at the radio station; besides the special wall, the unique project of this part of the building is the large concert studio with a volume of 12,000 m³, which is entirely suspended and cushioned within a reinforced concrete body.
The pyramid's mass is suspended from a central reinforced concrete core and serves primarily administrative purposes. An important question was whether it would be possible to create sufficiently suitable lighting conditions in offices with slanted walls. Experimental research at the Slovak Academy of Sciences demonstrated adequate lighting, and anyone who has ever been inside this generous structure can confirm these results. The impressive open space in the center of the inverted pyramid is undoubtedly one of the most valuable modern interiors in Bratislava and, I dare say, Czechoslovakia. Despite this, voices in the public sphere continue to call for the sale and reconstruction of this energy-intensive sustainable architecture. Fortunately, such voices are diminishing in favor of those advocating for its protection as an architectural monument.

Notes:
1) There was also deliberation regarding the Ružinov area, where the construction of a housing estate was just beginning, or Mlynská dolina, where the Slovak Television complex was ultimately constructed.
2) ZALČÍK, Tibor: Competition for the placement of the Czechoslovak Radio building in Bratislava. Projekt 5, 1963, no. 3, p. 61.
3) HRUŠKA, Emanuel: Competition for the Czechoslovak Radio building in Bratislava. Projekt 6, 1964, no. 3, p. 62.
4) HRUŠKA, Emanuel: Competition for the Czechoslovak Radio building in Bratislava. Projekt 6, 1964, no. 3, p. 64
5) Slovenská rozhlas – the story of a disposable building, May 9, 2005, Hospodárske noviny
6) TOPOLČANSKÁ, Maria: Slovak Radio in Bratislava. Architecture & Urbanism 42, 2008, no. 3 – 4, p. 223

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Literature:
ZALČÍK, Tibor: Competition for the placement of the Czechoslovak Radio building in Bratislava. Projekt 5, 1963, no. 3, pp. 57 – 62.
HRUŠKA, Emanuel: Competition for the Czechoslovak Radio building in Bratislava. Projekt 6, 1964, no. 3, pp. 62 – 66.
SVETKO, Štefan: Bratislava Radio Center. Projekt 12, 1970, no. 9, pp. 401 – 408.
LÝSEK, Lumír: Building of Czechoslovak Radio in Bratislava. Architecture of the CSR 1985, no. 9, pp. 391 – 396.
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architecture of Slovakia in the 20th Century. Bratislava, Slovart 2002, 512 pp.
TOPOLČANSKÁ, Maria: Identity Game: Czech and Slovak architecture magazines as travelogues. Architectural Design 76, 2006, no. 181 (May – June 2006), p. 28.
TOPOLČANSKÁ, Maria: Slovak Radio in Bratislava. Architecture & Urbanism 42, 2008, no. 3 – 4, pp. 216 – 224.
TOPOLČANSKÁ, Maria: Slovak Radio in Bratislava: between techno-utopia and dystopia, pp. 206 – 218, in: Modern and/or Totalitarian in 20th Century Slovak Architecture, Bratislava, Slovart 2013

Research for this article was supported by the Research and Development Agency based on contract no. APVV-0375-10.