Festival Open House will open 80 buildings to the public

Prague – A festival called Open House will showcase dozens of buildings ranging from those that are hundreds of years old and awaiting new purposes to those that have been recently completed and are designed to be environmentally friendly and beneficial to their inhabitants. People can visit places that are usually inaccessible, either because they are completely closed off or serve as company offices. In publicly accessible buildings, visitors will receive explanations that can help them appreciate the familiar structures more closely.

These include buildings such as train stations, universities, banks, or academic institutions. Some government buildings will also be open, such as the Liechtenstein Palace or the residence of the Mayor of Prague.

Prague will present several buildings owned by the city that have long been seeking new uses. Visitors can, for example, explore the Desfours Palace in Florenc. Inside the palace are artistically and craft-wise valuable interiors. Similarly, the Renaissance House of the Pages of the Lords of Martinic in Hradčany is protected as a historical monument. The famous Baroque architect Carlo Lurago contributed to its reconstruction. Its last residents were city officials, who left in 2008, and since then it has been vacant.

For more than ten years, a block of historically valuable houses near the Old Town Square, known as the Town Hall Houses, has also been empty. The buildings "U Zlatého rohu" and "U Minuty" saw the opening of the Prague Creative Center in 2017, and the new political representation of the Prague city council promises to revitalize the remaining spaces.

A specific building managed by the city is the Great Strahov Stadium, which currently has no use. This stadium, with the largest area in the world, is a cultural monument. The building, with a capacity of 250,000 seats, was opened in 1926. Since the fall of communism, the enormous structure has not been used and has fallen into disrepair, with the stands reaching a critical condition. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were tendencies to demolish the stadium, which were later abandoned. Seven football fields have been set up on the stadium's grounds. In 2014, complicated ownership issues were resolved, and the stadium was transferred to the city, which now wants to develop a zoning study for the use of the entire area.

> http://openhousepraha.cz