Gong opened an exhibition mapping the buildings in Ostrava according to the designs of architect Pleskot

Ostrava - An exhibition mapping the buildings of Josef Pleskot, which were implemented in Ostrava, is on display from today at the Gong Gallery in Lower Vítkovice. CTK was informed today by the spokesperson of Lower Vítkovice, Eva Kijonkova. The exhibition will last until March next year.

"The Josef Pleskot Ostrava exhibition offers an unusual installation of projects, sketches, models, and photographs of completed buildings. It also includes significant works of art that depict the original Ostrava or relate to Pleskot's creative view of the world," she stated.

The entrepreneur, author of the vision for the industrial complex of Lower Vítkovice, and one of the curators of the exhibition, Jan Světlík, added that architecture and art are represented at the exhibition approximately evenly. "We begin with a reminiscence of the 19th century and the development of industrial Vítkovice. That's why we show historical images - the Vítkovice Ironworks through the eyes of Otto Botthagen, Vojtěch Doležil, Bedřich Augustin Tkaczyk, and Milan Dobeš, as well as a model created based on the then most modern ship of the Vítkovice naval fleet that brought iron ore to Ostrava," he said.

He mentioned that the exhibition further shifts towards 20th-century visual art. "Because, and this is something few people know, Josef Pleskot could have been a visual artist, but he chose architecture," he added. Visitors to Gong can also see photographs and models of what was realized in Ostrava according to Pleskot's projects. From Gong through Bolt Tower, Trojhalí, Heligonka to the World of Technology and smaller buildings. There are also designs that have not yet been realized.

Thanks to an extensive model, visitors have the opportunity to see the entire area around the Ostravice River, where one day Moravská Ostrava could connect with Lower Vítkovice and subsequently with Hrabová along the riverbank. "And not just the recently completed Pleskot Bridge. In Lower Vítkovice, the architect sees a city embedded in greenery in the future. A space that respects sustainable ways of living, community coexistence, and modern housing trends," Kijonkova stated.

Between the multifunctional hall Gong and the neighboring building of the former energy central U6, today the Small World of Technology U6, a temporary square named after Josef Pleskot was also created today at the opening of the exhibition. At the same time, Gong was assigned the house number 70, a reminder of this year's architectural life anniversary. The square will be visible in Ostrava, just like the exhibition in Gong, until mid-March 2023.