The architect Aulický wrote a book about the Žižkov Tower

Prague – The book about his probably most significant work – the Žižkov Tower – was written by architect Václav Aulický. In the pages of the book Žižkov Tower, readers will learn about the history of the tower and television broadcasting, as well as the obstacles and controversies that accompanied the construction of the transmitter. This was stated today at the book launch in the Žižkov transmitter by the publisher Eva Kaiserová. The Žižkov Tower is Aulický's most famous work, which has recently been discussed mainly in connection with the demolition of his other building, the Prague Transgas.

"I am a very famous architect, there is no other architect like me in the Czech Republic; I have already had two buildings demolished," Aulický joked today at the launch. "It's literally just a few days since we launched a book about Transgas, and I just want to say that I hope this book here today does not mean that this is the third demolition," he continued. He hopes that the Žižkov Tower will remain standing in the future, even under the assumption that it might become "just" a viewing tower.

According to co-author Jakub Potůček, the book is "the Žižkov story and the story of television broadcasting." It was published in a small edition of 500 copies and is available at Jonathan Livingston Publishing or at the Faculty of Architecture of Czech Technical University.

The Žižkov transmitter was built between 1985 and 1992 according to the design of architects Aulický and statics Jiří Kozák and Alex Bém. According to some foreign websites, the 216-meter high tower is among the ugliest buildings in the world. The transmitter stands in Mahlerovy sady at the border of Žižkov and Vinohrady, on the site of an old Jewish cemetery. The structure consists of three steel tubes that support a total of nine cabins. The broadcasting equipment is located on the upper floor. The entire building weighs 12,000 tons.

Aulický is a representative of so-called high-tech architecture. He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at CTU in Prague. In addition to the television transmitter in Žižkov, he is the author of the television transmitter in Ostrava-Hošťálkovice and the now-demolished telephone exchange in Dejvice. He is also a co-author of the demolished Transgas. The complex of the former Gas Central Dispatching and the Ministry of Fuel and Energy stood a short distance from Wenceslas Square. The plan to demolish it sparked debates about the architecture of the socialist era, which has its supporters and critics.