Architekt Havlíček was posthumously named an honorary citizen of Kladno

Kladno - Architect Josef Havlíček, who significantly influenced the appearance of the Kladno district of Rozdělov, has been posthumously awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of Kladno. This was decided by Kladno city councilors on Monday. Havlíček was the chief architect involved in the design of the six tower blocks of the Rozdělov housing estate in the 1950s, as well as the Siréna department store.

"Thanks primarily to his efforts, reputation, and argumentative skills, a residential complex emerged in Kladno during the 1940s to 1960s that was completely distinct from the contemporary realizations," stated Kladno Mayor Dan Jiránek (ODS).

Havlíček was the leader of a team of architects who developed the zoning plan for the Vítězného února Housing Estate in the Rozdělov district, now known as the Havlíček Housing Estate. As the chief architect, he was involved in the design of six thirteen-story buildings, as well as the Siréna department store, an experimental triplex on Jan Masaryk Square, residential buildings with a north-south orientation, and inserted commercial-residential duplexes.

Havlíček also engaged in furniture design, painting, and sculpture. "Throughout his life, he maintained contacts with the artistic world, which was partly connected to the personality of his wife, sculptor Marta Jirásková. He was open to collaboration with artists who were marginalized by the communist regime during times of unfreedom,” added Zdeněk Slepička, Secretary of the Kladno City Hall. Some of these artists were commissioned by Havlíček to create house signs for the Kladno tower buildings, resulting in an extraordinary collection of works.

In the first of the tower buildings, work is now concluding on the first phase of the emerging Museum of Tower Buildings, which will include an entrance hall, an exhibition in the first basement, a period shelter, and a model apartment on the sixth floor. "In the second phase, a visitor center should be established next year, and later, possibly an observation deck on the roof,” Slepička added. The Kladno association Halda is also involved in the creation of the museum.

Havlíček (1899-1961) studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague and at the Academy of Art. After his first realizations of residential buildings, he gained significant attention not only from the professional public with his competition design for bridging the Nusle Valley in 1927. In his vision, residential buildings were to serve as the pillars of the bridge. His fame was cemented by the completion of the General Pension Institute in Prague’s Žižkov, which he designed together with Karel Honzík. After World War II, he was involved, for example, in the design of the housing estate in Záluží near Most.