Author Palace of Culture: The building needs a new function

Prague - One of the authors of the Prague Congress Center (KCP), architect Jaroslav Trávníček, is enthusiastic about the idea of using the building for the needs of the National Library. According to him, the structure, which was built as the Palace of Culture in the early 1980s, needs a new function. The architect told ČTK today that one of the largest steel structures in Prague allows for easy changes in the layout of the building, and the facility also has enormous space - twice as large as Jan Kaplický's proposal.
The idea to use the building, which has been viewed controversially since its inception, came from the director of the National Gallery in Prague, Milan Knížák. "As an architect, I am excited," Trávníček said, adding that in his opinion, his colleagues Josef Karlík and Ivan Lejčar, as well as the project's chief architect Jaroslav Mayer, would also be supportive of the idea.
According to KCP director Michal Kárníka, however, the conversion of the building into a library would be very demanding in construction terms, or rather impossible. "It is a functioning object that brings in money. The conversion to a library would be uneconomical," Kárník told ČTK. He stated that just removing the facade would cost around one billion crowns. Moreover, renovation is always more expensive than building a new one, he added.
Knížák, however, speaks unfavorably about the current state of the building. "As a visual artist, I have comments about the architectural solution, but the idea of reconversion, that is, simultaneous reconstruction and change of function, is systemic. Similar approaches are taken with these buildings abroad," the architect said. They cannot do without a change in function. "The Palace of Culture was not a socialist invention; its prototype was the congress center in Hamburg, which has also undergone reconversion," he noted.
The director of the National Library, Vlastimil Ježek, reminds that the search for a new building for the library was not the outcome of the discussions of the team established by the Prague mayor. "It is a distraction from the fact that some process has taken place here," Ježek told ČTK. He recalls the international competition and the government decree that anticipates the construction of a new building.
Expert groups of the team deliberated for months, and two of them recommended building the library in Letná based on Jan Kaplický's winning proposal; however, the group of lawyers did not reach a common conclusion, which is why the Ministry of Culture turned to the antimonopoly office. Prague and the state are awaiting its verdict, although its chairman, Martin Pecina, repeatedly stated that no negotiations regarding the library are being conducted.
According to Trávníček, the conversion of the Congress Center should not be demanding - the building is held up by an exceptionally large steel structure. "We had a span of the structure of nine by nine meters, and there is zero demolition; everything in between is infill masonry," he says. A similar approach was taken during the renovation of the Juliš hotel by Pavel Janák at Wenceslas Square in Prague, in which he participated. The modern buildings had a load-bearing structure, and everything in between is removable. "Functionalism meant that the building adapted to the function," Trávníček recalls.
If a new function for the Congress Center is not found, according to him, the building will continue to deteriorate, and Prague will have to continue to subsidize it. He also points out that the large volume of the object - approximately 840,000 cubic meters of enclosed space, twice as much as Jan Kaplický's proposal - speaks in favor of its conversion into a library. "There is also a huge reserve, and everything can be above ground," referring to Kaplický's discussed placement of part of the collections underground.
According to Trávníček, converting the building into a library would allow Prague to kill two birds with one stone. The construction of the Palace of Culture cost 1.7 billion crowns. "That is the price level from 1981. When it came to reconstruction before the meeting of the International Monetary Fund, about the same amount was mentioned," the architect recalls.
Today, he believes the reconstruction would cost approximately the same. If there were significant changes to the layouts, he estimates a maximum of three billion crowns. "But that has to be divided by two; for half it would be the National Library, and for the other half, the reconstruction of a building that has been part of Prague's skyline for 30 years, whether we like it or not," he said.
According to an unnamed source from the city council, the idea of establishing a library in the Congress Center is raw and carries a number of unanswered questions. These include the preservation of the center for congress tourism as well as KCP's indebtedness due to loans it has taken for its renovation. Investments at that time were over three billion crowns. The bonds are due in 2014.
The chairman of the KCP board and member of parliament, Jan Bürgermeister, told ČTK that this body has never discussed the idea of establishing a library in the Congress Center. He believes that if the city and state were to reach an agreement, it would be good news. Generally, he can imagine a library in accordance with congress tourism, he added.
According to a source from the city council, this plan is not in conflict with the idea of having a library in the main building. However, city officials have emphasized that they want to keep the center for congress tourism.