ČKA submitted a proposal to declare the Uran shopping center (now Banco) in Česká Lípa a cultural monument

photo: Petr Šmídek

The Czech Chamber of Architects sent a proposal to the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic yesterday to declare the Uran shopping center (now Banco) in Česká Lípa a cultural monument. They supported their request with a professional assessment prepared by architecture theorist Prof. Rostislav Švácha. Only the listing of the building in the register of immovable cultural heritage could prevent the planned demolition.

The Uran department store, designed by prominent Czech architect, now Professor at AVU Emil Přikryl, can be considered a valuable architectural work with typical elements of neofunctionalism and postmodernism. "The effect of Uran’s architecture is based on balanced proportional relationships of symmetrically composed volumes and the contrast of large surfaces of brown-red ceramic cladding with more delicately shaped details. Thanks to the talent and compositional mastery of architect Přikryl, this synthesis of several different stylistic lines comes across as coherent and compelling," the text by Prof. Švácha states. The building was a subject of interest for foreign experts and media at the time of its creation (1980-84) and throughout the entire 1980s and 1990s, which is rare for such works.

In recent days, a petition against the demolition of the department store has been sent to the city council of Česká Lípa by more than thirty architects who fear that a similarly notorious history will repeat itself as with the demolished Ještěd department store in Liberec. This was also designed by architects from the most significant Czech architectural association SIAL. The local opposition is also joining the protests, as they do not believe that the city hall was unaware of the planned demolition and want to know what is to be built on the site of Uran.

By declaring the Uran department store a cultural monument, not only would its demolition be prevented, but it could also facilitate sensitive repair work.