Experts: Investors in Prague lack the courage for quality architecture

Prague - In Prague, a number of new buildings have arisen in the last 20 years, but few have sparked greater debate, and almost none have exceeded the significance of the borders of the Czech Republic. The last such building was the Dancing House, marking its 20th anniversary since completion in these days. Experts contacted by ČTK agree that the conditions for creating a significant building on the site of a gap caused by war bombing were exceptional. Today, investors are more cautious, legislation is complicated, politicians are not particularly concerned about the quality of public buildings, and Prague still lacks a vision for the city's development.

"Comparing Prague with metropolises of contemporary top architecture is like comparing a Škoda Fabia with a Porsche GTX," says Dan Merta, who runs the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery focused on architectural presentation. He claims he always asks himself the question of interesting contemporary architecture when foreign colleagues inquire about what they might visit in Prague. He finds it difficult to locate not only buildings, but this issue, in his opinion, primarily concerns urban entities and public space. "One can see how the city functions, for example, in Copenhagen, Vienna, and Barcelona. Prague is totally lagging behind," he notes.

He sees the reasons for this state in the significant conservatism of Czech society, complicated legislation, and the absolute lack of support from the political establishment for public buildings that should introduce top-notch global architecture to a broader public through international competitions.

"There is also a lack of quality developers with significant capital who would be willing to finance buildings that could become new icons, as was the case with ING and the Dancing House or Serge Borenstein and the reconstruction of Karlín," Merta stated. According to him, the very poor dialogue between experts, the political establishment, and investors contributes to the situation.

"Foreign development companies, such as Nationale Nederlanden and its subsidiary ING, sent their best people to Prague after 1989, attracted by the fame of the Velvet Revolution and President Václav Havel," recalls architectural historian Rostislav Švácha. Nationale Nederlanden was the investor of the Dancing House.

"It seems to me that today developers are betting on architects who are not the best or most interesting, but rather those who have good connections in city offices and can quickly obtain building permits. Such a tactic, of course, does not guarantee a good level of architecture," he believes.

Architect Petr Lešek from the studio Projektil, which is the author of one of the few newly built projects in Prague appreciated by both experts and the public, the National Technical Library, says that there is generally a deficit in the perception of the cultural environment in Czech society. "A large part of society, including investors, simply does not see the problem in the absence of quality initiatives in enhancing our cities and landscapes. Unfortunately, since its opening in the 90s, few have dedicated themselves to education and public debate about the quality of the environment in which we live, except for purely biological topics such as air or water quality," he says.

According to him, private investors lack the courage for bold construction. "Due to the aforementioned lack of awareness, almost no one demands higher quality from them. Greater interest in quality is only seen in administrative buildings striving for representation and improving conditions for employees. Even there, the results are very uneven, depending on the cultivation and cleverness of the investors," he stated.

With public investors, many factors come into play, in the Czech Republic there is little political continuity, and quality buildings take more than just one electoral term to prepare - also due to the Czech construction legislation, which is very complicated even on a global scale, he notes. And there is also a lack of public competitions, which not only lead to selection but stimulate necessary discussion.

Architect Josef Pleskot, who has extensive experience in integrating contemporary buildings into historical contexts, believes that the absence of quality contemporary architecture in Prague is due to the low self-confidence of society as a whole. "It has surrounded us with a kind of glass dome, under which it is not possible to rise upward. The low self-confidence of society cannot be masked by the bluster of our politicians. We are simply all as a society stymied," said the author of the tunnel in Jeleni Prikop, a series of realizations and reconstructions in Litomyšl, and most recently, the revitalization of the industrial area of Vítkovice Ironworks.