Festival Open House Prague will offer free tours of dozens of buildings

Prague – The eighth edition of the Open House Prague festival will kick off today in Prague and will last until Sunday. The main program will take place over the weekend, during which 101 buildings and spaces throughout the city will be open to the public free of charge. Starting today, there will be accompanying programs for architecture enthusiasts. An outdoor exhibition of Plečnik's unrealized projects in Ljubljana is accessible at Jiřího z Poděbrad Square, commemorating this year's 150th anniversary of the birth of architect Jože Plečnik of Slovenian origin.

Plečnik is an architect claimed not only by Slovenians but also by Czechs. While his works in the Czech Republic have been completed after various twists and turns, some of his visions for the Slovenian capital have not been realized. There will also be a lecture related to the exhibition with Ana Poroková, curator of Plečnik's permanent exhibition in Ljubljana, and architect Vladimír Šlapeta. This will take place on Thursday at 18:30 at the Faculty of Law, Charles University.

This year, the festival organizers are also focusing on the personality of Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann, a representative of the so-called Czech Neo-Renaissance, whose birth occurred 200 years ago in April. Interested visitors can explore the family Villa Lanna in Bubenči, which was created as a summer retreat for industrial entrepreneur and patron Vojtěch Lanna Jr. The New Town Sokolovna on Žitná Street, the former Higher Girls' School on Vodičkova Street, and Ullmann's last realization in Prague, the Czech Polytechnic building at Karlovo náměstí, where the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of ČVUT in Prague is currently located, will also be accessible.

In March, it was 140 years since the birth of architect Pavel Janák, therefore the program includes buildings from various periods of his life such as the Clubhouse of the Autoclub of the Czech Republic, the functionalist Juliš Hotel at Wenceslas Square, the Adriatic Palace in the style of the so-called national style, or the constructivist object of the Vinohrady Hussite Church with its remarkable bell tower.

The Open House Prague program offers a total of 26 newcomers participating in the festival for the very first time. People can visit buildings that are often not normally accessible even in remote parts of Prague, such as Zbraslav, Modřany, or Komořany. Among them are the recently completed City Hall of Prague 12, the complex of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute at the castle in Komořany and its surroundings, and the freshly renovated community center Klubovna Zbraslav at the site of a former laundry designed by architects from the Projektil studio. The festival program is available on the website.