Galerie Jaroslava Fragnera presents the projects of the Machonin couple

House of Residential Culture, original state; photo by Jaroslav Franta, Atrea archive

Prague - The most significant projects by architects Věra and Vladimír Machonin, such as the Kotva department store, the House of Residential Culture, and the area around the Budějovická metro station in Prague, the Thermal spa hotel in Karlovy Vary, or the building of the former Czechoslovak embassy in Berlin, is showcased until January 30 at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague. The exhibition aims to demonstrate, among other things, that the mass association of all architecture of the 1970s with the communist regime is unfounded. The exhibition curator Pavel Směták informed journalists about this today.
    "It is not a comprehensive retrospective, but a selection of works from their peak period, which we will present in their original form through period photographs, so visitors can compare their original and current appearances," said Směták. He added that the impetus for organizing the exhibition is the state of the structures designed by the Machonins after more than thirty years of operation, during which they, as in the case of the House of Residential Culture, suffered from renovations.
    Interested visitors can familiarize themselves with original and reproduced period and contemporary photographs, plans, and drawings of the Machonins' works at the exhibition, where there is also a projection, a competition model of the spa area in Karlovy Vary, a model of the Kotva department store, or a project for a family house by director Otomar Krejča.
    Visitors will also see the design creations of the authors. The gallery features chairs and seats from the embassy building in Berlin, which the magazine Bild referred to as "a spaceship in the middle of a pulsating city", as well as the last preserved chair from the House of Residential Culture.
    In the case of the House of Residential Culture, the Machonins acted as innovators in the architectural environment. They were familiar with materials from contemporary research institutes and were able to apply them to their buildings. This led to the creation of the Atmofix cladding made from pre-rusted sheet metal. This material, originally developed for the extreme conditions of Siberia, was used as a façade element and contributed to the unusual architectural expression of the building.
    The exhibition titled Věra & Vladimír Machonin 60' / 70' is accompanied by an extensive catalog that introduces the works of the Machonins as well as the architectural and social situation of the 60s and 70s.