Hradec Králové has a printed guide to architecture

Hradec Králové - The hundred-thousand inhabitants of Hradec Králové have a new printed guide to the city's modern architecture. The pocket guide will be available for free from Monday, April 3rd, at the Information Center on Eliščino nábřeží and in selected cafés, the project's authors informed. The Hradec Králové Architectural Manual (KAM) is a specialized popularizing database providing a comprehensive overview of the architecture, art, and urbanism of Hradec Králové from 1894 to 1989. Since 2018, it has been available on the website, and since March 2020, it has expanded to include the KAM? mobile application. The project KAM is supported by the non-profit organization Kontrapunkt.

"Now the Hradec Králové Architectural Manual brings another novelty, this time it will delight all fans of analog media, as KAM moves from screens to recycled paper," said project spokesperson Helena Herzánová.

The new pocket guide will offer nine thematic trails, introducing not only the city center but also its suburbs, villa districts, bridges, and industrial buildings. "Each route, in addition to valuable information, includes a clear map, photographs, and addresses of individual sites. It even provides advice on public transport to the starting point of the trail or reveals the time commitment and length of the route," said Herzánová.

KAM builds on successfully created architectural manuals in other cities, such as in Brno (BAM), Plzeň (PAM), or Litomyšl (LAM).

"The website kam.hradcekralove.cz documents modern architecture, famous buildings, as well as undiscovered or unrealized gems, architects, builders, artists, and of course valuable public spaces and parks, without which we cannot imagine the character of the city. The database currently includes over 200 objects, with each profile accompanied by contemporary and archival photographic documentation, plans, and audio recordings of texts," stated the authors.

The core members of the authors' team are project coordinator from the non-profit organization Kontrapunkt Barbora Hodonická, expert guarantor and art historian Ladislav Zikmund-Lender, the studio Bušek+Dienstbier, which provides the visual identity and graphic content. Jiří Zikmund is responsible for photographic documentation and Helena Herzánová for marketing.

In Hradec Králové, KAM annually organizes guided walks or lectures and carries out a local program of the extensive Czech-Slovak festival Day of Architecture.

Hradec Králové is known for its interwar architecture, during which many renowned architects worked in the city. In the 1920s, for example, architect Josef Gočár designed a viable regulatory plan for Hradec Králové, where many of his buildings were constructed. Along with Jan Kotěra and other architects, he significantly influenced the modern appearance of the city.