To the uncelebrated 90th birthday of Karel Prager

Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Prague

On August 24, the notable Czech architect Karel Prager would have turned 90 years old (born August 23, 1923 in Kroměříž - died May 31, 2001 in Prague). He was one of the most significant figures in Czech architecture in the second half of the twentieth century, a representative of technological modernism, and the author of many important buildings of various kinds, which he mainly designed for Prague. He began his career during the historicist architecture period of the 1950s, but very soon began to seek a new expression of architecture that would be in accordance with new building materials, techniques, and technologies. He demonstrated this at the construction of the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Prague, where he first used the lightweight curtain wall facade manufactured in then Czechoslovakia.

K. Prager, J. Albrecht, J. Kadeřábek: Competition design for the National Assembly building

His largest building is the former Federal Assembly building, now the new building of the National Museum, which brought sovereignly modern architecture to the center of Prague, filled with technological innovations - and at the same time excellent artworks that organically complemented the architectural expression. Equally significant from the same period is the complex of buildings near the Emmaus Monastery and the complex of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at Charles University in Troja. The architect worked on it from the mid-1960s, but it was never fully completed. In the 1970s and 1980s, when his work could not be published, the architect focused on grand visions of superstructures that he designed for Košíře; in addition, he worked on large redevelopment areas in Karlín-Těšnov, Holešovice, and Smíchov. None of these were realized, only the buildings of the Komerční banka in Smíchov. The surprising building of the New Stage from the early 1980s features an unusual glass facade designed in collaboration with J. Brychtová and St. Libenský.

K. Prager, J. Albrecht, J. Kadeřábek: Competition for the design of the Hlávka Bridge approach

After 1989, he unexpectedly dedicated himself to reconstructions. The first was the Rudolfinum, which he restored to its original function as a concert hall and gallery of fine arts, and the house At the Black Madonna. In the meantime, there was an inconspicuous reconstruction of the Komerční banka building in Spálená Street. One of his last works is the small residential complex U Kříže in Jinonice, where he demonstrated his vision of modern, friendly residential architecture.

Among Karel Prager's important activities was a great interest in building technology, new building materials, and new structures. He himself held several significant patents, which he consistently used in his buildings - for example, the entire Gama system, of which the partition cabinets are the most famous and probably the most commonly used by others. Additionally, he was an initiator of the establishment of the former Czechoslovak Center for Construction and Architecture. In the 1990s, he was a founding member of the Pangea Foundation, the founder of the Block of Architects and Artists, and his membership in the New Group was equally important. His membership was never just a formal matter but always an important active driver of events.

To commemorate his posthumous birthday, the National Gallery in Prague, in collaboration with Atelier Gama and Casua company, is preparing a major retrospective exhibition, and the Titanic Publishing House will release a representative book during the autumn.