The Club for Old Prague advocates for the declaration of Prager buildings as cultural monuments

Prague - The Club for Old Prague has urged Minister of Culture Martin Baxa (ODS) in an open letter to advocate for the declaration of the buildings designed by architect Karel Prager in Prague's Emauzy as cultural monuments. According to CTK's findings, Baxa is preparing a response. The so-called Prager's Cubes, a set of three modernist buildings with steel and glass construction from the early 1970s, are in need of costly repairs. The capital city is expected to start this process this year as the owner, according to the decision of the councilors.

According to the club's letter, placing too much emphasis on the economic aspects of the reconstruction could jeopardize the values of the authentically preserved complex, which houses the city's Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) along with the well-frequented Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP). According to the club, Prague should declare that both institutions will remain here.

"For the same reasons, we call on the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic to initiate the proceedings for declaring the complex as a cultural monument, as only in this way can its preservation and development be ensured in the long term with regard to its undeniable architectural and heritage values," states the letter signed by the club's chairman Richard Biegel and its vice-chairman, architecture theorist Rostislav Švácha.

According to Jana Zechmeisterová from the press office of the ministry, Baxa will address the letter. "From the perspective of the development of architecture, these are certainly significant and unique buildings, and in cooperation with expert heritage conservation offices, we are preparing the minister's response," Zechmeisterová told CTK.

The Prager's Cubes were proposed by the Prague office of the National Heritage Institute to be declared a cultural monument in 2022, but the Ministry of Culture has yet to initiate the proceedings. According to the spokesperson, starting the process would not exclude repairs; it would simply mean that the property should be treated as if it were already a monument. "Restoration is desirable and possibly feasible under that regime," Holasová said to CTK.

The Prager's Cubes, officially named Gama Studios of the Project Institute of Construction of the Capital City of Prague, are part of a research task in which the heritage institute examines significant Prague buildings from the 1970s and 1980s. Experts in the task have described and proposed for heritage declaration about 15 other significant buildings, such as the Družba department store in Wenceslas Square, the Czech Television headquarters on Kavčí hory, the House of Housing Culture in Budějovická, the Klíčov garages in Prague 9, part of the terminal at Václav Havel Airport, the former Teplotechny building on Ječná street in New Town, and the brutalist Koospol (now Cube) on Evropská street.

From this period, landmarks have so far included the Kotva Department Store of the Machonin couple, Prager's New Stage, as well as the former Motol Crematorium and the Planetarium in Stromovka. In contrast, the proposal to declare Transgas on Vinohradská street a heritage site was unsuccessful; the brutalist complex was demolished in 2020. The same fate threatens the Chemapol in Vršovice.