The Congress Center Prague has towered over the Nusle Valley for 40 years

Prague – At the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, a massive white building grew on the edge of the Nusle Valley. The then Palace of Culture (renamed in 1995 to the Prague Congress Centre; KCP) was opened on April 2, 1981, by communist president Gustáv Husák. The first event just a few days after the ceremonial ribbon cutting was the XVI. congress of the ruling communist party, which was celebrating its 60th anniversary. The KCP, which has been primarily state-owned since 2014, has undergone several renovations in recent years. In September 2000, it hosted the 55th meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and two years later, the North Atlantic Alliance summit.

"Prague is receiving... a cultural facility of such beauty and size, which is rare in Europe and around the world," said the head of the Prague communists, Antonín Kapek, at the opening. Contemporary press wrote about a "symbol of socialist Prague." The people of Prague took such statements with a grain of salt, and the building earned the unflattering nickname "Lidojem," while in better cases it was referred to as "Pakul." On the other hand, 110,000 curious visitors did not hesitate to wait in lines for an hour in mid-April 1981 to see the new addition to the Prague skyline from the inside.

From an architectural perspective, today’s Congress Centre is, according to experts, a copy of a similar building that was erected in the mid-1960s in West Germany's Hamburg. One of the palace's authors, Jaroslav Trávníček, admitted this years ago, stating that he and his colleagues deliberately adhered to proven practices. "It's not some great architectural masterpiece, but no one can tell me that it's a bad concept," Trávníček defended his work.

The design from the Military Project Institute (VPÚ), under which the construction was carried out, was not initially selected by the commission. The work of the Project Institute of the capital city of Prague was given priority at first. "But our victory was not anticipated, so additional rounds were organized," architect Jan Bočan recalled. "For us not to win, the chairman of the jury had to eventually withdraw," said the architect, who was also involved in the designs of embassies in London and Stockholm.

The reasons for influencing the competition at that time can most likely be sought in politics. "The military was more acceptable to the party. It was automatically assumed that the creators of the Palace of Culture would receive the Klement Gottwald Award, and we weren’t even in the party. Back then, that was how it was...," Bočan also lamented. However, he added that the enforced continuation of the competition had, despite the expected results, positive effects, as it prompted the authors from VPÚ to improve their proposal.

The building, for which construction was decided by the government in February 1975, began to rise at the edge of the Nusle Valley in 1976 – thus it was completed in five years. However, it ultimately hosted only two congresses of the communist party, for which it was primarily intended, and after 1989, it was challenging to find its further use. For several years, part of the Congress Centre was home to TV Prima, there was even a car dealership on the ground floor, and the main hall hosted the musical Dracula.

A significant impetus for the building ultimately became the meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which it hosted in September 2000 and which prompted modernization. Two years later, the highest representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance also met in spaces designated for the communist rulers of Czechoslovakia. The reconstruction from the late 1990s cost three billion crowns, followed by additional renovations. Now, part of the KPC also includes the Holiday Inn PCC hotel.

Since 2014, the majority owner of KCP has been the state through the Ministry of Finance, and the minority owner is the city of Prague with a 45.65 percent stake.

KCP regularly hosts various conferences, and cultural performances are also held in its halls. The reconstructed Congress Hall can even compete with the best concert halls in the world. However, due to the pandemic and government measures, the center had to cancel several events since last March.