MK considers the potential heritage protection of the New Stage and the clinic

Prague - The Ministry of Culture will soon decide whether the New Stage of the National Theatre (ND) will be declared a cultural monument. It is also considering a proposal to declare the urological clinic in Prague's Karlov district, which dates back to the second half of the 20th century, as a monument. The office has also received a proposal for the declaration of another building from the post-war period, the former headquarters of the International Union of Students on Paris Street, but it has not initiated proceedings there, deeming the proposal unfounded. This was communicated today by the ministry spokesperson Martha Häckl in response to a query from ČTK.

The office is also reassessing the potential monument protection of the Kotva department store, and it promises to decide on that case soon as well.

The proposals to declare the New Stage and several other buildings created during the completion of the ND, the headquarters of the student union, and the urological clinic were submitted more than six months ago by architectural historians from the Czech Technical University (ČVUT) Klára Brůhová and Petr Vorlík. They consider all these buildings to be excellent representatives of brutalist architecture in the Czech territory. Through their collective proposal, they wish to draw attention to the declaration of buildings as immovable cultural monuments, which they deem ineffective.

Several years ago, the National Heritage Institute proposed to declare the New Stage a monument, which has a commission for the protection of monuments from the second half of the 20th century. The building by Karel Prager from the early 80s is protected as part of the Prague Heritage Reserve; however, this protection only applies to the exterior. The management of the ND wants to reconstruct the building, and the authors of the proposal are particularly concerned about interventions in the interior.

The theatre's management aims to turn the New Stage into a modern theatre with a variable stage space and auditorium after the reconstruction. They plan to also renovate the Themos building in the coming years, which will house a rehearsal room and spaces for educational activities. The reconstruction of the New Stage is expected to take about two years and cost around 700 million crowns, as previously stated by ND director Jan Burian to ČTK. The New Stage is one of the most discussed buildings in Prague due to its exterior.

Burian noted at the end of last year that the ND has prepared a feasibility study. Modernization is a matter for the coming years. It will involve theatrical technologies and access routes for transporting decorations and costumes.

The New Stage, a striking building by architect Karel Prager, is an example of the specific use of glass in architecture. Even three decades after its creation, it can stir passions among those who demand monument protection and the respectful preservation of all its elements, and those for whom it symbolizes a bygone era. The building is unusual even in its interior - a dominant material is green Cuban serpentine, which was gifted to the then-government by Cuba during the socialist era. From the perspective of theatrical operation, however, the first performances highlighted deficiencies in the stage and theatre, including poor acoustics. The reconstruction of the New Stage has therefore been a topic of discussion for many years.