Open letter against the reconstruction of the General Pension Institute in Prague

Dear Minister,
Mgr. Martin Baxa
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
Maltézské náměstí 1, 118 00 Prague 1

Dear Mr. Minister,
the signatories of this letter protest against the planned reconstruction of the functionalist building of the former General Pension Institute in Prague at Winston Churchill Square.
This reconstruction aims to double the height of the extreme wings of the building, thereby damaging the composition of this rare monument of Czech functionalism. Equally harmful will be the filling of the space between the wings, which will strip it of its unique open layout. The building of the General Pension Institute by architects Josef Havlíček and Karel Honzík, upon its completion in 1934, received a response in the world's media that no other modern Czech building has achieved, and in 1958 it was declared a cultural monument. Nevertheless, the Department of Heritage Care at the Prague City Hall approved its reconstruction on October 1, 2021. The signatories of this letter consider such disruption of heritage care principles unacceptable and fear that if this world-significant functionalist building is disrupted, Prague will be disgraced in the eyes of the global cultural public.
We therefore ask you, Mr. Minister, to comply with the request of the regional office of the National Heritage Institute in Prague dated November 19, 2021, for a review procedure in this matter, and for your ministry to annul the opinion of the city heritage care department in this procedure.

Sincerely,
Prof. Ing. Arch. Mirko Baum, Emeritus Professor at Technical University of Aachen
Prof. PhDr. Milena Bartlová, CSc., AAAD in Prague
Doc. PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Prof. Ing. Arch. Matúš Dulla, CSc., Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Zdeněk Fránek, Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Jan Jehlík, Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Michal Kohout, Czech Technical University in Prague
Doc. Mgr. Bohunka Koklesová, Ph.D., Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava
Ing. Arch. MArch Jan Kristek, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Brno University of Technology
Prof. PhDr. Jiří Kroupa, CSc., Masaryk University in Brno
Ing. Arch. MgA. Osamu Okamura, Dean of the Faculty of Art and Architecture, Technical University in Liberec
Prof. Ing. Arch. Miroslav Masák, Dr. h. c., Emeritus Professor at Brno University of Technology
Prof. Ing. Arch. Monika Mitášová, Ph.D., Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava
Prof. Dr. Ing. Arch. Henrieta Moravčíková, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
Mgr. Radka Nokkala Miltová, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Art History at Masaryk University in Brno
Doc. Mgr. Martina Pachmanová, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Theory and History of Art at AAAD in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Petr Pelčák, Brno University of Technology
Doc. Mgr. Tomáš Pospiszyl, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Theory and History of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Ján Stempel, Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. Ing. Arch. Akad. Arch. Jiří Suchomel, Emeritus Professor at the Technical University in Liberec
Prof. Ing. Akad. Arch. Jan Šépka, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha, CSc, Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Charles University
Prof. Akad. Arch. Imrich Vaško, Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Prof. PhDr. Vít Vlnas, Ph.D., Head of the Institute of the History of Christian Art, KTF UK
Prof. Ing. Arch. Petr Vorlík, Ph.D., Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. PhDr. PaedDr. Jindřich Vybíral, DSc., Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague
Doc. PhDr. Tomáš Winter, Ph.D., Director of the Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences
Doc. PhDr. Jana Zapletalová, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Art History at Palacký University in Olomouc
Prof. Ing. Arch. Ir. Zdeněk Zavřel, Dr. h. c., Czech Technical University in Prague
Prof. PhDr. Marián Zervan, CSc., Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava

On behalf of the signatories, Doc. PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph.D.
Prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha, CSc.