Perspective of the Můstek Metro

The National Museum, proudly standing at the head of Wenceslas Square, is undergoing a general reconstruction. The public space, where all significant events of the 20th century took place, has removed fallen kiosks in anticipation of an overall revitalization. For now, we present an article by Ondřej Dušek, who discovered a nearly forty-year-old drawing (110 x 70 cm) by the David couple while moving apartments. Besides the authors, the original client of the project also agreed to publication.

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Here is a visual treat not only for local patriots of Prague, accidentally discovered while moving an apartment in Karlín:
The project probably doesn't need an introduction; it's the transfer station of the Můstek metro at Wenceslas Square. The drawing was commissioned by the company Metrostav, and its authors are architects Josef and Marie David, who were then twenty-six years old, having just started at the design institute. They reportedly worked on the perspective for about a year and a half, in the evenings in their apartment in Jižní Město. According to the author's account, due to the size of the drawing, they had to clear out the entire living room. However, the fee was greater than what the couple earned from regular design work in an entire year.
Partially, the perspective was constructed based on a photograph, likely taken from a crane. The metro spaces were plotted manually according to coordinates provided to the draughtsmen by the tunnel designers. They also used aerial imagery as another reference. The drawing was also consulted with a geologist, with individual layers of the substrate indicated in the sections.
Old technical drawings and similar examples from French publications served as models for the Můstek metro perspective. Metrostav used the perspective for project presentations; among other things, it was reportedly displayed in Professor Vocílka's program "Mathematics Primarily Seriously".
I would like to thank Mrs. Davidová for providing the drawing, her daughter Marie, an architect from the CollColl studio, and the company Metrostav for allowing the publication.

Authors: Ing. arch. Josef David, Ing. akad. arch. Marie Davidová
The drawing was created in 1980 based on a commission from the construction company Metrostav.