Projection on the façade of the transformer station at Klárov will bring its history closer

Prague - As part of Architecture Day, people can come to the former Zenger transformer station in Klárov on Saturday evening, where artist Federico Díaz will bring to life the original intention from the 1930s to place light kinetic sculptures by avant-garde sculptor Zdeněk Pešánek on the building through a projection on the facade. Visitors will also learn about the history of the transformer station and its plans. The transformer station is set to become a gallery within three years. The reconstruction already has a valid zoning decision. Ivana Goossen, the executive director of The Pudil Family Foundation, told ČTK.

The Zenger transformation station is located under Letenské sady. The cultural monument will be transformed into a gallery by The Pudil Family Foundation. It will mainly showcase its collection of 20th and 21st-century art. "There is a valid zoning decision issued for the reconstruction, based on which the documentation for obtaining a building permit is being prepared," Goossen stated. If the reconstruction goes according to plan, the foundation is considering an opening in the autumn of 2020, she added.

The main architect of the conversion is the office of Schindler Seko Architects. The gallery will include around 1,500 square meters of exhibition space, areas for educational and social activities, a restaurant, a café, and a bookstore and offices. The exhibition program will present artists and themes from the Czech and international scenes from modernity to the present.

The foundation is financing the reconstruction from its own sources. The transformation station has been relocated to the basement, and the original function of the building has thus ceased. It is not considered one of the foremost monuments of modern architecture, but it sensitively closes the space of Klárov under the Letna massif. Architect Vilém Kvasnička enveloped the industrial object in a classicizing form language. A sculpture by Zdeněk Pešánek (1896 to 1965) was supposed to be placed on the facade, but it was never installed.

Pešánek sought to connect technology and artistic tradition and was faithful to the idea of the synthesis of poetry and constructivism. In his work, he combined various media - sculpture, light, and music; he was the first artist to incorporate neon lights into his works and introduced kinetic sculpture into public space. Although his work "One Hundred Years of Electricity" was created on commission from the investor of the transformer station, the Prague Electrical Enterprises, it was never realized, unlike Pešánek's similar light sculpture for Edison’s transformer station in Jeruzalem Street. That work is now located in the National Gallery at the Trade Fair Palace.

However, the installation for the building on Klárov exists only in models stored in the National Gallery. Using 3D scanning techniques of the models and subsequent animation, Federico Díaz created a moving projection that will be shown on the facade on Saturday.