The heritage council criticizes Prague for plans at Masaryk Railway Station

Prague - The planned construction at Masaryk Railway Station in Prague does not comply, according to the Czech National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), with the commitments arising from international treaties on the protection of cultural heritage for Prague. In an open letter sent today to the Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), it states that the agreement of Prague's heritage conservationists on the new building lacks a statement regarding the recommendations of the UNESCO monitoring mission from 2019. The committee provided the letter to ČTK. The City Hall's response is being sought by ČTK.

ICOMOS reminds that the Scientific Council of the General Director of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) rejected the design of the building's location. It also criticizes the memorandum signed between Prague and the developer, Penta, in which the city commits not to appeal the zoning decision.

NPÚ stated on its website that it will demand the cancellation of this zoning decision. "The realization of the building would lead to an irreversible disruption of the historical development and its height levels, as well as a significant violation of distant iconic views. We do not question the legitimacy of modern architecture entering the Prague Monument Reserve; however, this cannot happen in fundamental contradiction to its values for which it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List," stated NPÚ director Naďa Goryczková. The area where the building is to be placed is, according to her, a valuable space adjacent to the first Prague train station and part of a larger whole of the historical core of Prague.

The object designed by the London studio of Zaha Hadid is set to line Na Florenci street for 200 meters, divided into two blocks in the above-ground part. It rises from seven floors to nine from the main road, and it culminates at a height of 41.9 meters at the area of the newly created square by Havlíčkova street. NPÚ states that the length, height, overall volume, and character of the monolith do not respect the qualities of the site and exceed the current highest point of the immediate surroundings by almost ten meters. It thus enters the level where the most significant dominant features of historical Prague are located, NPÚ writes.

Prague was already criticized last week by the Club for Old Prague due to the content of the memorandum with Penta. According to them, it strengthens Penta's influence on the development of the capital. The agreement with the developer was approved by Prague's councilors a week ago. According to the agreement, apartments will be created in part of the project, streets will be renovated, and greenery will be added, contrary to the original plan. The city leadership considered appealing against the non-final zoning decision but ultimately backed down from that.

According to ICOMOS, the decision was not issued in accordance with the Principles of Spatial Development, legal regulations, and decrees, and was accompanied by non-standard circumstances. "The capital city paved the way for this decision in the past by helping the developer circumvent the conditions set by the zoning plan - allowing him to count the plots owned by the city in the calculation of building coefficients, so that in his commercial project he could achieve an increase in the area of gross floor space. This all occurred while the building was not reduced from seven or eight floors, as experts demanded, but rather is to have nine floors," ICOMOS writes.

The UNESCO monitoring mission and ICOMOS addressed many areas in Prague last year that, according to experts, could be problematic from the standpoint of cultural heritage protection. The mission noted that the historic center of Prague, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1992, could be placed on the list of endangered monuments. One of the areas was the Masaryk Railway Station complex. For the first phase of construction, it stated that the height and termination of its western accent must be carefully considered. A year earlier, the Ministry of Culture recommended reducing the proposed heights of the construction to a maximum of six above-ground floors.