Position on the project for the development of Forman Square in Prague

Klub Za starou Prahu disagrees with the project of the new building at the corner of Paris Street and Miloš Forman Square, the design of which was published by the media in the fall of 2020. The project for the four-story building on Forman Square disrupts the concept of this space, which was designed by the team of architect Karla Filsaka during the construction of the Intercontinental Hotel from 1968 to 1974. This architect's intention was to create a piazzetta in front of the representative western facade of this hotel building, with a cultivated area that would provide visitors to Prague with a pleasant space for relaxation and would simultaneously allow an unobstructed view of both the quality brutalist architecture of the hotel itself and the cubist houses by architect Otakara Novotného on the adjacent Eliška Krásnohorské Street. This leisure and lookout function is still very well fulfilled by Filsak's piazzetta to this day. People have long perceived it as a regular square, and its urban status as a quality urban space was confirmed by its naming as Miloš Forman Square in 2018. Klub Za starou Prahu holds the view that the proposed four-story pavilion does not respect the architectural values of this square, harms its functions, and treats this quality urban space as if it were merely a vacant lot, which the Club considers to be a significant urban and architectural mistake. The Club does not consider it necessary for this inappropriate four-story building to become part of the ongoing restoration of Filsak's hotel.

In Prague, October 22, 2020

PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph. D., signed, Vice Chairman of Klub Za starou Prahu
PhDr. Kateřina Bečková, signed, Chairwoman of Klub Za starou Prahu