In Prague, the Open House festival has begun, which will open dozens of buildings to the public over the weekend

Prague – The festival Open House has started in Prague on a rescheduled date. Starting today, there will be a program of accompanying events, and over the weekend, dozens of normally inaccessible buildings will open their doors. The motto of the festival is Architecture for Everyone, and the building tours are intended for a wide audience, including, for example, people with visual and hearing impairments.

One of the main attractions of the seventh edition of the festival, according to the organizers, will be the ARA Palace. The functionalist palace at the corner of Perlová Street from the 1930s is remembered by many as the department store Perla. Its distinctive feature is the rounded glass corner. The construction used steel skeleton technology, just like New York skyscrapers, and because of its steel strength, it survived two fires. "In the palace, two floors of the coworking space HubHub will be opened for visitors, and besides touring the design of the shared offices, visitors will also be able to enjoy beautiful views from the terraces,” said festival director Andrea Šenkyříková.

This year, the organizers want to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jan Kotěra, the founder of Czech modern architecture. The festival will thus make accessible a number of Kotěra’s significant Prague works, such as the Trmal Villa in Strašnice, the Laichter House in Vinohrady, or the Vršovice Waterworks in Michle.

Open House Prague is part of the international network of Open House Worldwide festivals, which take place in more than 45 cities around the world.