Vojtěch Hybler - bachelor's project for the completion of the Industrial Palace in Prague

The topic of my bachelor's thesis was the reconstruction of the recently burned-down Industrial Palace in Prague, Bubenč at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. I chose this topic because I was troubled by the immediate reactions and opinions of architect Zdeněk Lukeš, who asserted that the burnt wing must be rebuilt exactly the same, even while smoke was still rising from the remnants of the left wing. I was curious if this was true and how to arrive at the right opinion. For developing a concept regarding the approach to the old building and revitalizing the exhibition grounds for today's times, I was directed by Zdeněk Lukeš to the book from 1893 “One Hundred Years of Work”, which is a catalog published for the Jubilee Exhibition in 1891. This book contains the foundation of my semester work. Before I got this book in my hands, I mindlessly tried to search for various creations and compositions of forms that aimed to find harmony with the old building. Anything other than the right wing on the other side of the Industrial Palace, in any scale, would completely degrade the rest of the Industrial Palace, which is unacceptable if I want to keep what is there from the very beginning as “a jewel”. Lukeš's opinion on the symmetry and equality of both wings seems correct to me. However, there is another problem, which is the situation of the entire existing area of the Exhibition Grounds. Primarily, it is the impassability and decay of “the rest” behind the Industrial Palace. The cause of the entire problem lies in the adjacent wings of the Industrial Palace, which impede the functionality of the entire rest of the area. It is interesting that at a time when axes and boulevards were being promoted, a building was proposed that essentially obstructed. As architect Josef Pleskot stated while visiting the Faculty of Architecture in Liberec during a lecture: “These buildings from the nineteenth century mostly just get in the way” (1). This palace is a shining example of that. In the book “One Hundred Years of Work”, in the chapter discussing the steel structures at the exhibition grounds, there is a sentence that explains this:
“Both wings of the Industrial Palace were to be demolished after the exhibition, so the central part was itself already designed in such a way that after the wings were demolished, no further constructions would be necessary. For that reason, both wings were separated from the palace, although a passage was bricked up on the facade, completely hidden from the observer. The connecting corridor between the central palace and each wing was arched, to somewhat impede the spread of fire in case of a fire. For the same reason, the popular strip flooring was not installed in the exhibitions, as it had fallen victim to several exhibitions.” (2)
This is confirmed by an image from the same book, where we can observe the under-construction Industrial Palace with the adjacent wing, all viewed through the constructed side facades that were to be revealed as viewing points after the wings were demolished. Architect Munzberger and engineer Jaroslav Groger clearly anticipated that their building would “obstruct” in the future and constructed the palace in such a way that the space would be cleared once again after the exhibition, thereby making room for further exhibitions and architects in the future, with the central part of the palace intended to remain as a reminder of the Jubilee Exhibition in 1891. I assume that the author's vision was very ahead of its time compared to other authors of that era (for example, Josef Schulz), who clearly spoke at a time when architects argued about “what style they should build in” (3), that the historicizing style was the only right direction and should remain as some kind of message for future generations of architects.
Yes, we can rebuild the Industrial Palace’s “temporary hall.” However, this absolutely does not solve the entirety of the exhibition grounds, which will never function due to this. I clearly reacted to the aforementioned paragraph in the book “One Hundred Years of Work” and the image on the title page by embarking on a solution for the entire area in relation to the Industrial Palace and its connection to the city and urban greenery. Since the emergence of steel structures, a characteristic feature of industrial and exhibition buildings has been that they are steel halls. I am creating two new pavilions (again, steel halls) alongside the Industrial Palace, placed not in a transverse but in a longitudinal direction. This resolves the issue of accessibility within the area. Furthermore, both halls are the same, only mirrored. There is no complete symmetry; nothing in the area is symmetrical today, but the pavilions behave similarly from both sides of the Industrial Palace. The forms are simple and clean, thus they do not overshadow the Industrial Palace but elevate it. The intent was for the pavilions to be built in a “classical opinion”, which Mirko Baum describes in the book “Streets at the World's End”:
“The classical opinion is based on reason and rules – on foundations that are themselves a matrix of internal forms of thought and behavior. A certain unattractiveness, which is often associated with the classical opinion, is neither typical nor essential for it. In reality, there exists a classical aesthetic that, due to its subtlety, is often inaccessible to romantically-minded individuals. The classical style is straightforward, economical, devoid of ornaments, and possesses balanced proportions. In the emotional domain, the classical style seeks to establish order where chaos reigns and transform the unknown into knowledge. The classical style is neither an aesthetically free nor a natural style. In aesthetic terms, it is limited by boundaries and rules. Everything is subordinate to control.” (4)
I quote this because the aesthetic character of the buildings that I propose is purely a reflection of their construction and the purpose of their content and is largely defined by the material, which is steel. Steel allows for the subtlety of construction in any scale and determines the character of the building, thus enabling a historical continuity with the time in which it arises, such as the Industrial Palace, thereby creating a connection between the new and the old buildings.
And what about the remaining right wing? Behind the Industrial Palace during the Jubilee Exhibition stood the Engine Room. This object was designed in exactly the same way as the adjacent wings of the Industrial Palace, only it was four modules longer. In 1893, the Engine Room was sold for the universal exhibition in Innsbruck. The character and structure of the building allowed this, just like the adjacent wings of the Industrial Palace. Given that the Engine Room itself is beautiful due to its scale and proportions, and it moreover offers high-quality exhibition space, I propose to rebuild the Engine Room at its original location using material from the wing of the palace. The drawings clearly indicate a new urban planning arrangement where the main axis of the area connects to the axis of Dukelských hrdinů street. Along this axis, smaller pavilions are created in the back of the area, with a vertical dominant – a Ferris wheel. This street has the potential to connect with the Vltava riverbank, thereby linking the entire axis with the river's meander.
I assume that the construction of the original wing is a way back and that such a beleaguered Exhibition Grounds can never be revived, and certainly not through senseless underpasses beneath the building, as we have seen in the newspapers. What happened when the main entrance to the Main Train Station in Prague was changed to a different level? The building lost its ground floor and fell into disrepair.
I urge the organizers and participants of any potential architectural competition for the design of the new wing of the Industrial Palace to primarily work with context and urban space. Imitations of the left wing smell of dreadful postmodernism, which solves nothing, and we will again hope that it burns down soon.

Notes:
(1) Lecture by Josef Pleskot at the Liberec Faculty of Arts and Architecture – February 2009
(2) One Hundred Years of Work. Report on the Universal Exhibition in Prague 1891, Vol. I, page 170
(3) Jindřich Vybíral, Czech Architecture at the Threshold of Modern Times – Nineteen Essays on the Nineteenth Century, Sanctuary of the New Era, p. 205 - 212, Argo, Prague 2002, ISBN 80-7203-475-8
(4) Mirko Baum, Streets at the End of the World = Strasse am Ende der Welt, Who Rides the Tiger, pp. 13 – 23, AVU/KANT, Karel Kerlický, Prague 2007, ISBN 978-80-869970-51-6