The exhibition will showcase contemporary rental housing in the Czech Republic and abroad

Prague - Various forms of rental housing in the Czech Republic, but especially foreign inspiration in this field of architecture, will be showcased at the exhibition in the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery. It will open to the public on Tuesday and will run until June 16, aiming to address a topic that has been neglected in the country for the past quarter century. "The mass privatization of the housing stock after 1989 was an act conditioned by the historical context of the time, but in hindsight, we see that with the bathwater, the baby was thrown out as well," says Dan Merta, director of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, regarding the reason for organizing the exhibition.

"The state did not pay sufficient attention to updating the legislative framework, considering alternative forms of ownership, or organizing financial support, as was the case with owner-occupied housing. Local governments often failed to ensure appropriate preparation of the land, while massively privatizing their housing stock instead of systematically building it and modernizing its management," he summarizes the past years.

According to him, local governments, with a few minor exceptions, have practically resigned from their role as significant builders and carriers of innovation, which was once quite common. In some developed countries in Europe, rental housing accounts for up to 80 percent of the housing stock, of which 30 percent is social or regulated; for example, in Amsterdam, housing with a fixed upper limit accounts for up to 57 percent, Merta states. Rental housing in the West, according to him, represents quality urbanism, a high level of architecture, and a high standard of public space.

In the Czech lands, housing has been realized in the form of ownership, rental, or cooperative for the last approximately 150 years. However, rental housing has become marginalized after 1989 due to historical connotations and often ill-considered and chaotic privatization of the housing stock. Now, however, it is becoming more popular again.

Even developed European countries currently have a balanced ratio between ownership and rental housing. The exhibition titled Rental Housing - The Forgotten Segment of Czech Architecture will therefore showcase not only the relatively young history of the field in the Czech Republic but also the phenomenon of rental and social housing in Europe, various approaches in terms of legislation and strategy, and the most interesting examples from architectural, urbanistic, and social perspectives.

The exhibition has been prepared by the curatorial team UNIT architects, the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, and architectural historian Hubert Guzik. During its duration, two discussion evenings will be held on the necessity of rental housing and its history and specifics, featuring experts from the fields of architecture, sociology, development, local government, academia, and practice.