The exhibition in Ústí showcases the architecture of the North Bohemian housing estates

Ústí nad Labem - The Story of Panel Buildings in the Ústí Region is the name of an outdoor exhibition that presents the architecture of housing estates in northern Bohemia. According to the latest census, over 40 percent of the region's inhabitants live in these estates. The character of mass housing, as shown by the exhibition accessible in the park in front of the Regional Court in Ústí nad Labem, is very diverse.

"We would like to show that not all housing estates are the same, and they do not necessarily have to be monotonous clusters of boxes designed by an anonymous team in a design institute," said the main author of the project, Lucie Skřivánková from the Museum of Applied Arts in Prague. "Panel estates have their past, present, and in many cases also developmental potential, and they represent a home for their residents. Therefore, it would be a mistake to close our eyes to the distinctiveness of many of them and to be influenced by one-sided judgments," she added.

Through panels, people can look at life in five housing estates. The Litvínov Housing Estate of Stalin’s Factories was designed after World War II by representatives of the interwar avant-garde for employees of the chemical plant. In addition to brick houses and rows of houses and semi-detached houses, it also includes the famous Koldům by Evžen Linhart and Václav Hilský, which is listed in the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic.

The mining settlement Podžatecká in Most was originally intended as an independent residential complex connecting to the historical center of the city. "The so-called Stovky, four brick five-story apartment buildings in the shape of the letter E with courtyards open to the housing estate and with shops and passages directed towards the urban street, undeniably draw inspiration from socialist realism," the exhibition's authors stated. In recent years, some blocks of the Stovky have become home to problematic citizens, and the city hall has included the area on the list of socially excluded places.

The Severní Terasa housing estate in Ústí nad Labem for 20,000 inhabitants and the Teplice housing estate Šanov II are among the younger ones in northern Bohemia. The youngest in the selection is the Březenecká estate in Chomutov, featuring three experimental eighteen-story buildings designed by architect Rudolf Bergr in the late 1960s. The exhibition's authors indicate that Bergr was inspired by Le Corbusier's building in Marseille.

The exhibition, which will run until June 18, also addresses issues of urbanism, apartment layouts, artistic decoration of housing estates, and building technologies. It does not overlook the question of the age, educational, and professional structure of the residents of the housing estates and how it has changed since the time of construction. "Through examples, we show what is happening with selected panel housing estates today, whether regenerative interventions contribute to improving the residential environment, or conversely disrupt the genius loci of these complexes," Skřivánková stated.

The exhibition is part of a five-year research and exhibition project involving two dozen architectural historians, urban planners, conservationists, demographers, and other experts from museum and academic institutions. The project includes 13 exhibitions in individual regional cities and will culminate this year with a comprehensive exhibition in Prague.