Architecture
Buildings, studios, competitions and heritage protection.
Eighteen Years After the Fire, the Industrial Palace Is Whole Again
The left wing that burned out in October 2008 has been rebuilt and the centre hall and right wing restored, over four and a half years and roughly three billion crowns. Metrostav CZ led the consortium; guided tours run to 11 October and Designblok is the first event in the hall.
Architecture Students Designed and Built the New Public Toilet on the Tovární Playground
A larch-clad structure made by Prague 7 and the CTU Faculty of Architecture together. It has a changing table and opens April to October, 8am to 6pm; on 22 September its authors gathered on the playground and put every design the studio produced on show.
Four Teams Left in the Competition for Budějovická, With a Winner Due in November
A8000, UNIT architekti, Harmonic + Masson & Associés and Howells will develop their concepts further for the 40,000-square-metre block around the metro station. The competition was called by Penta Real Estate with DBK, the city and Praha 4.
Praha 8 Has Finished the Chapel at the Bohnice Asylum Cemetery, and It Has No Roof
OHA architects kept the surviving perimeter walls and put an open steel structure where the roof was. The 8.5-million-crown rebuild opens to the public on 1 October; the paths, the mound and the cross come next.
Chybík + Krištof Will Draw the Ground Around Nádraží Holešovice
The Brno studio has won the competition run by Nové Holešovice, the joint venture of DPP and private developers, for the plots north of Plynární. The jury bought arched halls over the interchange, a railway viaduct given shops and culture, and a rotated tower as the landmark.
The Industrial Palace Opens for Seventeen Days, Then Goes Back to Work
Eighteen years after fire took its left wing and four and a half years after the builders moved in, the Výstaviště landmark is finished. The public gets guided tours from 25 September to 11 October; after that it returns to being a hall for fairs and events, starting with Designblok.
Lesovna Opens in Suchdol: 405 Cubic Metres of Czech Timber, and a Government Target Attached
The forestry faculty's new CZK 49m research building by Mjölk architekti is 581 square metres of exposed timber structure. It was opened by the prime minister, who used it to restate a target of a quarter of new buildings in timber by 2035.
Prague Will Host the 2032 World Congress of Architects, at a Cost of EUR 870,000
Councillors approved the hosting on 2 September. The fee goes to the International Union of Architects in annual instalments to 2032, and brings with it the right to call the city a World Capital of Architecture. Prague beat Dubai, and last held the congress in 1967.
Prague Castle Will Compete the Stájový Dvůr This Winter, Picking Up an Unfinished 1990s Idea
The Renaissance stables courtyard behind the wall of U Prašného mostu is to become a visitor and information centre. The competition is announced for the winter months or early next year, and the castle skyline is the constraint the entrants will have to answer.
Bohdalec's 1913 Truss Overpass Reopens After Its Second Overhaul
The riveted steel span that carries Moskevská over the Vršovice marshalling yard returns to full traffic on Monday. TSK worked above a live rail corridor on a structure built as a close relative of the bridge at Výtoň.
One Bid, CZK 1.221bn, and Prague 6 Walks Away From Its Cultural Centre Tender
The only offer for the concert hall in the fourth quadrant of Vítězné náměstí came in at half again the expected price. The district will cancel the procedure and re-tender in February 2027.
A Symbolic Key for Invalidovna: CZK 2.15bn and Four Years to 2030
The National Heritage Institute has started the largest project in its history. Two new wings by Petr Hájek go up on the southern plot, the Prague Philharmonic Choir gets a home, and the site changes hands to the builders on 31 August.
Prague Puts a Listed Farmstead in Suchdol Out to Tender as a CZK 1.07bn Gymnázium
Brandejsův statek gets 12 classrooms for 408 students, two new buildings and a design-and-build contract — while the city police keep their horses on site.
Prague Was Built to Cool Itself, and Then Forgot How
Passages, arcades, courtyards and palace gardens were climate infrastructure before anyone called it that — and the city's newest districts are quietly rebuilding them.
Prager's Cubes Come Apart Before They Go Back Together
A 1.4-billion-crown reconstruction of Karel Prager's 1973 complex at Emauzy starts by cataloguing everything worth keeping — then taking the building to pieces rather than knocking it down.