Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 1958

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Entrance to the Czechoslovak Pavilion in Brussels
Relocated restaurant of the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 58, in Letná Park (Prague- Holešovice , 2008)
Staircase of the restaurant

The Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 1958 was designed by architects František Cubr , Josef Hrubý and Zdeněk Pokorný for the first world exhibition after World War II , which took place in Brussels in 1958 . After the exhibition building had won the Golden Star Award for architecture and 13 other prizes at Expo 58 , it was decided to relocate the modular pavilion and make it accessible to the population at two different locations in Prague .

Building history

After it was decided in 1955 that Czechoslovakia would take part in the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels with its own exhibition pavilion, Jindřich Santar was commissioned to develop an exhibition concept. It was decided to focus on life in Czechoslovakia in twelve partial exhibitions.

The exhibition pavilion was to be built on a triangular area in Parc Osseghem , opposite the Soviet pavilion at the entrance to the Expo exhibition grounds. In 1956, architects from the National Institute for Building Projects in Towns and Villages, František Cubr, Josef Hrubý and Zdeněk Pokorný , won the architectural competition for the trade fair project . Favored by the solitary location in the midst of the mature park landscape, the architects succeeded in developing an independent, modular architectural concept without having to take into account the influence of other pavilions. In order to be able to implement the theme of the Czechoslovak contribution to the world exhibition "A day in Czechoslovakia" with a focus on industry - leisure - art and culture, the architects decided to present the exhibition in separate architectural modules.

In addition to exhibition rooms, the architect Josef Hrubý also planned the construction of a translucent restaurant building with a spacious terrace, which was to be built in the inner courtyard of the exhibition pavilion with a view of the Parc Osseghem. Hrubý, a representative of Czech functionalism , who designed the renowned Prague department store Bílá labuť as early as 1939 , planned a semicircular, fully glazed steel structure as the restaurant. The actual, L-shaped, strictly geometrical exhibition pavilion had cubic, matt-glazed structures at the corners of the building, which were connected to one another by glass bridge elements.

Awards

The jury of the world exhibition awarded the Golden Star Award for the architecture of the Czechoslovak exhibition building, which was viewed by over 6 million visitors. The modular and functionalist construction concept, which combined a light steel and reinforced concrete construction with large-area glazing with foam glass - a mixture of crushed glass with limestone - and polycarbonate plastic , was particularly impressive .

In addition, 13 other main prizes were awarded for the Czechoslovak presentation at Expo 58, including a. for the interior design, the furniture, the multimedia shows of the Laterna Magika and the Diapolyekran , for Karel Zeman's film The Invention of Perdition and the New Age sculpture ('Nový vek'), which is now in front of the Brno Exhibition Center . The exhibition and the building reflected an international modern design culture with a socialist flair, later referred to as the Brussels style .

The architects were awarded the state prize by the Czechoslovak government after Expo 58.

Translocation and subsequent use

After the modular exhibition concept, the architecture and the interior design had been awarded the Golden Star Award and 13 other prizes at Expo 58, the Czechoslovak government decided to rebuild modules of the pavilion in two different locations in Prague after the dismantling of the world exhibition To give the population the opportunity to visit the award-winning buildings.

While the L-shaped exhibition pavilion in the park kultury a oddechu Julia Fučíka , the central exhibition area of ​​Prague, was being rebuilt, the restaurant was moved to the Letná park. From the terrace and the restaurant, visitors had an excellent view of downtown Prague.

Since the 1960s, numerous temporary exhibitions, such as the General Czechoslovak Exhibition, have taken place in the Brussels pavilion on the Výstaviště Praha exhibition grounds. On October 25, 1991, the pavilion was destroyed by fire and then had to be completely demolished.

The restaurant module was moved to Letná Park. From the 1960s until 1991, the pavilion was used as the internationally renowned Expo 58 restaurant . In 1991 the building and the restaurant were privatized . After several changes of ownership, the building fell into ruin in the late 1990s. In 1997 it became known that the new owner intended to remodel the building and add office space in it. In 2000, however, the Minister of Culture Pavel Dostál demanded that the building be retained in its function as a restaurant and initially revoked the building permit for the renovation.

After the building permit was finally granted in 2001, the ruins were gutted and removed down to the reinforced concrete skeleton. In the following years the building was reconstructed, but adapted to the new use. The architects tried to create as many original components as possible, including a. to preserve and reconstruct the blue staircase clad with mosaic stones. The building now houses the headquarters of an international advertising agency and can only be viewed as part of organized events.

The building of the former Expo 58 restaurant is now a listed building.

literature

  • Pavel Vlček u. a .: Umělecké památky Prahy . Velká Praha. AL. Prague 2012
  • Jaroslav Sedlář: Český umírněný modernism na mezinárodní výstavě EXPO 58 v Bruselu . Universitas-revue Masarykovy univerzity, 2016, pp. 31–44.

Web links

Commons : Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 1958  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jindřich Santar: Svetová výstava v Bruselu EXPO '58 . Prague 1961.
  2. ↑ a b c Kimberly E. Zarecor; Vladimir Kulić: Socialism on Display: The Czechoslovak and Yugoslavian Pavilions at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair . In: Meet Me at the Fair: A World's Fair Reader . Carnegie Mellon Press, Pittsburgh 2014, pp. 231 ff .
  3. ↑ a b c Petr Ryska: Seriál z Letné - pavilon Expo 58.Retrieved on March 24, 2020 (cs-CZ).
  4. ↑ Archiweb - Před 60 lety skončila per ČR úspěšná světová výstava Expo'58. Retrieved March 22, 2020 (Czech).
  5. ↑ a b c Nejslavnější restaurace vešla do dějin architektury. Teď jsou v ní kanceláře. July 29, 2009, accessed March 22, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Archiweb - Před 25 lety přišlo pražské výstaviště o Bruselský pavilon. Retrieved March 22, 2020 (Czech).
  7. ↑ The future of the Expo 58 restaurant remains unclear. Retrieved March 22, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Open House Praha 2019: Expo 58.Retrieved on March 22, 2020 (cs-CZ).
  9. ↑ Restaurace Praha Expo 58 - Památkový catalog. Retrieved March 24, 2020 .

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 47.3 "  N , 14 ° 25 ′ 47.3"  E