Transformer Station SMÍCHOV ASA 400 Gallery

DO NOT HURRY / UNDERSTAND the site, this was the way to transform the former Transformer station and land in Smíchov - ATELIER LIVE - as a tool for analysis. The substation, a small but unmissable building; close to the empty space of the former spa and the city market. At the northern end was a small triangular space defined by a retaining wall of cyclopean masonry, at the head of which, at the elongated tip, the municipal substation was built in 1925 as part of the electricity programme. Although a purely technical structure in essence, it was built in a moderate rondo-cubist style with art deco elements. Shortly after 1989, the Art Nouveau ‚palace‘ with its market and baths was demolished and replaced by a new TR110/22kV transformer station, as it was necessary for the building boom. All fatally weakened and degraded the entire former urban area, and the site became a periphery. The square ceased to be a square and turned into a supply yard. The original substation building itself lost its original function and became an empty dilapidated shell, which became a cultural monument in 2003. How to reverse this state of affairs? The important thing for us was NOT TO HURRY/TO UNDERSTAND the place. We started - with a POP UP ACTION - Atelier LIVE as part of the Designblok 2013 festival, spending 14 days on site, opening a café, observing and listening. We appreciated the rawness of the house, the place, the authenticity. And we didn’t want to erase that. In 2020, the ASA 400 documentary photography gallery appeared. We firmly believe that the restoration of the substation, with an emphasis on preserving authenticity, began the rehabilitation process of that architecturally heavily damaged area. Our work is not over, look forward to the next steps. WE ARE NOT HURRYING.