Letter to the Ministry of Culture Regarding the Non-Declaration of Post-War Buildings as Cultural Monuments
Mgr. Martin Baxa, Minister of Culture
Mgr. Jiří Vajčner, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Heritage Care
Ministry of Culture
Maltézské náměstí 1, 118 00 Prague 1
epodatelna@mkcr.cz
Jiri.Vajcner@mkcr.cz
Dear Minister,
Dear Director of the Department of Heritage Care,
The competition dialogue New Hlavák for the modifications of the main train station in Prague, as well as the ongoing discussions about its results, is yet another piece of evidence of the complicated adjustment to the cultural and architectural heritage of the recent past.
Although the professional community has already subjected pre-revolutionary architecture to thorough analysis, making it one of the most current and extensively researched challenges, despite two decades of significant changes in public attitudes, this value shift, refinement, and activities of experts have not yet found an adequate response in the official protection at the level of the cultural heritage list. Out of more than 40,000 immovable cultural monuments, less than 80 are from the period 1945–1989 (with the majority being from the 1950s). These alarmingly low numbers do not reflect the accumulated expert knowledge, societal values, let alone the need for current and especially future responsible care for the architectural heritage of the Czech Republic (approximately 35% of domestic buildings are from before 1960, 17% from after 1991, and an enormous 48% from 1961–1990).
The Commission for Architecture of the 2nd half of the 20th century at the General Directorate of the National Heritage Institute would therefore like to inquire about the current status of the process of dealing with submitted proposals for declaring buildings from that period as cultural monuments.
Specifically, regarding more than 80 proposals for declaring buildings from the 1960s and 1970s, prepared as the culmination of the project NAKI DG16P02R007 of the Czech Ministry of Culture (e.g., Centrotex in Prague, cultural houses in Březnice or Most, SVÚT in Liberec, department store Labe in Ústí nad Labem, funeral hall in Klenčí, District Roads Administration in Jindřichův Hradec, Ingstav in Brno, etc.).
Furthermore, for 7 proposals for declaring buildings from the 1980s, prepared as part of the NAKI II DG18P02OVV013 project of the Czech Ministry of Culture (i.e., the swimming pool in Tachov, the post office in Nové Stodůlky, the cultural house and colonnade in Teplice, the operational technical building of DP Metro in Prague, the theater in Most, the cultural house in Uherský Brod, the home for the elderly in Bohnice).
And also about the phase of dealing with older proposals for declaring cultural monuments, specifically, for example, the PZO Strojimport building in Prague (submitted in 2014), the Urology Clinic in Prague (submitted in 2018), the HC Sparta Prague hockey hall (submitted in 2016), the ice stadium in Plzeň (submitted in 2014), the newly built Jiří Myron Theater in Ostrava (2016), etc.
We would like to express our conviction that timely and proper handling of proposals for cultural monuments would prevent many pitfalls and losses in managing public assets or generally cultural heritage of the past (see, for example, current or recent cases – the Unified Europe fountain at Jiří z Poděbrady square, Intercontinental Hotel in Prague, International Union of Students in Prague, Military Construction Building in Prague, cultural house in Mladá Boleslav, department store Ještěd in Liberec, etc.).
The Commission repeatedly finds that the Ministry of Culture surprisingly does not rely on opinions from experts or research projects on the subject, and that the decisions (initiation of proceedings, non-declaration) do not reflect a sufficient understanding of the values of architecture from 1945 to 1989.
We are convinced that the current number and selection of buildings from 1945 to 1989 declared as cultural monuments is very inadequate and does not reflect the state of expert knowledge of that period, the real cultural values with which we operate, or the current attitudes of society. Or the fact that this historical layer of our cultural heritage is currently undergoing extensive transformation, driven almost exclusively by economic interests, regardless of real cultural values.
Expanding the list based on expert knowledge represents an urgent and inevitable repayment of the debt of the recent past to several generations of creators and efforts to fulfill the humanitarian mission of modern society.
on behalf of the Commission for Architecture of the 2nd half of the 20th century at the General Directorate of the National Heritage Institute
Best regards
Prof. Ing. arch. Petr Vorlík, Ph.D.
Chairman of the Commission
In Prague on 11 December 2023
Commission Members: Mgr. Lukáš Beran, Ph.D.; Prof. Ing. arch. Matúš Dulla, DrSc.; Mgr. Jakub Potůček; Mgr. Martin Strakoš; Prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha, CSc.; Mgr. Veronika Vicherková, Ph.D.; Doc. PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph.D.
Mgr. Jiří Vajčner, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Heritage Care
Ministry of Culture
Maltézské náměstí 1, 118 00 Prague 1
epodatelna@mkcr.cz
Jiri.Vajcner@mkcr.cz
Dear Minister,
Dear Director of the Department of Heritage Care,
The competition dialogue New Hlavák for the modifications of the main train station in Prague, as well as the ongoing discussions about its results, is yet another piece of evidence of the complicated adjustment to the cultural and architectural heritage of the recent past.
Although the professional community has already subjected pre-revolutionary architecture to thorough analysis, making it one of the most current and extensively researched challenges, despite two decades of significant changes in public attitudes, this value shift, refinement, and activities of experts have not yet found an adequate response in the official protection at the level of the cultural heritage list. Out of more than 40,000 immovable cultural monuments, less than 80 are from the period 1945–1989 (with the majority being from the 1950s). These alarmingly low numbers do not reflect the accumulated expert knowledge, societal values, let alone the need for current and especially future responsible care for the architectural heritage of the Czech Republic (approximately 35% of domestic buildings are from before 1960, 17% from after 1991, and an enormous 48% from 1961–1990).
The Commission for Architecture of the 2nd half of the 20th century at the General Directorate of the National Heritage Institute would therefore like to inquire about the current status of the process of dealing with submitted proposals for declaring buildings from that period as cultural monuments.
Specifically, regarding more than 80 proposals for declaring buildings from the 1960s and 1970s, prepared as the culmination of the project NAKI DG16P02R007 of the Czech Ministry of Culture (e.g., Centrotex in Prague, cultural houses in Březnice or Most, SVÚT in Liberec, department store Labe in Ústí nad Labem, funeral hall in Klenčí, District Roads Administration in Jindřichův Hradec, Ingstav in Brno, etc.).
Furthermore, for 7 proposals for declaring buildings from the 1980s, prepared as part of the NAKI II DG18P02OVV013 project of the Czech Ministry of Culture (i.e., the swimming pool in Tachov, the post office in Nové Stodůlky, the cultural house and colonnade in Teplice, the operational technical building of DP Metro in Prague, the theater in Most, the cultural house in Uherský Brod, the home for the elderly in Bohnice).
And also about the phase of dealing with older proposals for declaring cultural monuments, specifically, for example, the PZO Strojimport building in Prague (submitted in 2014), the Urology Clinic in Prague (submitted in 2018), the HC Sparta Prague hockey hall (submitted in 2016), the ice stadium in Plzeň (submitted in 2014), the newly built Jiří Myron Theater in Ostrava (2016), etc.
We would like to express our conviction that timely and proper handling of proposals for cultural monuments would prevent many pitfalls and losses in managing public assets or generally cultural heritage of the past (see, for example, current or recent cases – the Unified Europe fountain at Jiří z Poděbrady square, Intercontinental Hotel in Prague, International Union of Students in Prague, Military Construction Building in Prague, cultural house in Mladá Boleslav, department store Ještěd in Liberec, etc.).
The Commission repeatedly finds that the Ministry of Culture surprisingly does not rely on opinions from experts or research projects on the subject, and that the decisions (initiation of proceedings, non-declaration) do not reflect a sufficient understanding of the values of architecture from 1945 to 1989.
We are convinced that the current number and selection of buildings from 1945 to 1989 declared as cultural monuments is very inadequate and does not reflect the state of expert knowledge of that period, the real cultural values with which we operate, or the current attitudes of society. Or the fact that this historical layer of our cultural heritage is currently undergoing extensive transformation, driven almost exclusively by economic interests, regardless of real cultural values.
Expanding the list based on expert knowledge represents an urgent and inevitable repayment of the debt of the recent past to several generations of creators and efforts to fulfill the humanitarian mission of modern society.
on behalf of the Commission for Architecture of the 2nd half of the 20th century at the General Directorate of the National Heritage Institute
Best regards
Prof. Ing. arch. Petr Vorlík, Ph.D.
Chairman of the Commission
In Prague on 11 December 2023
Commission Members: Mgr. Lukáš Beran, Ph.D.; Prof. Ing. arch. Matúš Dulla, DrSc.; Mgr. Jakub Potůček; Mgr. Martin Strakoš; Prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha, CSc.; Mgr. Veronika Vicherková, Ph.D.; Doc. PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph.D.
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raval
15.12.23 08:24
Neprohlašování za kulturní památku
Vomáčka
22.12.23 10:19
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