Karlovy Vary supported the inclusion of the Thermal Hotel in the list of monuments

Karlovy Vary - The city of Karlovy Vary will apply for the declaration of the Thermal hotel as a cultural monument. According to the city councilors, its inclusion on the list of protected monuments is intended to limit possible insensitive construction interventions or to prevent the demolition of the hotel or its parts, said the mayor's assistant Jiří Klsák (KOA) to journalists today. According to regional heritage experts, the hotel is primarily valued for its uniqueness. It was designed in the 1960s by architects Věra and Vladimír Machonin for the needs of the film festival.
    "The swimming pool, which is part of the Thermal complex, should be sold into private hands, and there is a risk that the new owner would want to build a complex that is undesirable for Karlovy Vary in these locations. One option for stopping this process, that is, to prevent the demolition of the pool and the construction of something else, is to declare the entire complex a monument," Klsák said.
    "The Thermal hotel complex is an excellent example of late modernism in post-war Czechoslovak architecture. The brutalist architectural elements refer to contemporary buildings in Britain and Scandinavia. The close connection between architecture and structural engineering is typical of the work of the Machonins, and the collaboration between architects and engineers at the Thermal hotel is exceptional," said architect Pavel Směták, who recently prepared a retrospective exhibition of the Machonins' work.
    According to him, the Thermal is an example of architectural courage and the conception of the building as a holistic authorial work. The extraordinary connection between the building's exterior and interior is notable. "The sprayed concrete used on the facade flows freely onto the wall surfaces in the hotel lobbies. The only separation between the interior and the exterior is the large-format frameless glazing. The preserved interiors are a great example of contemporary interior design with a very distinct authorial signature," he added.
    The Thermal hotel is owned by the state. Although there have been considerations about selling the entire hotel, the Ministry of Finance currently intends to sell the outdoor thermal pool. It is reportedly unprofitable for the hotel, as the reconstruction of outdated technology would cost tens of millions of crowns. Interested buyers of the pool can submit their offers until the end of May.
    According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Culture, Simona Cigánková, the ministry has not yet received any expert opinion from the relevant National Heritage Institute in Loket. The assessment of the Thermal has already been processed by the Loket regional office based on a proposal submitted earlier by a private individual. The stance of the Loket heritage experts is recommended, said Romana Riegerová, director of the NPÚ regional office in Loket, to ČTK today.
    According to heritage specialists, the Thermal's value lies mainly in its uniqueness. "Aside from Ještěd, it is probably the most significant building in the brutalist style in the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, if it was to be protected, it should have been done earlier, because some interiors are no longer in the condition they were in about ten years ago," Riegerová stated.
    "It's complicated to evaluate modern architecture without the necessary temporal distance," Směták said. Functionalist buildings started to be protected about 40 years later. In the Czech environment, there are buildings that have proven their quality just a few years after their opening and have become cultural monuments. "The architecture of the 1960s was, in some respects, so generous that without the necessary protection, significant public buildings will not survive the current demands of the market environment. The proposed changes to the Thermal hotel are all the more striking, as it is a state-owned building, and public interest should therefore be a fundamental criterion," the architect believes.
    The hotel is already part of the Karlovy Vary city conservation area, declared in 1992. Properties in the area are subject to protection under the heritage law. Cultural monuments, however, should have a higher level of protection. While in the area, the focus is mainly on the overall appearance, in the case of cultural monuments, the interior is also subject to protection.
    The Thermal hotel was designed by the Machonins between 1963 and 1969 for hosting the International Film Festival Karlovy Vary. Its construction had to yield to the 19th-century buildings along Chebská Street. The pool opened to the public in 1976, with the complete operation of the hotel following in the subsequent year.