Experts are debating the artistic-historical significance of the Hotel Prague

Prague - Some architecture theorists perceive Hotel Praha in Prague's Dejvice as a symbol of the former regime. However, it also has its supporters who appreciate its qualities and describe the building as above standard considering the time of its inception. The extensive building, opened in the 1980s, served the needs of the Communist Party and the Czechoslovak government until November 1989 and was recently purchased by the Cypriot company Maraflex. Instead of a hotel, they want to build new apartments on the spacious grounds.
     According to architectural historian Rostislav Švácha, Hotel Praha plays no significant role in post-war Prague architecture. It is not a protected monument, has long been inaccessible to the public, and is not visible in the Prague skyline. "For every architectural monument, it is always ideal when the original purpose is preserved. But here it probably doesn't make sense," Švácha told ČTK.
     "The project was not published in its time. The less official part of Czech architecture didn't pay much attention to it. So there has never been any critical or art-historical debate about it. When there is no discourse about something, it diminishes its value," Švácha stated.
     Pavel Karous from the AAAD (Academy of Art, Architecture and Design), who focuses on public sculptures from the normalization period, considers the building "extremely interesting." He even compares it to the work of the famous Jan Kaplický as "liquid architecture." "It mimics the terrain's irregularities; it's not any panel building that emerged at that time. Additionally, the interior designed in harmony with the exterior is adorned with sculptures by (famous glass artists) René Roubíček, Stanislav Libenský, and Jaroslava Brychtová," Karous told ČTK.
     "It is not possible to assess the building solely based on the context of the period and the current political situation in which it was created," he added. According to him, Hotel Praha should be preserved and made a cultural monument. "If a building is to be demolished, there should be a guarantee that it will be replaced with a higher-quality building. I can't imagine that this would be the case here," he concluded.
     Historian and architectural theorist Petr Kratochvíl does not dare to say whether it is better to demolish the hotel or leave it in its original state. "I must say that I have always had a very distant relationship with it. It has always been a symbol of a party hotel for me, where foreign guests of the Communist Party congresses were accommodated," Kratochvíl told ČTK.
     The prominent hotel also occupied a huge piece of a residential neighborhood. "It was an alien body. It didn't belong there by its scale," Kratochvíl added. If there were discussions about whether to declare the building a cultural monument before any potential reconstruction or demolition, Kratochvíl would lean more toward the side of those opposing monument protection.
     According to the specialists surveyed, more significant buildings were created in the second half of the 20th century, which are worth preserving in their original state. "One important building after another is leaving us. The most striking example of the demolition of a valuable building is the Ještěd shopping center in Liberec. Demolition is planned for the train station in Havířov, and the station in Ostrava-Vítkovice is under threat," Švácha listed.