The Prague Mánes is preparing for a reconstruction costing 100 million crowns

Prague - The Czech Visual Arts Foundation (NČVU) plans a complete renovation of the Prague Mánes building. The owner of one of the most significant monuments of Czech modern architecture estimates the costs of its reconstruction at 100 million crowns. Currently, a project for a building permit is ready, and the relevant proceedings are underway. NČVU board chairman Martin Pavala said this to journalists today.
"We would like to start the renovation of Mánes in June next year; the reconstruction could be completed by spring 2011, at the latest by autumn 2012," Pavala stated. He added that the renovation is largely intended to be financed from NČVU’s own resources, such as selling works from its collections at auctions. However, this does not prevent negotiations with potential sponsors.
The centerpiece of the newly barrier-free building will remain the exhibition hall, according to architects from the HMArchitekti studio, which will meet the most demanding technical criteria and allow for presentations of various visual art fields. Two multifunctional spaces will be created on the lower floor, allowing for screenings, lectures, workshops, auctions, smaller exhibitions, and similar events.
In addition to the hall, the original restaurant with a terrace and painted ceiling by Emil Filla will be restored. The gallery on the southern side of the building will be revitalized with a newly established shop focused on products related to visual arts or design.
"In the content of the renovation, we are returning to the project of the Mánes building by architect Otakar Novotný. Our priority is the rehabilitation of Mánes as a true house of art, a beloved and valued cultural center," Pavala noted. Otakar Novotný was one of the most talented students of the famous architect Jan Kotěra. For many years, he held the position of chairman in the Mánes Association of Visual Artists.
The HMArchitekti studio’s project reportedly does not plan for radical interventions but rather seeks an architectural and functional return to the time of the building's greatest glory in the 1930s, while utilizing modern technologies. A new comprehensive graphic style for Mánes has been created by Studio Najbrt.
Pavala pointed out that the current dire state of the building is the result of long-term degradation due to various interior layout modifications, as well as the enforced neglect of ongoing maintenance during the long years of a protracted restitution dispute.
The building was commissioned by the Mánes Association of Visual Artists in 1930. Its activities were terminated in 1949, and it was dissolved in 1956. Its property transitioned to the Czech Fund for Fine Arts, now the Czech Art Fund Foundation. The association resumed its activities in 1990 and has been in a legal battle with the foundation over the building since the early 1990s. Since 2004, a final ruling by the Supreme Court has determined the foundation as the owner of the building. Mánes filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, which rejected it, stating that the Supreme Court made the correct decision.
Representatives of the Mánes Association of Visual Artists reiterated at today’s press conference that the building was misappropriated and demanded its return once again. Pavala described this as outrageous and called on them to respect the court's decision.

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• The Mánes building on Masaryk Embankment in Prague 1 was constructed by the Mánes Association of Visual Artists (S.V.U.) Mánes (founded in 1887) to serve its own exhibition spaces and its society's background. Construction began in 1929, and the building was handed over for use on October 30, 1930. The first exhibition held here was One Hundred Years of Czech Art 1830 - 1930.
• The low cubist block of the building with large glazed surfaces was built according to the design of architect Otakar Novotný, a student of Jan Kotěra. The original project connected the embankment above the side arm of the Vltava River with the lower-lying Slovanský Island and, by preserving water flow, reminded of the arrangement of the old Šítkov Mills that stood here before. The impressive structure also incorporates the 47-meter-high tower of the Šítkov waterworks.
• The former water tower of Upper New Town was founded in 1495 as a wooden structure, suffered several fires, and in 1591, a stone Renaissance tower was completed. Its current appearance, with a typical baroque onion dome, was acquired after repairs in 1651. During the demolition of the Šítkov Mills, its stability was compromised, resulting in it being tilted 42 centimeters from the vertical axis. After November 1989, a room was discovered in the top floor - an observation station of the StB, which had a view of Václav Havel’s house.
• The building of the Mánes is made of reinforced concrete and has three floors. The central space was a large exhibition hall with natural lighting extending from the ground floor to the first floor, and a small exhibition hall. There were also other society rooms and offices. For financial security, especially for exhibition activities, restaurant operations, and rental sales spaces were also necessary components of the building from the beginning (for a time, there was even a car showroom). There was a French restaurant (the ceiling of the hall was decorated with cubist frescoes by Emil Filla), a confectionery, a café, and a bar named Luculus. Thus, most artists, actors, musicians, and poets who shared ideological, artistic, and human bonds quickly "moved in" to Mánes. To this day, the Mánes restaurant and club is a lively social center.
• The building underwent several renovations between 1946 to 1948 and 1978 to 1985, which adapted the operation of the building to new requirements. In 1995, an emergency state was declared for the building, revealing that the long-standing turbulence of the water below the weirs endangered its stability. In the following year, an expensive renovation and maintenance of the lower part of the building were undertaken, allowing it to withstand the devastating flood in 2002.
• The S.V.U. Mánes operated the building until 1956, when it was forcibly dissolved, and the property was taken over by the Czech Fund for Fine Arts (ČFVU). The Association, restored in 1990, then sought to regain ownership. The legal dispute ended after 13 years with a ruling by the Czech Supreme Court against the Association. Mánes was also unsuccessful at the Constitutional Court, which rejected its complaint in January 2005. The former association building of S.V.U. Mánes was vacated on January 30, 2004. It transferred its activities to a new location, the cubist Diamond Palace on Spálená Street, where it also opened a homonymous gallery.
• The Mánes exhibition hall is operated by the Czech Visual Arts Foundation, formerly the Czech Fund for Fine Arts, the legal successor to ČFVU. It is among the largest and most significant foundations in the Czech Republic supporting visual arts. In addition to Mánes, it also operates the Gallery Zlatá lilie.