The Industrial Palace will be completed according to the design of Jakub Cigler

Prague - The burned Industrial Palace at the Prague Exhibition Grounds will be completed according to the design by architect Jakub Cigler and his studio Cigler Marani Architects a.s. This was decided today by the council of the capital city, as stated to journalists by Deputy Mayor Milan Richter (ODS). Besides completing the left wing, an underpass beneath the palace should also be created, with facilities set to be located underground. Richter hopes the palace could be complete in about 1.5 to two years.
    Cigler wants to complete the palace using technologies that were used at the time of its creation. The structure should, according to him, be riveted, which is no longer done today. "We also want to clear the entire Industrial Palace of later additions," he told journalists. He particularly mentioned modifications that were made in the 1950s.
    In the new underpass, the architect wants to place the palace's facilities, similar to the Louvre in Paris; from the underpass, it will be possible to ascend directly into the palace or continue towards the Křižík Fountain. Below it, an underground exhibition hall could be created, which the city has been planning for a long time within the area. Additionally, Cigler recommended expanding the park and connecting the Exhibition Grounds with Stromovka. However, whether these further proposals will be realized will depend on the financial possibilities of the city, according to Richter.
    Cigler's proposal was previously recommended by a commission that evaluated 11 architectural proposals submitted to the competition. According to the law firm Kříž Bělina, which oversaw the competition, a total of 12 proposals were submitted, but one was received after the deadline and was therefore not evaluated. All proposals will be available for public viewing at an exhibition, which should start in about two weeks, according to lawyers.
    As the winner of the competition announced by Prague at the beginning of March, Cigler will receive a reward of 600,000 crowns. Architects in second and third places will also be financially rewarded, with amounts of 400,000 and 200,000 crowns respectively.
    The capital city will then have to announce a tender for the contractor of the construction. The completion of the monument is estimated to cost about 1.5 billion crowns, including technologies. Prague anticipates that part of the funds will come from insurance for the burned palace, but it wants to litigate with the insurance companies about the amount. The city wants to start the construction as soon as possible. However, Prague is still in disputes with the Exhibition Grounds tenant, the company Incheba.
    However, Richter is not worried that disputes will affect the completion. He wants to resolve the situation at the council meeting in two weeks. According to him, three options are at play - either Incheba leaves voluntarily and the city receives funds from the insurance for the burned palace, or both parties agree, the city receives insurance, and Incheba remains in the area under stricter conditions, or Prague unilaterally withdraws from the contract with Incheba. In the latter case, long-term court disputes can be expected.
    Cigler is the majority owner of the studio Cigler Marani Architects a.s. For the city hall, he has already prepared a proposal for the reconstruction of Wenceslas Square, and he designed, among other things, the new building of Radio Free Europe on Hagibor or the planned multifunctional facility Copa Center above the National Street metro station.
    The Industrial Palace was built for the Jubilee Land Exhibition, which was held from May to October 1891. The construction was completed in six months at that time. The building, designed in the Art Nouveau style by architects Bedřich Münzberg and František Prášil, became a landmark of the Exhibition Grounds, and it was also the first building in Bohemia constructed using prefabricated steel structures.
    The Industrial Palace is listed as a cultural monument as part of the Exhibition Grounds, which has been protected as a monument since the 1950s. The authentic steel construction, particularly visible on the tower, was valued on the actual palace building, as it was hidden under wooden ceilings in the two side wings.