Respect Madam - picnic and lectures under Stalin

As the Karlovy Vary festival approaches, during the first Picnic at Stalin and in collaboration with Respekt Madam, we will focus on the issue of the possible sale of the Thermal Hotel - a symbol of KVIFF and Czechoslovak brutalist architecture - which could endanger the future of this unique building. In the relaxed picnic atmosphere, on Saturday, June 20, 2015, at 13:30, the following experts will speak:

Mgr. Lukáš Beran: The architecture of the Machonin couple
PhDr. Jakub Železný: The development of the social perception of architecture from the 60s to the 80s using the example of the Thermal Hotel.
Ing. Ivan Hačkajlo: chief engineer of the Thermal Hotel project
Ing. Svatopluk Zídek: site manager of the Thermal Hotel pool

You can find out more about the whole issue either on Saturday, June 20, under the pendulum or on the pages of Respekt Madam. Please bring your own food for the picnic.

More information >

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While following the case surrounding the privatization of the Karlovy Vary Thermal Hotel, we have gained the impression that although the political situation regarding the sale of the pool and associated land is being described in detail, the media do not sufficiently emphasize the architectural value of this late modern gem or the threat it poses to Czech culture hidden behind this transaction. According to the Ministry of Finance, the Thermal Hotel has an investment deficit, and something needs to be done about it. By selling the pool to a private owner and completely detaching it from the main building, funds are to be generated for subsequent investment in the hotel. While we agree that the hotel has not been sufficiently maintained and its current condition is unsatisfactory, we do not agree with the strategy with which Andrej Babiš and the chairman of the Thermal Hotel board, Ivan Chadima, want to revitalize the hotel. Thermal was conceived from the very beginning as a festival palace, as a congress center, and as a public building for the citizens of Karlovy Vary. The pool, which is currently offered for sale, was accounted for in the initial studies. The region wanted the building to be used by local residents, and thus the pool was part of the brief. The connection of the mass of the hotel with the pool on the adjacent slope balances the solitary effect of the tower and the cinema halls. The pool building anchors Thermal in the valley, ensuring it is not an isolated object. It is one architectural whole that cannot be torn apart. The current plan to sell the pool and thereby expand the complex to several owners can mean not only the end of the pool's use by the citizens of Karlovy Vary but also its demise, and thus irreversible damage to the entire composition of the site. We believe that the gradual erosion of the hotel’s fundamental advantages causes the entire building to lose its raison d'être. Today, nearly fifty years after the laying of the cornerstone, the hotel is recognized by professionals as a significant and quality building that has the capacity to attract not only spa guests but also architecture enthusiasts.
The public mistakenly associates Thermal with the past regime and the period of normalization; they perceive brutalism as a material representation of communist ideas and not as an international architectural style. Among world experts, such architecture is recognized for its qualities, but here it has been long overlooked. However, we must realize that the uniqueness of the Thermal Hotel lies precisely in this dispute. The authors and their team of fifty employees had to make incredible efforts in the environment of a socialist state to approach the trends of the Western world. When Věra and Vladimír Machonin won the competition for the construction of the Thermal Hotel, they insisted on making a study trip to new European cinemas before preparing a more detailed project. Perhaps due to the enormous construction investment of 410 million Czechoslovak crowns, the ministry approved this trip. The authors returned with samples of materials they wanted to use in Thermal, but which could not be ordered from abroad due to the political situation at the time. Therefore, the architects traveled to Czech companies and forced them to manufacture the necessary items. In the 1960s, these companies employed descendants of pre-war craftsmen – therefore, the necessary materials were produced to the craftsmanship quality of the First Republic. The fundamental value of the architecture of this time lies in the fact that the authors designed everything from the basic layout of the building to the furniture and lighting and personally supervised their proper processing. Today, the interior of the hotel is damaged by uncontrolled renovations from the 1990s, but the aluminum ceilings and enormous glass facades still look timeless because they were demanding technological innovations in their time.
The dilution of the whole concept of the building would also threaten the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which has been inseparably linked to this building for decades. Selling part of the hotel could lead to restrictions that would disrupt the course of this cultural celebration. Andrej Babiš stated at a January press conference about the future of the Thermal Hotel that the Karlovy Vary festival causes financial losses to the hotel. However, we would like to remind you of the immeasurable value of this celebration of culture and the film craft. The authors built Thermal as a festival palace and innovatively approached the construction of the projection halls, which are airy and majestic thanks to being suspended on brackets. When introducing their plans, the Machonins, during the euphoric time of the Prague Spring, told journalists that "the environment of Thermal will allow the screening of only quality films and will itself exclude the possibility of anyone daring to present kitsch." When Věra Machoninová recalls the time when she was designing Thermal, she says, "In the sixties, there was hope in the air. People were energized. A feeling that things were moving." Thanks to this hope, KVIFF today ranks among the world's top festivals, although the large hall was initially a nightmare for the organizers who had trouble filling it during the dull normalizing period. Due to the size of the main hall, which comfortably accommodates 1200 spectators, the Karlovy Vary festival remains accessible to the public. Thus, it differs from other festivals of the same level like Cannes or Berlinale, and has a very specific atmosphere. Thermal connects young viewers with backpacks to celebrities from around the world in their shared love for elevating culture. Journalists from the KVIFF Festival Diary wrote as early as 1964 that one could walk dry-footed from the room not only to the thermal pool, where "the film star F. F. is currently swimming in a butterfly stroke," but also to the festival cinema. Having the chance to go directly from the hall to the pool today, to discuss the film just viewed and perhaps even catch a glimpse of one’s film idol, is an experience that many will remember for a long time.
These memories are the essence that needs to be protected. We believe that this is only possible by declaring this architecturally valuable object a cultural heritage and restoring the building to a state as close to the original as possible – in terms of architecture, its function, and its timelessness.