archint 1989_cz:de: Brutal Treatment of Brutalism - Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin

Recorded 5.9.2019 at Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin

Two new publications on brutalist architecture in Prague will be presented. First, a richly visual piece with many photographs titled "Prague Brutally Beautiful: Exceptional Buildings Constructed in Prague Between 1969 and 1989”. The second piece takes a more academic approach "Beton, Břasy, Boletice. Brutalist Prague”. The impulse for both projects came from the recent demolition of buildings that were only appreciated by a minority, and were yet to be taken seriously by experts. Now is this the last cry of desperation, or the beginning of a wider public and official appreciation? How will brutalist buildings be dealt with in Berlin?

Featuring: Evžen Šimera (Prague Brutally Beautiful, Scholastica, Prague), Klára Brůhová (Beton, Břasy, Boletice, Czech Technical University in Prague) and Gunnar Klack (Citizens' Initiative Mäusebunker, Berlin)

archint_1989_cz:de is an event series focusing on the architecture and monuments from the post-war period and how they have been dealt with since the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Why does our freedom often manifest as the freedom to destroy or simply just to forget? Can these actions be seen themselves as not only interventions but as actual monuments to the regained freedom, reunification and post-1989 transformation? Should these works of art and architecture be disconnected from their political connotations and instead be respected for their artistic value? Is it a question of East – West division? Here, Czech and German architectural theoreticians will present their new projects and discuss them.

Partners of the event series: Embassy of the Czech Republic in Berlin, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, Polish Institute Berlin, Slovak Institute in Berlin, EUNIC Berlin.

Photo by Filip Šlapal: The New Stage of the National Theatre in Prague (1977–1983, architect Karel Prager)

Graphic design: Iveta Krajcirova, Deconstructed